The program costs about $432 billion, or 3.2% of GDP, in 2007. Medicaid is a social welfare (or social protection) program that serves about 40 million people (as of 2007) and costs about $330 billion, or 2.4% of GDP, in 2007.
plural institutes. Learner's definition of INSTITUTE. [count] : an organization created for a particular purpose (such as research or education) They founded an institute for research into the causes of mental illness. an art institute. a technical institute.
institution. n. 1. the act of instituting. 2. an organization or establishment founded for a specific purpose, such as a hospital, church, company, or college. 3. the building where such an organization is situated.. a place for the care or confinement of people, as mental patients. 4. a well-established and structured pattern of behavior or of relationships that is accepted as a fundamental part of a culture: the institution of marriage.