Medicare Spending: Article Analysis

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

However, there is enough fund to pay for 75% of the health care costs of the Medicare beneficiaries till 2024. The eight year extension in the fund of the Medicare is due to the ACA. The Center for Medicare Advocacy (n.d.) stated that the Medicare is working and it is s sound and cost-effective success. Further, it mentioned about Rep. Ryan and some other candidates’ proposal to change Medicare and developing an individual voucher system. It believes that this proposal will not only impact the current Medicare beneficiaries, but also their

The first concern that is affected by cost shifting lies in the Medicare system. Medicare is provided to individuals who are 65 and older to obtain adequate healthcare, as well as decreasing financial worries. The government’s involvement in controlling the healthcare system can be a major disadvantage to the Medicare system, as well as private insurances. Reimbursement from private insurances and Medicare can be affected so severely that obtaining access to Medicare can become a major issue. Furthermore, the repercussion is illustrated by Dr. Lichter’s statement, “Either something happens or the healthcare system is threatened.” Without cost containment, there will be major shifts of costs to private payers and Medicare beneficiaries” (Hayes, 2008).

Due to some of these reforms, the Medicare spending growth rate has decreased. From 2010-2015 the average annual growth rate in Medicare spending was 4.4 percent, which was a decrease from the 2000-2010 spending growth rate of 9 percent (Cubanski & Neuman, 2016). The average annual growth rate of healthcare expenditures on beneficiaries, also, decreased from 7.4 percent in 2000-2010 to 1.4 percent in 2010-2015 (Cubanski & Neuman,

Ladies and Gentleman, many of you are concerned of losing your medical entitlement and if something is not done as soon as possible, the Medicare program will be bankrupt by 2021. Medicare has been scrutinized on how the system is funded and in its comparison to the results of health outcomes as more people are enrolling into the system. It is very difficult to address the federal deficit, our national debt, Medicare, and many economic issues that plague our country. There are many opportunities that are in front of us to reach a resolution in an attempt at saving this healthcare entitlement. I am very concerned on the lack of information on this issue and also the amount of misinformation that is being distributed. I appreciate your invitation to speak at this panel and I will address your concerns about the Medicare Funding crisis. (Roy, 2011)

The essential target of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) was to furnish seniors in the United States with moderate scope for their physician endorsed solutions through the new Medicare Part D professionally prescribed medication advantage. After the MMA was implemented—however before Part D was actualized—there was a disagreement about the cost of the program. In March 2004, the Medicare Chief Actuary affirmed before the House Ways and Means Committee of United States Congress that he was requested by the (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) CMS Administrator to smother his assessments of the ten-year cost of the program, which were considerably more noteworthy than unique Congressional Budget

In the last 10 years funding of Medicare and Medicaid has been on the decline each year. According to the Heritage Foundation (2017) “The law cuts an estimated $716 billion from Medicare over ten years. However, these "savings" are not set aside to preserve Medicare's future” This is a significant amount of resources that were cut from the people in need of these subsidized programs ; and these cuts have resulted in less health care coverage for Medicaid recipients. The cuts have also resulted in poor service for the elderly covered under

Medicare covers over 47 million Medicare Beneficiaries. This includes 39 million seniors and 8 million people under 65 receiving social services disability insurance (SSDI) payments due to permanent disabilities (Kaiser Family Foundation 2010). Medicare accounts for 12% of federal spending, 23% of national health spending, and is critical part of policy discussions related to the federal budget and the 2010 Health Reform Law (Kaiser Family Foundation 2010). Medicare’s financial problems affect the entire budget, and are largely responsible for projected increases in federal deficits (Peter G. Peterson Foundation 2010).

The changes to Medicare where deemed necessary, because many seniors and elderly began to find that prescription medication necessary for their well being was out of reach due to costs (CMS, 2003). An overhaul of Medicare would reverse this; create affordable prescription medication, better and

What is Medicare and Medicaid? Medicare is the federal health insurance program for people who are 65 years or older. Medicare can also be used by Younger people who have disabilities. Medicaid is a jointly funded health insurance program for low-income and needy people. 64 million people are covered by Medicaid.

With the creation of Medicare in 1966 in order to expand access for the elderly to the American healthcare system, the ways in which medicine and its corresponding industries were conducted were irrevocably changed. Prior to its inception, only 65% of people over 65 actually had proper health insurance, as the elderly paid three times as much for healthcare as young people (Stevens, 1998). The private medical sector had much more control over who they would treat, how much they would charge, and more; the passing of Medicare freed up the elderly to have reasonable access to healthcare as a consequence of a lifetime of paying into the system.

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 article I selected discusses the impact that Medicare Advantage Plans have had over Medicare Supplement Plans, or Medigaps, with a company known as Mutual of Omaha. Mutual of Omaha, a company known as a Medicare Supplement provider giant, has announced its entry into the Medicare Advantage market. For many years, the company has helped cover the costs of healthcare not covered by traditional Medicare alone by providing Medicare Supplement plans. Medicare recipients have used these supplements to help compensate the costs of these non-covered benefits. Brad Buechler, a Mutual executive vice president, explains the reason the company had to change its dynamics is because, “Medicare Supplement enrollment is declining and Medicare Advantage

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).