Medicaid

Government subsidies for the poor, particularly for health care, are widely popular. But they are also a hotbed of inefficiency and waste, doing damage to the social fabric and hinder non-governmental help.

During the Great Depression, thousands of mutual aid societies effectively connected those in need with those able to assist them, and all in the spirit of voluntary community.

Out-of-control health care costs are a very real problem, and every decent person wants to see those in need get basic medical care. The bureaucracy, especially at the federal level, is not a good way to do it. Indeed, Medicaid has been a key cause in health care becoming much less affordable for and accountable to patients, especially the poorest among us.

Medicaid provides both healthcare and long-term care to low-income individuals, including the elderly and disabled. This category also includes the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides healthcare to low-income children and parents. Although both Medicaid and CHIP require states to make matching payments from their tax revenues, only the federal government’s portion is included for the MyGovCost Calculator.

Learn more about Medicaid problems and the solutions:

“How Bad Is Care under Medicaid?”
John C. Goodman (The Beacon) December 19, 2012

“Turning Medicaid into a Competing Health Plan”
John C. Goodman (The Beacon) January 10, 2013

“The Modern Health Care Maze: Development and Effects of the Four-Party System”
Charles Kroncke, Ronald F. White (The Independent Review) Summer 2009

“The BIG FOUR Enter the Discourse of Debt”
Emily Skarbek (MyGovCost) April 4, 2011

“Ideological and Political Underpinnings of the Great Society”
Robert Higgs (The Freeman) March 15, 2011

“Health Insurance Before the Welfare State: The Destruction of Self-Help by State Intervention”
Pavel Chalupnicek, Luka Dvorak (The Independent Review) Winter 2009

See Also:

Independent Institute’s Archive on Health Care
Independent Institute’s Archive on Welfare