ABA Family Legal Guide

The Rights of Older Americans

Health and Long-Term Care Benefits

Ben just turned sixty-five years old. He knows he's eligible to be covered under Medicare, but he does not remember signing up for it. Does he have to pay to be covered by Medicare? Will Medicare make him change doctors? What is the difference between Medicare and Medicaid?

The federal government provides a program of basic health-care insurance for older and disabled individuals called Medicare. Practically everyone who has a work history and is sixty-five or older is eligible for Medicare, even those who continue working after age sixty-five.

The federal and state governments together also provide a comprehensive medical benefits program, called Medicaid, for qualified low-income people. Medicare and Medicaid are not the same, though some older people qualify for both. Medicaid coverage rules vary from state to state, but Medicare is the same all over the United States.

The questions in this section examine Medicare and Medicaid, as well as private Medigap insurance commonly used to supplement Medicare coverage. The section then turns to long-term care benefits under public programs and under private long-term care insurance. Since Medicare and Medicaid came into being in 1965, they have been revised many times. More revisions are certain.

1. Medicare
2. Medicaid
3. Medigap Insurance
4. Paying for Long-Term Care