Medicare and Medicaid are programs that have been developed to assist Americans in attainment of quality health care. Both programs were established in 1965 and are federally supported to provide health care coverage to vulnerable populations such as the elderly, the disabled, and people with low incomes. Both Medicare and Medicaid are federally mandated and determine coverage under each program; both are run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a federal agency ("What is Medicare? What is Medicaid?” 2008). Distinguishing between Medicare and Medicaid 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. Medicaid is an assistance program for low-income people regardless of age. A federally mandated program, Medicaid is run by state and local governments under the established federal guidelines. Income and resource levels are the primary means for each state to determine eligibility with the level varying from state to state. Eligibility is also affected by other factors such as age, whether you are pregnant, if you are blind or have other disabilities, and U.S. citizenship or lawful immigration status. Some states req... ... middle of paper ... ...//permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps70995/state.gov/etexts/oecon/index.htm File, T. & Crissey, S. (2010 ). Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2008 – Population Characteristics. Retrieved August 21, 2010 from http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p20-562. “Medicare and the New Health Care Law — What it Means for You.” (2010). Medicare Publications, http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/11467.pdf Kenney, G. M. & Cook, A. (2010). Potential Impacts Of Alternative Health Care Reform Proposals For Children With Medicaid And Chip Coverage. The Urban Institute Health Policy Center. Retrieved August 20, 2010 from http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/411993_CHIP_coverage.pdf Explaining Health Care Reform: Questions About Medicaid’s Role. (2010). The Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved August 20, 2010 from http://www.kff.org/healthreform/7920.cfm
Michigan also has a Medicaid program that is available to all low-income adults that are permanent residents of Michigan. This Medicaid program is subject to an income and asset test (MDCH, 2014). If the person does not pass the income and asset test, they may still qualify but will have to pay a deductible before benefits would start (MDCH, 2014). This is called the Medicaid “Spend-down” Program (MDCH, 2014).
When America was first established, they had the highest voting turnouts ever in American history. Ever since, America’s voting turn-out has dropped (Fortin). The reason for the high turn outs were because American colonists wanted change from the British’s electoral system. As history writes, American colonist rebel and over time becomes one of the greatest countries ever. Today, Americans are one of the worst countries in vote to registration as they rank 120 in the world (Pintor). Over the summer, I got to learn more about Ohio’s electoral system and voting turn outs in a first hand experience. A decreasing number of voting to registration is not only a national problem, but a local issue as well and there are creative ideas in fixing these
Voting is one of the citizens’ rights living in a country. In the past, not everyone can vote. Voting used to be for only white American men. However, our ancestors fought for that rights. Eventually, any American who are older than eighteen can vote, despite their race or gender. In addition, voter turnout is used to keep track of the voting. It is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election. Unfortunately, the voter turnout has been decreasing over time, and it means that there are less and fewer people who actually show up and vote. This essay will discuss the voter turnout in Harris County, Texas.
Holder, Kelly. "Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2004." US Census Bureau. N.p., 1 Mar. 2006. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. .
"Voting and Registration." United States Census Bureau. U.S. Census Bureau, 08 May 2013. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
One of the most controversial topics in the United States in recent years has been the route which should be undertaken in overhauling the healthcare system for the millions of Americans who are currently uninsured. It is important to note that the goal of the Affordable Care Act is to make healthcare affordable; it provides low-cost, government-subsidized insurance options through the State Health Insurance Marketplace (Amadeo 1). Our current president, Barack Obama, made it one of his goals to bring healthcare to all Americans through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. This plan, which has been termed “Obamacare”, has come under scrutiny from many Americans, but has also received a large amount of support in turn for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include a decrease in insurance discrimination on the basis of health or gender and affordable healthcare coverage for the millions of uninsured. The opposition to this act has cited increased costs and debt accumulation, a reduction in employer healthcare coverage options, as well as a penalization of those already using private healthcare insurance.
Ghosh, C. (2013). Affordable Care Act: Strategies to Tame the Future. Physician Executive, 39(6), 68-70.
Reese, Philip. Public Agenda Foundation. The Health Care Crisis: Containing Costs, Expanding Coverage. New York: McGraw, 2002.
Since the initiation of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, Americans have been put back in charge of their individual health care. Under this new law, a health insurance marketplace provides a haven for individuals without insurance to gain coverage. Just this year, citizens found out early whether they qualified for Medicare or the CHIP formally known as the Children’s Health Insurance Program. So much is to be learned about the Affordable Care act and this paper provides the roles of the different governmental branches, along with other important factors associated with this law.
The author also believes that the Medicaid expansion extends beyond the politics, and has an aim to impact the life, health, and financial stability for the state and individuals. Medicaid expansion can be beneficial to many countries that have a large proportion of low-income people that are uninsured and or with disabilities. This can aid in saving the state money because much of the cost is provided and covered by the federal government, that encourages healthier behavior and results to a reduction in chronic disease due to lower health care costs. Although Texas opted out in adopting the expansion, legislators should decide on the advantage and disadvantage of participating in the Medicaid expansion to improve the welfare of the state. The expansion of Medicaid coverage will give low-income pregnant women the chance to reduce the rate in infant mortality and provide an opportunity for those that were unable to get coverage to be
Medicare is the nation’s largest health insurance program. Generally, you are eligible for Medicare if you or your spouse worked for at least ten years in Medicare-covered employment and you are 65 years old and a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. Medicare-covered services include hospital insurance, inpatient hospital care, skilled nursing facility care, home health care, hospice care, and medical insurance (Medicare U.S.) With such an encompassing effect on the health insurance field, Medicare provides a haven for older individuals, and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients who require the best medical care for whatever possible reason. The only problem with this scenario is that doctors are turning many older patients away because they have Medicare. Why do doctors turn away Medicare patients? Is there a reason why certain doctors turn away certain patients?
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).
The United States presidential election of 2012 was the 57th presidential election. The election was held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. The Democratic political leader was the incumbent President Barack Obama, and his candidate was vice President Joe Biden. Throughout this election the proportion of eligible voters who cast ballots shows that the rate was lower than in the past two presidential elections. Voter turnout decreased from 62.3 percent of eligible citizens voting in 2008 to an estimated 57.5 in 2012. The above calculation was also below the 60.4 percent in 2004 election, however above the 54.2 percent turnout in the 2000 election. Despite a rise of over eight million voters within the fitted population, turnout dropped from 131 million voters in 2008 to an estimated 126 million voters in 2012. When all ballots were computed, some 93 million eligible voters didn’t vote. There must be some contributing factors to see why there's a decline in voters’ turnout.
Medicaid is a joint federal-state health insurance program. In most states it is called Medicaid, but three states have renamed it. California calls it Medi-Cal,
Health care is the maintenance and improvement of physical and mental health, especially through the provision of medical services. The United States does not have a single nationwide health care system. Health insurance can be purchased through private marketplace or it’s provided by the government to certain groups. Private health insurance is usually purchased from various for-profit commercial insurance companies or from non-profit insurers. The two major types of public health insurance, both of which began in 1966 are Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare is a uniform national public health insurance program for aged and disabled individuals. The second type of public health insurance program, Medicaid, provides coverage for certain economically