Nowadays, people are living longer and more fruitful lives. In today’s day-and-age, living to ripe old age of eighty and beyond is no longer a wishful thought. However, as positive as longevity may sound, it does raise some issues regarding Social Security and Medicare. Social Security is mainly financed by payroll taxes which are imposed on employee salaries. In regards to Medicare, it has been initiated to assist individuals with the cost of healthcare. In the following report, it will discuss Medicare and Social Security and examine the impact that they will have in the Future, considering the trends and direction that pertain to gerontology and aging service management.
In the United States, Medicare is the country’s leading healthcare program for individuals who are sixty-five years old and older. Besides the elderly population, Medicare also covers individuals with certain disabilities who are younger than sixty-five years old. Medicare is financed by a part of the payroll taxes which is paid by employees and their employers. Therefore, both employees and employers pay 6.2 percent of income, making up a total of 12.4 percent of earnings. Medicare is also is financed partly by monthly premiums, which is directly
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According to public opinion polls, there is a great amount of support for getting rid of the cap on income subject to payroll taxes—which is approximately $117,000 nowadays—and eventually increasing payroll tax rates on workers and employers from 6.2 percent to 7.2 percent. Another resolution that has been proposed is to extend the retirement age. By extending the retirement age, it can balance the Social Security program because if individuals continue to work, they will contribute to the Social Security system. Thus, by working more, it can increase the total production/services to the national economy and postpone paying out
According to Medicare’s WebPage Medicare is a Health Insurance Program for people 65 years of age and older, some disabled people under 65 years of age, and people with End-Stage Renal Disease (permanent kidney failure treated with dialysis or a transplant). Medicare has two parts, Part A which is for basically hospital insurance. Most people do not have to pay for Part A. In addition it has a Part B, which is basically medical insurance. Most people pay a small monthly fee for Part B. Medicare first went into effect in 1966 and was originally administered by the Social Security Administration. In 1977 the control of it was switched over to the newly formed Health Care Financing Administration. Beginning in July 1973 Medicare was extended to persons under the age of 65 with certain disabling conditions. In 1988 Congress passed legislation to expand the program to cover health care costs of catastrophic illnesses.
Throughout the 20th century governmental responsibility has made remarkable progress. One major milestone of the widening of the responsibility of the federal government was it’s making an obligation to care for the elderly and retired in the form of social security. In 1935, the Social Security Act was enacted by the federal government to provide financial security to the elderly, retired citizens in America. Although the federal government first took on this responsibility in 1935, it is still affecting our lives today. However, social security would not have advanced this far without many organizations and individual reformers to begin and improve social security throughout history.
patient age 65 or older (Williams & Torrens, page 205). The last comparison is Medicare or Medicaid and how they are used in each facility. In the nursing homes, Medicaid pays for 47. percent of all nursing facility care, and residents and their families pay one-third.
Medicare is a social policy many of our seniors look to for their stability when they reach 65
There are several issues concerning the uninsured and underinsured patient population in America. There are many areas of concern the congressional efforts to increase the availability of health insurance, the public image of the insurance industry illustrated by the movie "John Q", the lack of good management tools, and creating health insurance coverage for all low income Americans. Since the number of uninsured Americans has risen to 43 million from 37 million in the flourishing 1990s and could shoot up even more severely if the economy continues to decrease and health care premiums keep increasing (Insurance No Simple Fix, 2001).
Medicare is health insurance for people age 65 or older, under age 65 with certain disabilities and people of any age with End-Stage Renal Disease. There are four subcategories of Medicare. Part A is for hospital stays or, with certain restrictions, at-home care for a limited number of days. Part B is more like regular medical insurance. It covers ambulatory care and physician fees. There is a deductible and are sometimes co-pays as well. Part C is presented as an alternative to parts A and B. It is where private insurance companies can contract with the federal government to offer Medicare benefits through their own policies. It can offer benefits not covered under original Medicare, although there might be a premium charged. Part D is the prescription plan for enrollees. (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2010)
Medicare was designed as a universal healthcare program for individuals 65 years old and older. This program is funded by Medicare taxes and general federal funding withholding taxes. Medicare is a partnership between federal and state with the goal to provide medical insurance to the elderly that is poor and disabled. Generally all people who are 65 years or older and qualify for social security will automatically qualify for Medicare.
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...
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...
Medicare was designed for beneficiaries sixty five years and older and enrollees who are permanently disabled and are unable to work. Medicare benefits are applied for at the Social Security office, where proof of eligibility is required. Medicaid however is health care benefits for those who are low income and do not have insurance through their job (Medicare.gov, 2008).
Medicare is a federally governed insurance program, primarily serving Americans over the age of 65, younger disabled meeting specific disability criteria, and dialysis patients having permanent kidney failure. Medicare is linked to Social Security, is not income based, and is available to every American meeting the requirements of the program. Those entitled to Medicare can select Original Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) and Part B (Medical Insurance) paying co-insurance and deductibles or opt to add Part C (Medicare Advantage Plans) paying a monthly premium and co-payments normally less than the out-of-pocket expenses for Original Medicare.
One in six Americans and mostly all of the population 65 years and older, are covered by Medicare. In 2012, Medicare provided for 50.7 million people, 42.1 million aged and 8.5 million disabled, with a total cost of $574 billion. This is about 21% of national health spending and 3.6% of Gross Domestic Product (Davis, 2013). Medicare, being a social insurance program, is required to pay for covered services provided to enrollees so long as the specific criteria is met. On av...
As the population of the United States ages and lifespan increases, the U.S. is being faced with challenges that could either hurt the country or benefit it if plans are executed correctly. By the year 2050, more than thirty-two million Americans will be over the age eighty and the share of the 80-plus generation will have doubled to 7.4 percent. Health care and aging population has become a great deal considering the impact it is having on the U.S. The United States is heading into another century with an outstanding percentage of people within the aging population. Today’s challenges involving health care and the aging populations are the employees of health professions being a major percentage of the aging population, the drive into debt, and prevention and postponement of disease and disability.
...ue to numerous medical errors. With the amount of medical errors that currently do occur which is a current health care issue it cost the health care billions of dollar each year to fix the mistakes that were made.
Health care has always been an interesting topic all over the world. Voltaire once said, “The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.” It may seem like health care that nothing gets accomplished in different health care systems, but ultimately many trying to cures diseases and improve health care systems.