The Economics Of Medicare II. Introduction Clearly, the Medicaid program is ripe for a major overhaul, a task that the federal government has thus far been unwilling to undertake. I chose this topic because I believe that the Medicaid program can be rescued and revitalized by leadership; otherwise, it is likely to be eroded. Medicaid is a government-sponsored program whose objective is to provide patients with health assistance upon meeting specific criteria. Medicaid is an insurance program that is available for disadvantaged persons, including the elderly, who cannot afford health benefits because of low incomes or other factors. This program is subsidized by government funds and in many instances, will cover the costs of basic medical care as well as specialized testing and supplies. What are the problems with Medicaid and what should be done about them? This paper will look at 6 articles about the economics of Medicaid and analyze what should be done about this problem. III. Summary of Article #1 In the article titled, "Health: Medicare and the Economy," by: Dean Foust, found in Business Week and published in 2004, it is stated that, cuts in Medicare would be bad for hospitals and other managed-care providers. Although the United States is considered the strongest country in the world, there are numerous political, social, and economic issues that require reform to improve our way of life. Reform is needed for the health care system in order for Americans to live a life that is both safe and prosperous. Health care and prescription drug costs, whose escalating prices have caused many Americans to go without adequate medical care. Health care is one of the most controversial issues in the news right now. The co... ... middle of paper ... ...one the rising costs of health care costs is going to overwhelm the U.S. economy. Works Cited HEALTH: MEDICARE AND THE ECONOMY, By: Dean Foust, 6-28-04, Business Week MEDICARE: ISSUES IN THE POLITICAL ECONOMY, By: Jonathan Oberlander, Feb. 2001, Journal of Health Politics AN UNHEALTHY ECONOMY, By: Paul Barr and Jeff Tieman, 11-29-02, Modern Healthcare MENDING MEDICARE, By: Bruce C. Vladeck, Spring 2000, Issues in Science & Technology EFFECTS OF MEDICAL RESEARCH ON HEALTH CARE AND THE ECONOMY, By: Herbert Pardes, Kenneth G. Manton, Eric S. Lander, H. Dennis Tolley, Arthur D. Ullian, Hans Palmer, 01-01-99, Academic Search Premier HEALTH CARE REFORM IN THE 1990S: AN ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEMS AND THREE PROPOSALS, By: Robert F. Scuka, Sept. 1994, Social Work
The two major components of Medicare, the Hospital Insurance Program (Part A of Medicare) and the supplementary Medical Insurance program (Part B) may be exhausted by the year 2025, another sad fact of the Medicare situation at hand (“Medicare’s Future”). The burden brought about by the unfair dealings of HMO’s is having an adverse affect on the Medicare system. With the incredibly large burden brought about by the large amount of patients that Medicare is handed, it is becoming increasingly difficult to fund the system in the way that is necessary for it to function effectively. Most elderly people over the age of 65 are eligible for Medicare, but for a quite disturbing reason they are not able to reap the benefits of the taxes they have paid. Medicare is a national health plan covering 40 mi...
During the study of various reforms that were proposed and denied, both the GOP and Democrats attempted to find a balance that would guarantee the success of their proposals. Years of research, growing ideologies, political views and disregard for the country's constitution sparked an array of alternatives to solve the country's healthcare spending. The expenditure of US healthcare dollars was mostly due to hospital reimbursements, which constitute to 30% (Longest & Darr, 2008). During the research for alternatives, the gr...
Sommers, B. D., & Epstein, A. M. (2010). Medicaid expansion—the soft underbelly of health care reform. New England Journal of Medicine
The U.S. spending on health care is an outlier compared to other industrialized countries. On an individual basis heath care in the U.S is approximately double what other industrialized countries spend. On a total spend basis, the $3 trillion currently consumed in this sector represents the world’s fifth-largest economy. This high spending on healthcare is unsustainable in the long term. Businesses, individual consumers, and the government are consequently not insulated from the shrinking economic growth due to the ramifications of the high healthcare costs. In a global competitive market the U.S. business will lag behind other industrialized countries unless these high healthcare costs are curtailed. In addition, individuals, even those with insurance face the grim prospect of bankruptcy due to the high cost of care.
Reese, Philip. Public Agenda Foundation. The Health Care Crisis: Containing Costs, Expanding Coverage. New York: McGraw, 2002.
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.
Rettig, R. A. Medical innovation duels cost containment. Health Affairs 13 (3): 7-27. 1994. Web 7 Feb 2012.
American people look at their insurance bills, co-pays and drug costs, and can't understand why they continue to increase. The insured should consider all of these reasons before getting upset. In 2004, employee health care premiums increased over 11 percent, four times more than the rate of inflation. In 2003, premiums rose 10.1 percent and in 2002 they rose 15 percent. Employee spending for coverage increased 126 percent between 2000 and 2004. Those increases were lower than expected. (National Coalition on Health Care, 2005, Facts on health care costs). Premiums have risen five times faster than workers wages, on average. If medical spending continues to rise by just two percent more than personal income, by 2040 Medicare and Medicaid would hit 18.5 percent of the gross domestic product, leading the federal deficit to be 20.7 of the gross domestic product. (Melcer, R., 2004, St Louis Post-Dispatch, Rising Costs of healthcare pose huge challenges).
Medicaid is a broken system that is largely failing to serve its beneficiary’s needs. Despite its chronic failures to deliver quality health care, Medicaid is seemingly running up a gigantic tab for tax payers (Frogue, 2003). Medicaid’s budget woes are secondary to its insignificant structure, leaving its beneficiaries with limited choices, when arranging for their own health care. Instead, regulations are set in order to drive costs down; instead of allowing Medicaid beneficiaries free rein to choose whom they will seek care from (Frogue, 2003)
In the United States, there are more than thousands of Americans who do not have the means to support themselves, hence they seek government benefits. Also, many people cannot afford proper insurance. For the Americans who are on public assistance, one of the biggest forms of assistance that the government offers is Medicare. Medicare is one of the many matters that are controversial ...
Medicare is a federally funded program that provides health insurance to Americans with end-stage renal disease, those at age 65, and younger people who qualify for Social Security disability benefits. It was initially passed as Part A (hospital care) and Part B (outpatient care) until the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 was created. Under this act, Part C (aka Medicare+Choice, now Medicare Advantage) combined A and B into a voluntary managed care program. Later, voluntary Part D was created, offering outpatient prescription coverage. Medicare expenditures increased from $4.2 billion in 1967 to $205 billion per year by 2000, $554.3 billion in 2011, and it’s expected to surpass $1 trillion by 2022. Medicaid provides free or low-cost healthcare
Niles, N. J. (2011). Basics of the U.S. health care system. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
The most important component of health care reform system in the United States of America is economic transformation. In the first instance,
This will cause Medicare to go bankrupt in the near future. There are only two main approaches that can be taken to slow the health care cost growth. We can reduce spending on high-cost medical care that produces little to no benefits to the patient, or we can reduce spending on the high cost care that produces some benefits, but at an even greater increase in cost. Either of these solutions would cause some rationing and very important but difficult decision making to