One health insurance program that serves low-income individuals and families who cannot afford healthcare costs is Medicaid. Parents, children, seniors, and anyone with disabilities are supported by Medicaid (NCDHHS, 2014). Medicaid is a federally mandated, state-administered program that is jointly funded by the federal and state governments to provide medical care to qualified individuals (Green & Rowell, 2013). The federal government provides guidelines, but each individual state has its own rules. Each state may require someone to pay a portion of the cost for some of their services (MedlinePlus, 2014). People have different needs and therefore there are different types of coverage for them (NCDHHS, 2014). There are certain requirements to receive Medicaid. These requirements include a person's age, whether they are pregnant, disabled, or blind, their income and assets, and whether or not they are a U.S. citizen (MedlinePlus, 2014). Eligibility varies from state to state. A person who is eligible for Medicaid in one state may not be eligible in another state. Services may also be different in each state, and state legislatures may change Medicaid eligibility requirements throughout the year (Green & Rowell, 2013). Someone is automatically eligible for Medicaid if they receive Supplemental Security Income, Family Employment Assistance, State/Regional Special Assistance for the Aged or Disabled, and Special Assistance for the Blind (NCDHHS, 2014). It is important to understand that Medicaid does not provide medical care to all poor people. There are three groups that qualify for Medicaid eligibility. These three groups are the categorically underserved, medically underserved, and special groups (Green & Rowell, 201…middle of paper…home strategy for getting new Medicaid enrollees into a managed, relationship-based system) . health program (Dickson, 2014). Works Cited Dickson, V. (2014, March 17) Offers Lessons on Serving New Medicaid Patients Retrieved April 18, 2014, from galegroup: http://go.galegroup.com.ezp-02.lirn.net/ps/retrieve .do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DA-SORT&inPS=true&prodId=PPNU&userGroupName=lir n62668&tabID=T003&searchId=R3&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=1&contentSetGreen, M.A., & Rowell, J.C. (2013). Understanding Health Insurance: Delmar.MedlinePlus (2014, Medicaid). Retrieved April 25, 2014, from Medlineplus: http://www.nlm.nih.gov. /medlineplus/medicaid.htmlNCDHHS (2014, April 1). Retrieved April 18. 2014, from ncdhhs: http://www.ncdhhs.gov/dma/medicaid/