Medicare Is A Federal Government Program Essay

Medicare is a federally governed insurance program, primarily serving Americans over the age of 65, younger disabled meeting specific disability criteria, and dialysis

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) had mame dramatic changes in the field of the health care system, especially in Medicare, that will seriously take effect in American seniors. Indeed, much of the health law’s new spending is financed by spending reductions in the Medicare program. In addition to the provider payment reductions, Obamacare significantly reduces payments to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans by an estimated $156 billion from 2013 to 2022.( Elmendorf, letter to Speaker Boehner). About 27 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in MA plans, a system of regulated and private plans competing against each other as an alternative to traditional Medicare. MA plans are attractive to beneficiaries because they offer more generous and comprehensive coverage than traditional Medicare by capping out-of-pocket costs and offering drug coverage to a rasonable

The baby-boomer generation is aging and adding more beneficiaries’ at an increasing rate than ever before and is estimated to impact the federal deficit by over 17% by 2020. Many other countries have National Healthcare that provides better care at a much lower cost. Medicare was the motivation for a universal healthcare plan and a program for the U.S. could have a positive impact. (Starr, 2011).

Many proposals to reorganize Medicare could increase the financial and health risks faced by the vulnerable elderly. Turning Medicare into a premium-support system a voucher set randomly at the value of the second-least-expensive insurance plan could shift costs to elderly households. Increasing the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67 will leave many Americans ages 65 and 66 without insurance. The basic idea of part A Medicare payment is simple. The patient pays a deductible that approximately equal to the cost of the first day in the hospital;

Life expectancy has increased over the last century. With this greater survival rate, there needs to be an increase in the rate of spending for Medicare. Despite what one does to improve their health behavior, the need for medical care cultivates as one ages. This need will continue to increase significantly as medicine continues to modernize.

As this baby-boomer generation continues to age there will be profound effects on the way that money is spent on health care and insurance. With approximately 77 million people turning 65 over the next several years, the amount of government spending on Medicare will greatly increase (Gigante, 2012). Thus, the demand for medical care associated with the aging population will so

Suitable health care would not be possible for the elderly population in America without the assistance of Medicare Part A. Medicare did not come about easily. Currently Medicare spending is more than what is being collected, questioning future solvency. There are many challenges with sustaining Medicare into the future. Medicare’s past struggles, present outcomes, and future challenges confirm that a national health plan is ever evolving to meet the needs of the current population and spending inflation.

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 Federal government’s largest program and provides health care benefits to individuals that are 65 years old or old (Elmendorf, 2013). This program covers over 50 million Americans, including over 8 million disabled Americans (Raising Medicare's Eligibility Age: A Costly Benefit Cut for Senior, 2014). With the baby-boomer generation coming to the age of Medicare eligibility there is an estimated drastic increase in the number of individuals participating in Medicare for their health insurance (Elmendorf, 2013). With this being said some, including the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), believe that increasing the minimum age of eligibility will save the Federal government money (Meyerson,

Medicare and Medicaid has been providing huge benefits for senior citizens and low income families. The one question nobody seems to answer is how are we going to afford this type of insurance? Maya Rockeymoore argues in her article, “Groundless Fears about Medicaid and Medicare,” that we are able to afford this as long as we make good decisions. Rockeymoore claims that we need to keep Medicare and Medicaid or our country will fall apart.

Medicare, enacted on 1965 is a government funded health insurance program which covers the elderly, the disabled and people with end stage renal diseases. With Medicare covering specifically the elderly and the disabled, the cost is usually on the higher side. Medicare has been in action since the last 50 years. Many even approve of expanding Medicare instead of ACA, as Medicare is government funded while ACA has much commercial involvement. Medicare is heavily subsidized and is universally

Medicare is the United States government’s health insurance program for adults 65 and older. It is designed to assist in covering the cost of your health care, but it has its limitations. For instance, long-term care and some expenses are not covered. This means that you need a supplemental policy to cover those additional costs like Medicare Advantage plans.

Due to the upcoming presidential election, the two major political parties, and their candidates, have been focusing on the primary problems that the nation will face. Chief among those problems is the future of Medicare, the national health-insurance plan. Medicare was enacted in 1965, under the administration of Lyndon B. Johnson, in order to provide health insurance for retired citizens and the disabled (Ryan). The Medicare program covers most people aged 65 or older, as well as handicapped people who enroll in the program, and consists of two health plans: a hospital insurance plan (part A) and a medical insurance plan (part B) (Marmor 22). Before Medicare, many Americans didn't have health

The growing concern regarding the financial security of Medicare is one of particular interest to the nearly 72 million baby boomers that become eligible for this government-assisted, and tax-payer bolstered, program over the next two decades. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2010), there will be a rapid increase in baby-boomers between 2010 and 2030, as the entire baby boomer population move into the 65 years and over category (p.3). Political and financial revisions must be made to ensure the security of Medicare as the numbers of individuals paying into this program are soon to be surpassed by the number of individuals drawing-off this program (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). The elderly are also at a disadvantage with transportation to health care visits, picking up prescriptions, and rehabilitation services. There needs to be an establishment of access not only to primary care providers, hospitals, and rehabilitation services, but access to other aspects of the health care system for the elderly population.

After four decades of failure to enact a universal healthcare program, advocates decided to refine their approach in the 1950s, and the strategy that ultimately led to the passage of Medicare and Medicaid was formulated. Wilbur Cohen and I.S. Falk recognized that a health insurance plan focused on Social Security beneficiaries would be much easier to sell than a plan for all Americans. By limiting its benefits to the elderly, Medicare could be portrayed as a program for people who met two important criteria: they had greater need for healthcare coverage and they were especially deserving of public assistance. Because of their age, seniors have relatively high medical costs--when Medicare was passed, average healthcare expenses for people sixty-five or older were twice the average expenses for younger persons. (Orentlicher, D. (2012).