“Medicaid, the joint federal-state health care program for the poor and near poor, is the largest single expenditure by state governments today. At the rate the program is growing, it is on a course to consume the entire budgets of state governments in just a few decades. Although Medicaid is commonly assumed to be a health program for welfare recipients, there are 10 times as many people on Medicaid as there are receiving welfare checks. … Including Medicare and other public health care spending, the average family of four is spending more than $11,000 on other people’s health care — more than the cost of health insurance for such a family in almost all states. … It is commonly assumed that Medicaid enrollment is preferable to being uninsured, but little thought has been given to the actual effects of Medicaid on the people it serves.” (09/28/06)