Medicare Reform

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Fueled by the national momentum for social reform during the 1960’s, the Democratic controlled Congress was able to overcome the fierce opposition by the medical community and enact the Medicare program as a federally regulated health insurance program for the large population of elderly Americans. In “Introduction to US Health Policy”, Donald Barr highlights that when Medicare was passed in 1965, only about 56 percent of elderly citizens in the United States had any form of hospital insurance. Since aging is an inescapable fate of every person, there was a strong consensus that no American should face financial ruin due to the rising costs of receiving health care during their elderly years which served as a major catalyst for this program’s …show more content…

“Healthcare Politics and Policy in America”, depicts how the increased life expectancy of Americans, technological advancements in the medical field, and minimal government regulation of prescription drug prices have all resulted in inflating rates of health care expenses. Subsequently, Barr illustrates that this inflation of the health care sector, paired with the growing number of individuals that are becoming eligible for Medicare insurance has a correlation with the exponential growth in Medicare expenditures of Parts A and B since this program’s foundation in 1965. As the baby boomer generation reaches their elderly years, Patel and Rushefsky warn that the surge in the number of people currently enrolling in Medicare will put extreme fiscal pressure on the federal budget. Furthermore, the exploitation of the cost plus payment system by hospital providers in charging artificial expenses to receive extra money than the fair profit margin is added for the hospital provider..pharmaceutical drug companies in .Congress’s attempts to restrain the power of these groups through the foundation of the Affordable Care Act and the systematic diagnosis-related group …show more content…

Medicare Part A fails to cover the expenses of patients who are in need of long term catastrophic coverage that exceeds the specified time limits. The novel, “Introduction to US Health Policy”, describes that under this program, hospitalization costs are covered for up to 60 days; additional deductibles are then enacted daily if further treatment is needed with a fixed 150 day cap for receiving Medicare insurance coverage. Another issue that Barr points out is that Medicare Part B fails to cover outpatient custodial care for individuals needing to live in a nursing home since they are unable to care for themselves because this is not a form of active treatment. “Healthcare Politics and Policy in America” reveals that while the Affordable Care Act has made great gains in reducing the “doughnut hole” coverage gap present in most Medicare prescription drug plans, recipients in 2017 will still be forced to pay up to 40% of the plan's costs for covered brand-name prescription

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