Medicare: A Liberal Welfare Regime

Due to the rising costs of healthcare in the last century, individuals in the United States have become reliant on insurance to pay for medical services. Insurance, initially born from single hospital plans, has grown into a national industry accepted by hospitals around the country (Fein, 1999). The growth of the healthcare industry, facilitated by increased medical technology, has enabled hospitals to treat diseases and extend lives. However, with medical advances has come an increase in price. Healthcare has become a commodity that very few can afford without the help of insurance. In the United States, healthcare and insurance are growing issues on the state and national level. Many of the current healthcare policies in the United States

This classification is based on the complicity of the funding of the system. While Medicare is defamilialized, a trait seen in both the social democratic and liberal welfare regimes, it is not completely decommodified in the fact that it does not allow retired individuals to live completely free from the paid-labor market due to many Medicare recipients being responsible for deductibles and in some cases premiums. This would suggest the Medicare is a liberal welfare regime. However, a liberal welfare regime is completely funded by the market. While a part of Medicare is funded by the market, another portion of funding for Medicaid, especially Part A comes from the government and citizens. This is a trait that is associated with a social democratic welfare

Because it is largely a state run program, each state has its own insurance policy and coverage. Ohio Medicaid provides Medicaid coverage to low-income individuals, pregnant women, infants and children, older individuals and individuals with disability. To be eligible, the individual must be an Ohio resident, be a US citizen/meet one of the Medicaid citizenship requirements and meet the financial requirements. Ohio Medicaid provides comprehensive coverage that includes preventative care, addiction treatment, dental, mental health and vision (Ohio Department of Medicaid). This care is funded by both the state and federal government though tax revenue.

From Esping-Anderson’s typology, Medicaid would be classified as a social democratic welfare regime. Medicaid is defamilialized and decommodified. In addition, the government and citizens through tax revenue funds it. The one area that does not fit with the traditional social democratic system is that it is not universal. However, it can be argued that the program attempts to promote equality by providing insurance to those who cannot afford