In this paper, considering just the noninstitutionalized population served by Medicaid, we examin another aspect of the program's heterogeneity. Namely, Medicaid operates a long-term program of health care for two-thirds of its enrollees, but a short-term, stop-gap program for the other third. Whether Medicaid was intended primarily to serve as a permanent source of assistance for a hard core of the needy or as a "safety net" for those experiencing temporary hardships--or both--is not explicit in the statutory eligibility criteria. But then, even Medicaid's extensive long term care program is only the implicit result of its statutory spend-down and medically needy provisions.