Medicaid: A Primer: Key Information on Our Nation’s Health Coverage Program for Low-Income People (The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, June 2010)

This guide provides comprehensive information on Medicaid, the nation's publicly funded health coverage program for low-income Americans. It describes the persons and services covered, costs related to the program, and how the program is financed. The guide closes with a discussion of how the Affordable Care Act will reshape Medicaid, namely that the program will expand to provide the foundation for coverage of low-income Americans.

Medicaid is the largest source of health coverage for persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), covering services for approximately 40% of PLWHA who are receiving care. This guide is useful for PLWHA and their advocates as a tool for navigating through the program and securing mandatory health care services, including primary care, hospital services, home health care, and transportation services. However, this guide does not detail the optional services offered by individual states, such as prescription drugs, case management, hospice care, and home- and community-based services.