Medicare and Medicaide

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Medicare and Medicaid together "are the single biggest contributor to [the United States] long term [budget] deficit." This idea was expressed by President Obama during his 2011 state of the Union Speech. After saying this, the president said that health care costs need to be reduced, including these two services. Medicare and Medicaid are beneficial to those who receive their services, and the criteria for eligibility currently allow many to qualify for either program. This is most likely the cause of the major deficit that the president spoke of. However, downsizing or eliminating these programs to lessen the deficit will affect many people and their ability to receive healthcare.

In 1965 President Johnson signed both Medicare and Medicaid programs into law (Nile, 2011). According to Medical news today, “Medicare is a social insurance program that serves more than 44 million enrollees as of 2008” (MediLexicon International Ltd, 2011, para2). It cost about $432 billion or 3.2% of GDP, as of 2007(par2).Medicare is broken down into parts, Part A is hospital Insurance Part B is medical Insurance, and Part D is Medicare prescription drug coverage (medicare.gov). Like we previously stated Medicare is a health insurance for people who are 65 and older, people under 65 with certain disabilities, and people of any age with End- Stage Renal Disease. Medicaid is a joint federal-state program of medical assistance for low income persons (Benefit.gov). It is administered by the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) and Illinois Department of Public Aid (IDPA). Medicaid serves about 40 million people as of 2007; it cost $330 billion, or 2.4% of GDP, in 2007.(par.2) “In Illinois you may be eligible for Medicaid if you are a child, pre...

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Polsky, D. (2009, June). The health effects of medicare for the near-elderly uninsured.. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=105&sid=a55fa2f1-dfd5-41b9-a739-d67a1b9ba856%40sessionmgr114&vid=3&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=39772605

Department of Health & Human Services, Initials. (2011). Medicare. Retrieved from http://www.cms.gov/home/medicare.asp

Ormond, B., Spillman, B., Waidmann, T., Caswell, K., & Tereshchenko, B.. (2011). Potential National and State Medical Care Savings From Primary Disease Prevention. American Journal of Public Health, 101(1), 157-64. Retrieved February 23, 2011, from ProQuest Psychology Journals. (Document ID: 2233850141).

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