You have to pay into medicare to get it.
Medicaid is State-provided medical welfare is for the indigent...like my disabled daughter, who will never be able to work, or my clients, immigrants who never worked here, but their children do, and the kids brought them over when it was still permitted to bring one's elderly parents to live in one's new country....
Medicaid cuts I have not heard happening this year. Food stamps, home help care and cash assistance welfare, yes. The state of Michigan plays games with Medicaid all the time, though. Some years they provide eye glasses and dental care, some years, they don't. It could be true.
It is entirely possible that a person, say a widow, could get the absolute minimum social security as a widow's benefit, and be poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. Medicare doesn't come for free--there is a monthly charge, even if you qualify on your spouse's earnings.
Obamacare was supposed to throw more money at states to pay more people's medical care under Medicaid, and I believe Michigan accepted those funds, but in a squirrelly way. They may not get that money until later.
It is horribly complicated.
I wouldn't even bother debating with this person. I'm sure he has incomplete if not inaccurate information and not enough diligence to find out what's really going on. You would accomplish nothing.