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"Just out of curiosity, would you share the short version of why Medicaid, say, is unconstitutional?"

Several reasons:

1) The 10th amendment (the amendment routinely ignored by all branches of the federal government) limits the federal government's powers to those enumerated in the Constitution.

2) The relevant part of the Constitution would be Article I, Section 8, which lists the things for which Congress can appropriate tax money.

3) Article I, Section 8 does NOT mention "medical care for persons in the U.S." as one of the things for which tax money can be appropriated.

4) The common (and nonsensical) perception is that Congress can do ANYTHING it deems for the "general welfare." But Madison (I believe in Federalist 41) pointed out just how absurd that perception is. In fact, he ridiculed the anti-federalists for raising fears that anyone would think that, as proof that the anti-federalists would say anything to scuttle the Constitution. As Madison pointed out, the Founders obviously did NOT intend Congress to spend money on ANYTHING that might be for the "general welfare"...otherwise, they wouldn't have included a specific list, such as establishing a postal service, and coining and regulating the value of money. It's obvious that those things fall under the "general welfare." (In fact, as Madison pointed out, even the "common defence" falls under the "general welfare"!) So if the Founders had intended for Congress to be able to fund ANYTHING that might be considered for the "general welfare" they wouldn't have listed specific things dealing with the general welfare.

5) Even if Article I, Section 8 DID include "paying the medical bills of citizens"...Medicare is obviously NOT for the "general welfare" (let alone the "general welfare of the United States"...I won't even get into that). It's OBVIOUSLY not in the "general welfare" for young people to give their money to old people (or poor people, or any other people) for NO service rendered. (Is it in your "welfare" for a crook to take money from you, for no service rendered?)

6) If the Founders HAD intended the federal government to pay for ANYONE'S medical bills (the poor, the elderly, or ANYONE else) it wouldn't have taken more than 150 years for a Congress to come up with the idea of paying various people's medical bills! (That is one of the simplest preliminary tests for determining whether something violates the Constitution: If the thing didn't even exist for 100+ years after the Constitution was written, and there was no amendment to allow Congress to appropriate money for it, then it's probably unconstitutional. There are of course exceptions, such as the Air Force, which shows why this is just a "simple preliminary test.")

The Founders clearly expected relatives, charities...or even state or local governments...to handle the medical expenses of old people. (And poor people. And everyone else.) It's obvious.