Resume

Since its establishment in 1965 we have seen Medicare change as people’s needs change however being a federal program these changes do have an incredible amount of lag time. One of the first major changes to Medicare occurred in 1972 when President Nixon signed the Social Security Amendments of 1972 which extended coverage to individuals under age 65 with long-term disabilities, expanded benefits to include some chiropractic services and speech and physical therapy. During this time we see the American public growing tired of the Vietnam Conflict and lack of support and care for those returning Marines and soldiers with severe disabilities. As the protests escalate and the peace initiatives fail a key piece of legislation is signed showing government support and a willingness to extend health care benefits to this growing and vocal population of veterans (The Vietnam War, 1999). Also included in this Amendment is the encouragement of the use of Health Maintenance Organizations, President Nixon’s administration caught in the scandal of Watergate and pending hearings appeased the left and proposed the HMO Act, which Congress passed in 1973 (Phillips, 2003).

The delivery of the U.S. healthcare system has changed drastically over the years from the inception of organized healthcare to today’s underdeveloped system. Prior to the 1920’s,

The positive aspect of implementing the 1965 Social Security Amendments (Medicare/Medicaid), millions of low-income individuals have health insurance to pay their medical care (Rowland, Summer 2015). Without Medicare and Medicaid, many low-income individuals would not be able to pay for hospital care, physicians, prescription drugs, and other needed medical services. The 1965 Social Security Amendments (Medicare/Medicaid) has helped needed individuals have access to health care by eliminating the unaffordable cost burden low-income individuals were at one time faced

Notably, the elderly populace is growing rapidly, and will reach 3.4 million or 12.8% of the population. Eventually, in the next thirty years older adults will comprise of 20% of the total population due to the aging of 76 million baby boomers (Olson, 2001). Seeing that, entitlement programs and means-tested benefits, are presented, in order to bolster this increment of older adults. Accordingly, around 96% of the American workforce is secured by Social Security and it is likewise estimated that 58 million American will receive a total of $816 billion in Social Security benefits (Moody and Sasser, 2015). In fact, today 56 million or 17% of the population is enlisted in Medicare (Leonard, 2015). Therefore, this has presented an open deliberation about the eventual fate of Medicare and Social Security and regardless of whether changing Medicare and Social Security to means-tested benefits, instead of entitlement programs can resolve the policy issues.

As stated in the text, the United States provides a market based health system. Not until recently, the majority of the population could only access the insurance market through an employer based system. The ability to acquire insurance or gain access into the market outside of this medium was, in most cases, exorbitant for the average citizen. Nevertheless, government assistance programs like Medicare and Medicaid were made available to certain demographics of the population who qualified for these programs, such as citizens from the age

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The historical background of Medicare is explained by answering many different questions. One of the historical problems which led the creation of Medicare was that the health costs for the elderly increased dramatically, while a person’s income is also declining. Many of the elderly were unable to afford health insurance, which led to a large amount of people not being covered by any health insurance. There were also certain companies that decided to terminate health policies for those who were considered to be high risk. The problems historically were very important in the fact that insurance companies were charging the elderly too much, and it didn’t just affect those who were already financially unstable. This problem was handled previously by different Federal-State programs that were set in place for medical assistance, but they were not meeting the needs of the people. Often, people were turned away and many were not eligible for the programs.

The creation of a national health insurance program has been a political conversation since the Early 1940s. In 1940, approximately nine of ten Americans lacked health

Having been instituted on July of 1965 by President Lyndon, Johnson, for 50 years now, Medicare has served as a means of of health insurance for individuals 65 and above. This program has served as a means of getting healthcare to the elderly despite their financial situation. Going back as far as 1912, America had long been aspiring to establish a health insurance policy for Americans, but alas, none of these projects ever got real momentum. That was until 1945 when Harry Truman was elected into office. Truman believed health care for every American was an urgent matter so he requested that congress create a National Health Insurance Policy, which would help every American pay for meticulous things such as routine doctor visits, dental care, and other necessities. Despite his dedication, Truman’s plan deteriorated and nothing was accomplished. Finally, in 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson signed for legislation to establish what we all know today as Medicare.Since then, the program has experienced countless changes coming to cover far more Americans. At the time, it only consisted of Part A and B, but over the years, but has come to include C and D as well. Despite having been created in order to help a wider population, the program has been proven to have aspects of it that ultimately harm consumers.

The advance of medical skills and knowledge was leading to improve health care however America did not have the infrastructure for healthcare facilities. The Hill-Burton act helped to move America in to the forefront of medicine with the government sponsored funding matched by local/state to construct health care facilities across the United States (Thomas, 2006). The funding allowed health care facilities to be constructed where otherwise would not have been possible. World War II provided the backdrop for Americans to receive education on their individual health thanks to the training received during basic training (Williams & Torrens, 2008). This was a major turning point for Americans health system even if it was limited to military personnel and their families. Therefore, a large majority of Americans were unable to obtain health care. However, as Franklin Roosevelt faced the end of WWII, he helped lay the groundwork for our national health insurance today’s Medicare/Medicaid system that became a crusade of Harry Truman

The paper is broken up in to three sections. In section one, we will discuss the problems with the American Healthcare system and we will try and clear up some of the often misrepresented facts about the healthcare problems and solutions to fix them. In section two, we will present some of the solutions being put forward to fix the healthcare system, including plans by both Presidential Candidates

On July 30, 1965, Medicare was signed into law by then President Lyndon B. Johnson. The President declared “No longer will older Americans be denied the healing miracle of modern medicine (Johnson, 1965). The Medicare act was implemented to provide the older population of U.S. citizens and those with disabilities and end-stage renal disease with financial security, coverage, and access to healthcare. It’s a federal program that most families will eventually rely on. “As the single largest purchaser of medical services in the United States, Medicare is an important source of income for hospitals, physicians, home health agencies, and other medical care providers” (Oberlander p. 119).

The supply of health care was stimulated by various government initiatives in support of scientific research and hospital construction. The most important piece of social legislation during this period was the 1946 Hospital and Construction Act (also known as the Hill-Burton Act), which provided states with grants to support the construction of new hospitals. However, despite the expansion of both the supply and demand sides of the health care industry, the fundamental organizational structure for the financing and delivery of health care remained intact, according to the postwar in the 1970s. Many people thought that over the years that healthcare wouldn’t increase like it has done now. Health insurance costs have been increasing three times faster than the wages. The total expenditures have begun to increase rapidly with much of the spending was the face of scientific advances and increasing economic prosperity. From the unraveling system, Medicaid has grown quickly in the past years. When they begin to raise the health costs, there have been less visits and poor political

Health care legislation has been an ongoing debut in America for many years. My research will be about the history of the health care system. I will discuss when health care started in America and how far it has gone. I will discuss what is good about health care benefits and what has gone wrong with it. I will also discuss the history of retirement and health care. Social Security was the beginning of health care and retirement. President Franklin D. Roosevelt saw a need and started a battle that appears to be never ending.

President Lyndon B Johnson’s vision for health coverage among elderly continues to provide health for those in need. Prior to 1965, US government didn’t offer health insurance to the elderly or charged high rates that insurance wasn’t affordable. Subsequently, older Americans suffered the consequences of the high healthcare costs. However, Medicare has proved to be significant to a high extent since it benefits America globally, socially, economically, and politically.