Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that provides health care coverage to more than 60 million low-income individuals in the US, including children, pregnant woman, the elderly and the disabled. The Medicaid program is also a major source of coverage for low-income elderly and disabled Medicare beneficiaries, known as “dual eligibles.”
Because Medicaid provides coverage to low-income patients—patients who are disproportionately cared for by safety net health systems—it is an important source of financing for NAPH members. States have the flexibility to set Medicaid payment levels for providers and often those levels are far below what it costs to provide services to Medicaid patients.
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