Today’s Huffington Post has a great article on the differences between Medicare and Medicaid – this is often a point of confusion for people applying for Social Security disability. People granted Social Security benefits are eligible for federal Medicare after the first 24 months of checks. Medicaid is a state program, sometimes called something different (e.g MediCal in California, Oregon Health Plan in Oregon) and is a need-based program. It comes with SSI benefits and also for other qualifiying events – many folks with HIV get it, for example. Read On here: