Although the populations served by social programs such as Medicaid and consumer bankruptcy likely overlap, policymakers tend to look at individual programs unilaterally. The result of such an incremental approach to policy reform is a fragmented social safety net system in the United States. This study attempts to empirically validate a relationship between social programs by providing a state-level analysis of the relationships between the generosity of Medicaid enrollment criteria, the richness of Medicaid benefits, and uninsurance with state rates and types of consumer bankruptcy filings. Limited support suggests that Medicaid might serve as a substitute for consumer bankruptcy in some circumstances. Further, results indicate that states' forfeiture of benefit richness for increased enrollment numbers might actually cause financial hardship to consumers, eventually leading to bankruptcy. Policy implications concerning state Medicaid programs are offered for these findings.