Medicaid is the federal healthcare program provided for people of low income and limited assets. It may sometimes be confused with Medicare, but Medicare is provided for older adults. However, Medicaid and Medicare are often administered jointly, and services for both are sometimes offered by the same agency. Medicaid is funded together by state and federal governments. It is the primary source of funding for medical services for low-income Americans. Beyond just income and asset considerations, there are other bases under which people may qualify for Medicaid. It is also made available to children, pregnant women, people suffering from disabilities and elderly people in need of assisted living care. Preventive dental services are also provided to children and adults under Medicaid. For children under the age of 21, dental care is mandated under the program. For adults over the age of 21, it is optional. Availability of dental services under Medicaid may be limited.
Most recipients are registered for primary care under a specific physician. That physician provides all primary care, and makes referrals to specialists as needed. Any participant who is not already registered with a physician will need to find one to provide services. Only certain doctors accept Medicaid and provide services to its recipients. Finding such a physician can be a challenging part of any doctor search. The agency website provides referrals to physicians by medical specialty and by zip code. Referral services are readily accessible on the website, and a user simply enters a zip code and does a provider search. The website will display a list of physicians, showing physicians by name and specialty with address, telephone number, and distance from the zip code. Additional practice locations are also shown. Clicking on a doctor's name renders a second page, which provides more detailed information on the doctor's practice. A map based website with driving directions to the doctor's office is available, and listings can be saved as needed.
The Internet is one source for information on services and providers. For some people, however, the Internet is unavailable or unusable. In that case, services are also offered by telephone. Searching the telephone book, one looks to the government pages, as set apart from standard commercial listings. Medicaid phone numbers will be found both in federal listings and in state listings, but the service by name will generally be found only in state listings. Under federal listings, one will find only a listing for Medicare. Calling Medicare, however, will also allow one to locate necessary telephone numbers and contact details for physicians.
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