Q. What is the difference between Medicare and Medicaid? When can I qualify for Medicare?
A. Medicaid is a medical assistance program. It helps poor people pay for their medical care. State and federal governments work together to provide Medicaid for 36 million Americans. Under certain circumstances, children qualify for Medicaid. Blind, disabled and elderly adults may also qualify.
The states administer Medicaid using a combination of state and federal revenues. Each state has its own Medicaid rules -- within broad federal guidelines -- but all of them require applicants to be poor, or to be spending almost all of their money on medical care.
Medicare is the federal government's health insurance program for the elderly and disabled. Medicare isn't "means tested": it benefits rich people, poor people and everyone in between -- about 35 million Americans -- regardless of their means.
Most people qualify for Medicare because they are 65 or older. However, there are two ways to get on Medicare before that:
	1. Disabled people get Medicare after they've been drawing Social Security disability benefits for two years, and
		2. People of all ages -- even kids -- qualify for Medicare if they need dialysis or a kidney transplant because of      permanent kidney failure.
Medicare has two parts. Part A is Hospital Insurance. Part B is Medical Insurance.
Part A helps pay for inpatient hospital care, hospice care and skilled home health services for homebound patients. Part A also helps with short-term inpatient care in skilled nursing facilities if the patient is there for rehabilitation.
Most of the funding for Part A comes from the Medicare payroll tax. That's why there is usually no monthly premium for Part A. Workers who have earned at least 40 Medicare quarters -- about 10 years of work -- pay no Part A premium. The spouses of those workers get Part A for free, too. For others who want Part A, the monthly premium is $300.
Part B covers doctor bills, outpatient hospital care, and some medical equipment and supplies.
The funds for Part B come from monthly premiums plus a huge subsidy from the federal government (for every $1 paid in premiums, the government kicks in another $3). Part B's monthly premium in 2001 is $50. Normally, that's deducted from Social Security, Railroad Retirement, or Civil Service Retirement checks. But not everyone pays the premium: Medicaid pays Medicare premiums for poor people.
The Social Security Administration handles Medicare enrollment.
The Health Care Financing Administration is the federal agency that oversees Medicare and Medicaid. For more information about Medicare and Medicaid go to www.hcfa.gov .