Understanding The Difference
While both Medicaid and Medicare are government programs, they have separate benefits and purposes. Medicare is a solely a federal program, while Medicaid is a state program that is jointly funded by both states and the federal government. Medicare is designed to help seniors afford increased healthcare costs as they experience more health issues with age. Medicaid is meant more to help the poorer populations, regardless of age.
The Options
- Medicare
Medicare is broken down into different parts. Part A and Part B are considered original Medicare, and covers costs like hospital care and basic medical insurance. These are paid for through payroll taxes. Part C is supplemental insurance, and provides additional
Part C also has drug coverage, alone with other disadvantages it is HMO. Patients are limited to doctors and healthcare providers only unless it’s an emergency. Medigap requires members to have Medicare Part A and B to enroll. Medigap only covers the insured, not their spouse, a separate policy will have to be purchased for the spouse.
According to the Basic of the U.S. health care system by Nancy J. Niles Medicare originally was designed as a two – part structure A and B (Niles, 2013). Part A of Medicare is the initial coverage you will get when you enroll in Medicare. Medicare Part A is “primarily financed from payroll taxes” (Niles, 2013). As of 2015 employees contribute 6.2% of their wages to Security fund (Medicare) (fmx , 2015).
Medicare Part C is Medicare Advantage Plan. This a Medicare health plans that is offered by a private company. It contracts with Medicare and provides all the benefits of Part A and B. Medicare Advantage Plans include: Health Manteca Organizations, Preferred Provider Organizations, Private Fee for Service Plans, Special Needs Plans, and Medicare medical Savings Account Plans. Most plans offer prescription drug coverage
Medicaid is a federal and state program that helps with medical costs for some people who have a low income and limited resources. Medicaid is the largest source of funding for medical and health related issues in the United States. It provides medical care for nearly 60 million Americans (Medicaid History). Even though the program is joint between federal and state, the state decides how someone could be eligible for Medicaid.
What are Medicare insurance? Medicare are a federal health program for an individuals between the age 65 and older. Medicare has also helped certain younger people whom suffer from some type of disability and also help individual with kidney failure and need to place on a dialysis machine or need an organ transplant. Medicare insurance was created in the year 1965 it was signed by president Lyndon b, Johnson to help those American at age of 65 who was not covered by health insurance received some type of insurance this insurance will be called Medicare . In the year 1972 Medicare starts to expand their program to people with disability and also patient suffering from kidney failure that required dialysis or needed an organ transplant to
Medicare represents a social insurance initiative with uniform, national rules. It is administered by federal officials and a number of insurance companies employed to manage particular tasks (e.g. part C & part D of the Medicare).
Medicare is national government run program that was developed in 1965. Medicare provides health insurance to Americans aged 65 and older who have worked and contributed to the program throughout their whole life by utilizing around 30 private insurance companies. The program also assists in providing benefits for younger people with disabilities. As well as offering Medicare in the United States a program called Medicaid is also available. Which is also a government run program, Medicaid is a state run program that provides hospital and medical coverage for people with low income (Medicare, 2015). With Medicaid being a state run program that allows each state to have different rules and regulations for who is and isn’t eligible as well as if they move across state lines. The programs listed above have helped many Americans over 65 and have a low income to be able to afford healthcare and receive the proper services for their healthcare concerns and issues. With any program and especially a government program there are going to be people who use and abuse the process which leads to Medicare and Medicaid fraud. There are many forms of fraud in Medicare and Medicaid such as billing for equipment or services that weren’t needed, falsifying health issues, dispensing generic prescriptions but billing for name brand. With there being so many types of fraud and investigations happening more and more due to the fraud that is occurring, people are finding more and more ways to
Medicare is the nation’s largest health insurance program. Generally, you are eligible for Medicare if you or your spouse worked for at least ten years in Medicare-covered employment and you are 65 years old and a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. Medicare-covered services include hospital insurance, inpatient hospital care, skilled nursing facility care, home health care, hospice care, and medical insurance (Medicare U.S.) With such an encompassing effect on the health insurance field, Medicare provides a haven for older individuals, and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients who require the best medical care for whatever possible reason. The only problem with this scenario is
Medicare and Medicaid are both health programs provided by the government and state. They help with financial need for a person’s health. They may sound similar but is different from one another. Medicare is a public health insurance program for people in the U.S. who are 65 or older. They help cover payments for certain treatments. Medicaid is a health care program ran by the state, funded by federal and state governments. It is based off of financial need. As you can see they both provide aid to the people but in their own way.
In 1965, President Johnson signed Title XIX of the Social Security Amendments, which enacted Medicare and Medicaid (CMS, n.d.). Originally, Medicare was composed of Part A and Part B. Part A is covers more medical costs associated with hospital stays, while Part B cover medical costs such as durable medical equipment, nebulizers, some vaccinations (Pneumovax ®, Zostavax ®, and Flu), and some nebulized breathing treatments. The original program was designed to cover disabled individuals and every over the age of 65.
Medicare and Medicaid are two of the United States largest broken systems, which must sustain themselves in order to provide care to their beneficiaries. Both Medicare and Medicaid are funding by a joint effort between the federal government and the local state government. If and when these governments choose to cut funding or reduce spending, Medicare and Medicaid take the biggest hit. Most people see these two benefits as one in the same, two benefits the government takes out of their pay check to help fund health care. While the government does deduct a sum from paychecks everywhere, Medicare and Medicaid are very two very different programs.
Medicare and Medicaid are programs that have been developed to assist Americans in attainment of quality health care. Both programs were established in 1965 and are federally supported to provide health care coverage to vulnerable populations such as the elderly, the disabled, and people with low incomes. Both Medicare and Medicaid are federally mandated and determine coverage under each program; both are run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a federal agency ("What is Medicare? What is Medicaid?” 2008).
Without Social Security, there would be no Medicare or Medicaid. Let’s remember that when the Social Security Act was passed in 1935 by then President Roosevelt there was no provision for any type of medical or health insurance. The poverty rates among the elderly rose sharply, the unemployment rate was high and people were unable to seek medical help when needed because of lack of funds. Parents were unable to feed their children because they were unemployed. With the implementation of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, as stated by the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law both the elderly and the low income had coverage, including those with disabilities—populations that generally have significant healthcare needs and often require very
Medicare was established by the federal government to provide healthcare insurance initially for the elderly and included the disabled a few years after the program’s inception. As of 2013, there were 52.3 million beneficiaries of Medicare, with an average of $11,910 spent on each individual for healthcare, with a total annual budget of $582.9 billion (NCPSSM, 2015). Medicare is funded through two trust fund accounts that are held by the U.S. Treasury: the Hospital Insurance (HI) and Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) Trust Funds (Medicare.gov, 2015). These trust funds are financed by payroll deductions, Social Security benefit taxes, premiums paid by Medicare beneficiaries, interest from investments, and funds furnished by Congress (Medicare.gov, 2015). All of these resources subsidize the Medicare Trust Fund in
One of the biggest differences is Medicaid is a state governed program and Medicare is a federal governed program. Here are some other differences: