Medicaid, a federal-state program, is usually operated by state welfare or health departments, within the guidelines issued by the HCFA. Medicaid furnishes at least five basic services to needy persons: inpatient hospital care, outpatient hospital care, physicians' services, skilled nursing-home services for adults, and laboratory and X-ray services. The people who are eligible include families and certain children who qualify for public assistance and may include aged, blind, and disabled adults who are eligible for the Supplemental Security Income program of the Social Security Administration. States may also include persons and families termed "medically needy" who meet eligibility requirements except those for financial assistance. Each state decides who is eligible for Medicaid benefits and what services shall be included. Some of the benefits frequently provided are dental care; ambulance services; and the cost of drugs, eyeglasses, and hearing aids. In determining eligibility for the program, a state may not hold adult children responsible for medical expenses of their parents.

All the states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands operate Medicaid plans. In 1994 over 31 million people received Medicaid health care support.

Who is eligible ?

Who May be eligible ?

How are Payments made?

Where & How do you apply?

Apply to:  Mecklenburg County Dept. of Social Services
              301 Billingsley Road
              Charlotte, NC   28211    8AM - 5PM    M - F
              (704) 336-3150

What should I bring on my first visit to the office?

1. Birth Cert. or other proof of age.

2. Wage stubs for the past few months.

3. Social Security card.

4. Medicare card and Identification cards for other health or hospital policies.

5. Letters or forms which show the amount of your income from Social Security, SSI, VA, Retirement, etc.

6. Life Insurance policies.

7. Bank Statements.

8. Title or Registration card from vehicles.

9. Deeds to property owned outside of Mecklenburg County.

10. Medical bills.

Medicare is the popular name for the federal health insurance program for persons 65 years of age and over. The program, which went into effect in 1966, was first administered by the Social Security Administration; in 1977 the Medicare program was transferred to the newly created Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA). Benefits are divided into two parts: (1) a basic hospital-insurance plan covering hospital care, extended care, home health services, and hospice care for terminally ill patients; and (2) a voluntary medical-insurance program covering physicians' fees, outpatient services, and other medical services. Medicare costs are met by social security contributions, monthly premiums from participants, and general revenues.

Beginning in July 1973 Medicare was extended to persons under the age of 65 with certain disabling conditions. In 1988 Congress passed legislation to expand the program to cover health care costs of catastrophic illnesses, to be financed by a surtax on the incomes of taxpayers over the age of 65; this legislation, however, was repealed the following year. An average of about 36 million people were enrolled in Medicare each month in 1995. The monthly premium stood at $43.80 a month in 1997.

For more counseling information visit www.medicare.gov

The costs of health care have increased dramatically for consumers and insurers, particularly during the 1980s and early 1990s. For example, in 1980 Americans spent $247.2 billion on health care. By 1995 that figure had more than quadrupled to $1.04 trillion.

One reason costs have risen is that Americans are living longer than ever before, and older people generally require more health care. In 1900 the average American had a life expectancy of 49.2 years. Today the average American is expected to live more than 75 years. When older Americans join an insured group, the whole group’s health care risks—and costs—rise accordingly.

Advances in medical technology have also driven up the costs of health care and insurance. Medical procedures such as computerized tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, and arthroscopic surgery are commonplace today, but they did not exist until the 1970s. Although such new technology sometimes allows health care providers to introduce less-invasive and less-expensive treatments, more often it provides new but expensive ways to treat conditions that were previously untreatable.

Increased use of health care has also led to a growth in health care costs. Americans are more likely than ever to seek professional health services for medical problems. For example, in 1991 there were an estimated 669.7 million visits to doctors' offices, or 2.7 visits per person. In 1996 there were an estimated 892 million visits to doctors' offices, or 3.4 visits per person. Many Americans today seek medical care for treatment of sexual impotence, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and other problems that previously were not always considered health problems. Just as increased demand pushes prices up in other industries, increased demand for health care leads to escalating medical costs.