Medicare vs Medicaid — What Is the Difference?

General information only. This page does not decide if you can get Medicare or Medicaid. It only places official words side by side.

Honest limits — read this first

This guide lays each program’s own words side by side.

This guide was built a different way. Each column below comes from that program’s own official page. Medicare words come from Medicare.gov. Medicaid words come from Medicaid.gov and HealthCare.gov. Every claim says which page it came from.

One more honest note. Medicare.gov does print a short section called “What’s the difference between Medicare & Medicaid?” on its Parts of Medicare page. Medicare.gov also publishes booklets about the two programs together. This guide does not copy a comparison from those pages. It places each program’s own description side by side, so you can see how each program describes itself.

If the two sets of official words do not answer a question, this page says so. It does not fill the gap from other websites.

1. What each program is — in its own words

Medicare

Medicare.gov says: “Medicare is health insurance for people 65 or older who meet citizenship or residency requirements.”

Medicare.gov’s Parts of Medicare page says: “Medicare is federal health insurance for anyone age 65 and older, and some people under 65 with certain disabilities or conditions.”

Medicare.gov says Part A helps cover inpatient care in hospitals, skilled nursing facility care, hospice care, and home health care.

Medicare.gov says Part B helps cover services from doctors and other health care providers, outpatient care, home health care, durable medical equipment, and many preventive services.

Medicare.gov says Part D helps cover the cost of prescription drugs.

Medicaid

Medicaid.gov says all states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories have Medicaid programs “designed to provide health coverage for low-income people.”

HealthCare.gov says: “Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provide free or low-cost health coverage to eligible low-income adults, families and children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with disabilities.” That sentence is HealthCare.gov’s sentence. It names Medicaid and CHIP together.

Medicaid.gov’s Benefits page says states determine “the type, amount, duration, and scope of services within broad federal guidelines.”

Medicaid.gov’s Benefits page says: “Federal law requires states to provide certain mandatory benefits and allows states the choice of covering other optional benefits.”

2. Who each program is for — as each page words it

Medicare

Medicare.gov words it by age first. It says Medicare is for people 65 or older who meet citizenship or residency requirements.

Medicare.gov then adds: “You may be eligible to get Medicare earlier if you have a disability, End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), or ALS (also called Lou Gehrig’s disease).”

The Medicare.gov page read for this guide does not word Medicare eligibility around low income.

Medicaid

Medicaid.gov words it by income first. It says Medicaid programs are designed to provide health coverage for low-income people.

Medicaid.gov says these health coverage programs serve “millions of families, children, pregnant women, adults without children, and also seniors and people living with disabilities.”

HealthCare.gov says: “Each state has coverage options that consider income, household size, family status (like pregnancy or caring for young children), disability, age, and other factors.”

The Medicaid.gov pages read for this guide do not set one single age, like 65, as the main rule.

3. Who runs each program — as each page words it

Medicare

Medicare.gov calls Medicare “federal health insurance.” That is the whole wording the Medicare.gov page gives for this point.

Medicare.gov does not, on the pages read for this guide, describe Medicare as run state by state.

Medicaid

Medicaid.gov says: “Although the Federal government establishes certain parameters for all states to follow, each state administers their Medicaid program differently, resulting in variations in Medicaid coverage across the country.”

Medicaid.gov’s Benefits page says: “States establish and administer their own Medicaid programs.”

The difference in the words: Medicare.gov uses the single word “federal” for Medicare. Medicaid.gov says the federal government sets parameters, and each state administers its own program differently.

4. How a person gets each program — at the level the pages describe

Medicare

Medicare.gov says: “Some people get Medicare automatically, others have to actively sign up — it depends if you start getting retirement or disability benefits from Social Security before you turn 65.”

That is as far as the Medicare.gov Get Started page read for this guide goes on this point.

Medicaid

HealthCare.gov says: “You can apply for Medicaid and CHIP any time of year.”

HealthCare.gov gives two ways. One way is to fill out an application through the Marketplace. HealthCare.gov says: “If it looks like anyone in your household qualifies for Medicaid or CHIP, we’ll securely send your information to your state agency. Your state will contact you about enrollment.”

The other way, in HealthCare.gov’s heading, is: “Apply directly through your state Medicaid agency.”

Medicare.gov’s Medicaid page says the same step in one line, for Medicaid: “Contact your State Medical Assistance (Medicaid) office.” That line is from Medicare.gov, not Medicaid.gov.

5. Costs — only in the general words the pages use

This section gives no dollar amounts. It uses only the general cost words found on the official pages read for this guide.

Medicare

Medicare.gov’s booklet “What are Medicare and Medicaid?” (CMS Product No. 11306) says: “You usually don’t pay a monthly premium for Part A coverage if you or your spouse paid Medicare taxes while working for a certain amount of time.” It calls this “premium-free Part A.”

The same Medicare.gov booklet says: “If you aren’t eligible for premium-free Part A, you may be able to buy Part A.”

The same Medicare.gov booklet says: “Most people pay the standard Part B premium amount.” The booklet text read for this guide does not state that amount in that sentence, so this page does not state it either.

Medicaid

HealthCare.gov words the cost this way: Medicaid and CHIP “provide free or low-cost health coverage.” That is HealthCare.gov’s general wording.

The Medicaid.gov pages read for this guide — the Program History page and the Benefits page — do not state a premium or a cost amount in general words. So this column does not add one.

The difference in the words: Medicare.gov’s booklet talks about a premium part by part — Part A and Part B are worded differently. HealthCare.gov words Medicaid cost in one general phrase: “free or low-cost.”

6. Can a person have both?

This section is here only because official pages read for this guide state it. Each statement is attributed to the page that states it.

Medicare.gov’s Parts of Medicare page says: “If you qualify, you can have both Medicare and Medicaid.”

Medicare.gov’s Medicaid page says: “People who have both Medicare and full-benefit Medicaid coverage are ‘dually eligible.’”

The same Medicare.gov page says: “Medicare pays first when you’re a dual eligible and you get Medicare-covered services. Medicaid pays last, after Medicare and any other health insurance you have.”

The same Medicare.gov page also says, for a person who has Medicare and qualifies for full-benefit Medicaid coverage: “Your state will pay your Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) monthly premiums.”

This page adds no rule of its own about having both. Only the official pages above state these points, and they state them in the words quoted here.

7. Where the official words differ — a short list

8. What to do next

For Medicare questions, Medicare.gov is the program’s own site. Its pages are listed in the Sources box below.

For Medicaid questions, your state Medicaid agency is the office HealthCare.gov and Medicare.gov both point to. Medicaid.gov is the program’s own site. Its pages are listed in the Sources box below.

This page is general information only.

Only Medicare, or your state Medicaid agency, can decide your own coverage. This page cannot decide it, and nothing on this page is a promise that you will get either program.

Sources

Every statement on this page about Medicare or Medicaid comes from one of these official pages, read in full for this guide. Checked November 2026.

Medicare.gov pages:

Medicare.gov, “Get started with Medicare.”
https://www.medicare.gov/basics/get-started-with-medicare

Medicare.gov, “Parts of Medicare.”
https://www.medicare.gov/basics/get-started-with-medicare/medicare-basics/parts-of-medicare

Medicare.gov, “Medicaid” (under Medicare basics, costs, help).
https://www.medicare.gov/basics/costs/help/medicaid

Medicare.gov, “What are Medicare and Medicaid?” booklet, CMS Product No. 11306, May 2023.
https://www.medicare.gov/publications/11306-Medicare-Medicaid.pdf

Medicaid.gov pages:

Medicaid.gov, “Program History and Prior Initiatives.”
https://www.medicaid.gov/about-us/program-history

Medicaid.gov, “Benefits.”
https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/benefits

HealthCare.gov (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) page:

HealthCare.gov, “Medicaid & CHIP coverage.”
https://www.healthcare.gov/medicaid-chip/getting-medicaid-chip/

Also read, and noted in the Honest limits box above:

Medicare.gov, “A Quick Guide to Medicare & Medicaid,” CMS Product No. 12207, September 2026.
https://www.medicare.gov/publications/12207-a-quick-guide-to-medicare-medicaid.pdf

Checked November 2026.

This page is general information only. Only Medicare, or your state Medicaid agency, can decide your own coverage.