Medicare part D is a subsidized health insurance program to cover for prescription drugs The program was introduced when there was the need to improve drug coverage. The former president George Bush, On December 8, 2003. Signed Medicare Prescription, Drug Improvement and Modernization Act, which created Medicare part D. these program was intended to offer voluntary drug benefits. Medicare part D, since its introduction, has contributed a lot in health insurance, some of its benefits are; 1.
Over 28 million people in the world receive health insurance through the Medicare program (Gornick, n.d.). The medicare program was designed to operate throughout the nation with a set of uniformed benefits and cost-sharing requirements in the form of deductibles and coinsurance. However, over the years the program data indicated that the Medicare premiums and deductibles, benefits paid out varied significantly by state of residence of the beneficiary (Gornick, n.d.). These variations are due to part of the fact that reimbursements are based on local physicians' prices. Many policy analysts suggested that the geographic variations in Medicare reimbursements should be reduced (Gornick, n.d.).
Medicaid is a Federal-State partnership wherein the federal government absorbs the bulk of the expenditure. States are given the flexibility to manage their Medicaid programs as long as minimum federal requirements are met. This arrangement allows states to provide coverage based on their specific structure and needs. 28 States and the District of Columbia signed up for the Medicaid expansions under the affordable care act (David et.al). The states that opted out of the expansions have the most number or uninsured and poor residents.
ealth insurance reform is nothing new. Theodore Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party first call for reform nearly a century ago. Health care has long been a hot topic in the United States (U.S.). For years, there have been debates about the shortcomings of our health care system such as cost, coverage, access, errors and affordability.
You mentioned one of the flaws of Medicare was the prescription drug coverage. This is an extremely important part of the Medicare program. Unfortunately, you are correct about the donut hole associated with Part D coverage. For the most part, the costs of medications are rapidly exceeding the end user’s ability to pay for the drugs. There is a rising demand on the health care system as people are living longer due to better drugs and treatments.
For many in today’s political culture, their perception of the current Social Security system resembles that of an empty childhood promise. Policy makers have begun to invest time and resources into areas of research that help determine whether to continue funding the current system, or to bring about mass reform. Both perspectives offer valid points defending their stance, however, the fundamental backing of a strong Social Security system relies on its ability to procure hardships and economic setbacks while still proving those relying on the payments a deserved sense of economic security. Similar to almost all major political debates there are those advocating for reform, stagnation, and then entering into a state of oblivion. As the
Social Security is a government system that provides monetary assistance to citizens who meet certain requirements. The Social Security Administration was first known as the Social Security Board. It began when President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935. It was renamed the Social Security Administration in 1946 under the Reorganization Plan of 1946. (“Social Security”).
Another recommendation is to change Medicaid so that states like New York and California won’t take as big a hit. These are two of the biggest states in our country, and if everyone in those states had to pay more it could creative massive problems for the state. There needs to be a balance between all the states and lowering the changing in funding per person will not only help California and New York, but also states like Oregon and Washington DC that were going to have to pay more. The last recommendation is to have create guidelines and rules for the states to follow. If states were allowed a lot of freedom and power for health guidelines, this would create problems for the health organizations.
Yet, the new replacement plans raises costs for the older Americans. Unlike the GOP plan, Obamacare limits how much insurers can charge this demographic, stating that they can only charge them up to three times the amount as young Americans (Zurcher). Mainly due to retirees not having a steady income, Obamacare has put this cap on how much insurers can charge. With older American’s health deteriorating and needing more health care, they are able to receive the care they need without having to pay for it all out of savings. With the GOP replacement plan, insurers can charge the older population up to five times the amount of younger consumers of health care and can let the states choose their own ratio (Zurcher).
“Since its creation in 1997, the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), which is the way doctors are reimbursed, has been the source of frustration for doctors and politicians. Congress decided that year that physician spending should be limited if it outpaces the rate of economic growth. So, every year, Congress overrides its own rule because they worry that doctors won't take Medicare patients if the payments are too low”. (Kennedy) This gray area for physicians is very frustrating, so modifications should be made to correct this hindrance.
Medicaid and Medicare were signed into law in 1965. After 50 years, Medicare and Medicaid are still being used by the people of the United States as a form of aid with medical expenses. Medicare and Medicaid has changed over the years to provide more and more Americans with access to quality and affordable health care that is needed (“CMS’ program history,” 2017, p.1). Medicare and Medicaid have progressed over time to become better and more improved for those receiving the services provided by the government. Even though the Medicare and Medicaid services have changed for the better of the services, it has changed too much from the intended use of the services which has led to problems associated with the
No Support for Premium Support Since the its establishment in 1965, Medicare has always enjoyed remarkable favorability and popularity among the American people as a public insurance program. In a poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation on the program’s fiftieth anniversary, 77% of individuals responded that Medicare was “very important,” second only to Social Security. While its importance is well acknowledged among the American public, controversy has sparked on the solvency and the affordability of the social insurance program. Empowered by such debate, policymakers have introduced various reforms to replace the Medicare program, with the most notable being the premium support or voucher program.
Medicare is a federal government health insurance program for individuals 65 or older, under 65 with disabilities, or any age with End Stage Renal Disease of ALS. Medicare Part A covers inpatient hospital stays or skilled nursing facilities. Medicare Part B covers physician visits, outpatient services and some preventive care. Medicare Part D is the prescription drug coverage. Medicare Advantage (Part C) includes Part A, Part B and usually Part D depends on the coverage you choose.
In medicine, Medicare and Medicaid have made health care more inefficient and more expensive. Former ophthalmologist and Congressman Ron Paul tries to give the reader a sense of a time before such entitlement programs existed. Because Medicare and Medicaid were enacted in 1965, over fifty years ago, it is difficult for most Americans to remember a time without them: “the poor and elderly were admitted to hospitals at about the same rate they are now, and received good care […] every physician understood that he or she had a responsibility toward the less fortunate, and free medical care for the poor was the norm” (Paul). Without Medicaid and Medicare, physicians would act in a similar fashion today, since they did so without a government mandate
Free Medicare Services Introduction Good health cutting across all age groups ensures that all individuals become productive for the nation, and thus the nation’s economy prospers. However, unaffordable healthcare has made this fate unachievable. A majority of the aged people struggle to afford basic resources that are required to afford healthcare. Despite reforms such as the Affordable Care Act being introduced in the healthcare sector to regulate Medicare, Medicare remains to be unaffordable to many elderly people (Kaplan, 2011).
