The Social Security Amendments of 1965 established both Medicare and Medicaid

This article examines Medicaid’s evolu-tion over the last four decades in its role as a health insurer for low-income families, a source of health and long-term care (LTC) coverage for people with disabilities, and as the supplement to Medicare for low-income aged and disabled Medicare beneficiaries. Medicaid’s role and impact on each of these beneficiary groups is assessed