> Medicaid is not something anybody wants and in many ways is worse than the ER as a measure of last resort for acquiring care.
Medicaid is almost entirely state run and varies radically from state to state, but in all cases subsumes and goes beyond ER care, so in no way is it "worse than the ER".
> Medicare on the other hand is much better, though still not all that great (it's better than private insurance in many if not most cases).
Basic Medicare is worse than private insurance (and even, in some ways, most state Medicaid plans) in a number of ways (especially in the way that it is segmented, particularly the separate prescription drug portion), and deliberately kept worse to promote publicly-subsidized, privately-run (often for-profit) “Medicare Advantage” plans, which (unlike basic Medicare) are comprehensive and integrated, rather than segmented.
Medicaid is almost entirely state run and varies radically from state to state, but in all cases subsumes and goes beyond ER care, so in no way is it "worse than the ER".
> Medicare on the other hand is much better, though still not all that great (it's better than private insurance in many if not most cases).
Basic Medicare is worse than private insurance (and even, in some ways, most state Medicaid plans) in a number of ways (especially in the way that it is segmented, particularly the separate prescription drug portion), and deliberately kept worse to promote publicly-subsidized, privately-run (often for-profit) “Medicare Advantage” plans, which (unlike basic Medicare) are comprehensive and integrated, rather than segmented.