Medicaid is a Subsidy for the Healthcare Industry

The Weekly Standard published a report from the U.S. Senate Budget Committee about "welfare" recipients.  They wrote:

Food stamps and Medicaid make up a large--and growing--chunk of the more than 100 million recipients. "Among the major means tested welfare programs, since 2000 Medicaid has increased from 34 million people to 54 million in 2011...

But 54 million is a highly misleading figure.  It should be clear that sick people are not the primary benefactors of medicaid.  



Medicaid taxes are paid to health care service providers.  For-profit hospitals, universities, non-profits, churches, doctors, nurses, medical equipment suppliers, technology companies and hospital administrators are the primary recipients of medicaid.  

The medicaid program is welfare but not for the poor.  It's welfare for upper-middle income workers in the health care service profession.  Their already comfortable standard of living is supercharged by the state.    

If medicaid really benefited poor families then the U.S. and state treasuries would simply write a check to low-income earners when they become sick.  That would be real health care insurance.    

The primary reason they write the checks to medical professionals is because very poor people often don't vote and almost never organize politically.  Upper income earners like doctors, nurses, religious groups and university employees almost always vote, and logically choose to continue to receive welfare from taxpayers.