Final answer:
Medicaid provides medical insurance to low-income individuals and is required to cover the blind, disabled, and children under CHIP with family incomes below the poverty line. States have flexibility in setting eligibility, leading to variation across states. The ACA attempted to unify eligibility standards by offering additional federal funding, but this has been unevenly adopted.
Step-by-step explanation:
Medicaid is a federal-state joint program created in 1965 to provide medical insurance to certain low-income individuals, including families, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Mandatory Medicaid State Plan benefits are influenced by federal requirements which mandate coverage for critical groups like the blind, disabled, and children under the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) if the family income is below the poverty line. States have autonomy in setting eligibility standards, resulting in diverse eligibility criteria across states. Access to healthcare under Medicaid can be limited as some providers may opt not to accept payments due to lower reimbursement rates compared to Medicare. Financial constraints have led states to reduce certain optional medical services despite Medicaid taking up a significant portion of state budgets after education.
As of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, states were incentivized with federal funding to expand eligibility requirements; however, not all states have adopted these changes, influencing the scope and cost of Medicaid at the state level. In 2020, Medicaid costs were about $627 billion, of which approximately $405 billion was federally funded.