The federal insurance programs I was refering to as such are things like federally subsidized flood insurance for idiots who live in floodplains, hurricane insurance for morons who live on barrier islands, etc-basically, andwhere the feds give people some kind of insurance (at cost to you and me) where the private sector won't, at least not without charging a monster premium (pay them enough and Lloyd's will insure anything) because the risk is too high. Such programs encourage people to do things that aren't smart, and it costs the taxpayers money.
O'Rourke's Dictum: Anytime the government pays you to do something you wouldn't do on your own, it's paying you to do something stupid.
Of course, without federally susidized flood insurance, the entire city of New Orleans would be economically untenable. Then where would we go for Mardi Gras?
And yes, Medicare and Medicaid are definitely at least partially responsible for the rising cost of healthcare.