U.s. History And English

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).

The Social Security Act of 1965 established Medicare and Medicaid which are health insurance programs for the poor and elderly people of the United States. It is funded by a tax on the earnings of employees and contributions by the employers. “It is now broadly apparent that those who opposed Social Security in 1935 and Medicare in 1965 were wrong in their fears…” (Nicholas Kristof  “The Wrong Side of History”).

Medicare has had many legislative changes to modernize the program since it was first signed into law. Medicare has assisted many retirees from a financial disaster by providing benefits during a healthcare crisis. The prescription drug program has ensured seniors have access to the medications they require. Medicare has also provided care to the disabled that are under age 65. This national social healthcare program has also come under fire politically because of the extremely high cost of the program.

President Johnson recognized America’s need of support from the government. As it is said in Doc. A “the nations aged now face another aspect of insecurity.”, which is the high costs of healthcare. Abraham Ribicoff, secretary of health, education, and welfare, testified before the House of Representatives in 1961 “with life spans lengthened, with medical science breaking into undreamed realms of discovery”, this statements makes one wonder if the government will aid the older generation as society progresses? Though Johnson was not in office during this time, his later creation of medicare, which survives to this day, provides the elderly with necessary funds to cover costly pharmaceuticals. Not only does medicare aid the elderly but is a form of federal welfare assistance. As stated before, Johnson recognized the

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.

Some elderly, in my opinion, believe that Medicare is an insurance program that they are entitled to. During the Great Society movement in the 40's-60's, various governmental programs were designed to provide citizens entitlements to human services and welfare needs. The Medicare and Medicaid coverage was designed to provide those that do not have any means to pay for health care a way in which they could maintain their health needs - a right that the government and society has deemed every person should be entitled to; their health. So, depending on the culture, upbringing, and personal philosophy of each elderly person, the question whether they feel Medicare is an insurance program or a welfare program is difficult to answer. I would suggest coming at this question from both sides of the argument and state why elderly may view Medicare as an insurance program and why the elderly would view Medicare as a welfare program. Also, a good way to look at this question is to ask for permission to go to a local nursing home or assisted living home and interview a few residents. Ask them

Medicare is health insurance that mainly covers seniors over the age of 65 and disabled people who qualify for Social Security/Disability. Medicare is funded Medicare is funded through 2 trust fund accounts held by the U.S. Treasury. The funds can only be used by Medicare.

There have been government programs in the past which have also attempted to make healthcare more accessible and affordable. Two such prominent programs are Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare provides health care coverage to the elderly, while Medicaid provides coverage to the poor. They were endorsed by President Johnson. However, even with the implementation of Medicare and Medicaid, which were enacted in 1965, there are many who are still uninsured (“Affordable Care Act”) . One of the goals of the Affordable Care Act was to help such individuals receive health care coverage. While attempting to garner support for the law, many of its advocates, including President Obama, also promised that those who already had coverage they were content would be able to keep it.

Medicare is a federally administered health insurance program that was started in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, taking effect in 1966. The Medicare program was aimed at aiding the high percentage of elderly individuals who were without health insurance coverage and thus improve their health. Originally, Medicare provided health insurance coverage for retirees and their spouses 65 years and older. However, in 1972 Richard Nixon signed the first change to Medicare, allowing for certain disabled persons under the age of 65 to participate in the program. Additionally, Nixon’s changes allowed anybody diagnosed with kidney failure who required dialysis or an organ transplant to receive coverage under the program.

Medicaid and Medicare are two different government programs. Both programs were created in 1965 to help older and low-income families be able to buy their own private health insurance. These programs were part of President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” plan, a commitment to helping meet the needs of individual health care. They are social insurance programs, which allow the financial load of patient’s illnesses to be shared by other healthy, sick, wealthy, and lower income individuals and families.

In 1935 the Social Security Act was established to provide Old Age Assistance and Old Age Survivors Insurance and in 1950, then President Truman, held the first of all National Conferences on Aging and the first federal social service programs were funded for the

Ron is very happy as an enrolled participant of Medicare and specifically Medicare Part D. His eligibility for Medicare and the affordability of health insurance at the spry age of 74 was a blessing for Ron and his wife. Like Ron and his wife, many of the elderly depend on payments from government sources for their health care, and there is concern that this part of the system is also in decay. Medicare is a federal health insurance

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).