Medicaid is a program that provides medical care for people who cannot afford it for a variety of reasons. It is a cooperative program between the states and the federal government that pays for medical assistance for certain vulnerable and needy individuals and families with very low incomes and few resources. Medicaid is an assistance program. Medical bills are paid from federal, state and local tax funds. It serves low-income people of every age.
Patients usually pay no part of costs for covered medical expenses.
A small co-payment is sometimes required. Though Medicaid is a federal-state program, it varies from state to state and managed by state and local governments within federal guidelines. The program varies significantly from state to state. Indeed it is not called by the same name in every state. Each state has considerable leeway in its Medicaid program, within broad federal guidelines.