Article on Changes In Medicaid

Wesley Wright (Attorney, Bellaire, Texas) and Molly Dear Abshire (Attorney, Bellaire, Texas) have published an article entitled, Medicaid Now A Safety Net That Includes Middle Class, Houston Chronicle, Mar. 21, 2012. The introduction to the article is available below:

Medicaid is not just for poor.

Many Americans believe that Medicaid is a welfare program for the indigent. When Lyndon Johnson signed Medicaid into law on July 31, 1965, the program was definitely based on a welfare model. 

That all changed over time as Congress tinkered with the program. Most of the changes first surfaced in 1993, when Congress introduced spousal impoverishment laws to protect a spouse staying at home from becoming impoverished after the other spouse entered the nursing home on Medicaid. This and other modifications made the program a safety net for the middle class as well as the poor.