Medicare has been providing health insurance to people since the signing of the social security act in 1965. Signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson as an amendment to the social security legislature, Medicare became one of the biggest health programs to help people aged 65 and over and to those 65 and under with disabilities. The program has helped these people significantly with their health requirements. Today our economy is under financial stress having a debt accumulation of around 54 trillion dollars, eighty trillion being Medicare liability alone. This debt effects Medicare beneficiaries financial funding, this is bad for many people who have a poverty level income. Now the only way we can accommodate these cuts in Medicare is by paying out of our pockets. The younger generation has a duty to the elderly and our disabled brothers. Although it seems unfair for us to pay for Medicare, it is up to us to keep the program going for these people. Unlike social security some of the costs of Medicare come from federal revenues. Meaning it comes from our taxes. With the deficit at a large rate, the federal revenue must spend as less as possible to maintain our debt. This also means that we, the tax payers, must pay more to meet the debt requirements. "The way that they work is that as costs rise, they just result in bigger taxpayer burdens on future generations.” (Angle, 2011). Pertaining to the debt crisis is more for Medicare then most federal revenues. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House budget committee says in his words. "The economic day of reckoning is right around the corner. Because the tens of trillions of dollars of unfunded liabilities are right out there in front of us,” he also mentions. "Medicar... ... middle of paper ... ...niors, Fox News- Politics, Cox, He, Mclean, Russel, Tse, Waananen. (2011) . Charting the American Debt Crisis, New York Times- Politics Hogan Christopher, Lunney June, Gabel Jon and Lynn Joanne ,Medicare Beneficiaries’ Costs Of Care In The Last Year Of Life, Health Affairs, 20, no.4 (2001):188-195, Wilensky Gail R Health Affairs, 22, no.6 (2003):8-10 H J Aaron and R D Reischauer, The Medicare reform debate: what is the next step?, Health Affairs, 14, no.4 (1995):8-30, (M.A Kelly.., D Angus,., D.B Chalfin, , E. D Crandall,., D Ingbar,., W Johanson,., & J. S Vender,., 2004). (2004). The Critical Care Crisis in The United United States (American Psychological Assoc), Paying For Performance: Medicare should lead. (2003). Health affairs,22(6), 8-10. Doi:10.1377/hlthaff.22.6.8 (American Psychological assoc.),
One thing that I have learned about college is that you have to sometimes talk about things that make you uncomfortable or scared in order to learn. I do not think I am alone in saying that the United States’ current debt situation is terrifying. Ten trillion dollars alone is an expansive and unimaginable amount of money, and since PBS produced Ten Trillion and Counting in 2009, the national debt has grown to twenty-one trillion. As stated, the documentary was produced during the first months of former President Barack Obama’s first term and focused on former President George W. Bush’s relationship with national debt during his eight year tenure. Ten Trillion and Counting explains some of the questionable decisions that former President Bush made, especially regarding fiscal policy.
The answers to the questions are fairly obvious, but in fact this is exactly what the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 did to hospitals across the country. By substantially lowering the payments for Medicare patients, the government forced many hospitals and out of business and managed-care companies to stop caring for Medicare patients.
(II) The enacting of Medicare Part D in 2006 only helped to fuel America’s hunger for prescription medication. In 2003, President George W. Bush announced and signed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (also known as the Medicare Modernization Act, or MMA) on December 8th. The roughly $400 billion dollar measure was marketed to the American public as something that will provide care for the millions of senior citizens who, at the time, were struggling to afford prescription medication. This was the largest development of Medicare since 1965, which is when the program was initially created, and gave hope to those wishing for positive medical reform. According to title XI of the “Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003”, the most significant change will be the affordability of prescription drugs by implementing the importation of drugs from Canada, along with necessary safety measures, in order to lessen the cost (United States Congress, 832). For those who were in retirement homes and lacked a steady income, the affordability of drugs was often a deciding factor in the decision to seek medical attention and the idea that those individuals ceased to live simply because they lacked the funds tugged at the heartstrings of many Americans.
For decades, one of the many externalities that the government is trying to solve is the rising costs of healthcare. "Rising healthcare costs have hurt American competitiveness, forced too many families into bankruptcy to get their families the care they need, and driven up our nation's long-term deficit" ("Deficit-Reducing Healthcare Reform," 2014). The United States national government plays a major role in organizing, overseeing, financing, and more so than ever delivering health care (Jaffe, 2009). Though the government does not provide healthcare directly, it serves as a financing agent for publicly funded healthcare programs through the taxation of citizens. The total share of the national publicly funded health spending by various governments amounts to 4 percent of the nation's gross domestic product, GDP (Jaffe, 2009). By 2019, government spending on Medicare and Medicaid is expected to rise to 6 percent and 12 percent by 2050 (Jaffe, 2009). The percentages, documented from the Health Policy Brief (2009) by Jaffe, are from Medicare and Medicaid alone. The rapid rates are not due to increase of enrollment but growth in per capita costs for providing healthcare, especially via Medicare.
The bill created a Job Corps similar to the New Deal Civilian Conservation Corps; a domestic peace corps; a system for vocational training. The bill also funded community action programs and extended loans to small businessmen and farmers. This helped people to get jobs with good wages.Then came the Medicare Act of 1965 which help people to get better health coverage. “No longer will older Americans be denied the healing miracle of modern medicine. No longer will illness crush and destroy the savings that they have so carefully put away over a lifetime so that they might enjoy dignity in their later years” (1) In 1964 more than 44 percent senior had no health coverage or insurance. Senior citizens were dragged down to poverty as they were not able to pay the medical bills. But after the Medicare Act of 1965 which provide everyone with the medical coverage of all people age 65 and above this issue was almost solved. Along with the Medicare, the Johnson Administration established the Medicaid program to provide healthcare to the poor. Different from Medicare, this Federal-state partnership is largely determined in form and construct by each individual state. In the first three years of the program, nearly 20 million beneficiaries were enrolled
Ghosh, C. (2013). Affordable Care Act: Strategies to Tame the Future. Physician Executive, 39(6), 68-70.
Peterson, Mark A. "It Was A Different Time: Obama And The Unique Opportunity For Health Care Reform." Journal Of Health Politics, Policy & Law 36.3 (2011): 429-436.Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
The US has been in and out of debt countless times throughout history, going as far back as the Civil War. However, debt did not become a truly relevant problem until much later, in the 1980s (Budget Deficits). Up to that point, large budget deficits were generally only allowed during wartime, but this pattern ended after the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s New Deal meant that the government spent much more than it previously did, even after the economy improved (Budget De...
Reese, Philip. Public Agenda Foundation. The Health Care Crisis: Containing Costs, Expanding Coverage. New York: McGraw, 2002.
The national debt is usually a frightening topic citizens of any country, however, in the United States, twenty trillion dollars of national debt is one of the major fears of the economy. Along with this fear comes every politician claiming to be the person to lower this astronomical debt to ease concerns in the modern American economy. In Hamilton’s Blessing, John Steele Gordon tries to alleviate these concerns by showing a plethora of benefits and good the debt has been able to do throughout the history of the United States. The central premise of the book and the main guideline for John Steele Gordon’s thinking is that the debt was used to save the Union in the 1860’s, the American economy in the 1930’s, and the wellbeing of mankind during
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.
Berman, M. L. (2011). From Health Care Reform to Public Health Reform. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 39(3), 328-339. doi:10.1111/j.1748-720X.2011.00603.x
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 and Medicaid are two of the United States largest broken systems, which must sustain themselves in order to provide care to their beneficiaries. Both Medicare and Medicaid are funding by a joint effort between the federal government and the local state government. If and when these governments choose to cut funding or reduce spending, Medicare and Medicaid take the biggest hit. Most people see these two benefits as one in the same, two benefits the government takes out of their pay check to help fund health care. While the government does deduct a sum from paychecks everywhere, Medicare and Medicaid are very two very different programs.
All but four countries in the world has external debt (“Country Comparison: Debt External”). Having a debt is almost as common as having a mortgage. Since its establishment, The United States has always been in debt (“Historical Debt Outstanding – Annual”). The US national debt has had five sharp increases previously in its history. The reasons include civil car and the two World W...