Medicare is a Health Insurance Program for people over the age of 65, under the age of 65 with a disability, or people of all ages with End-Stage Renal Disease। Medicare has two parts. Part A is hospital insurance and Part B is medical insurance. Hospital insurance helps pay for care in hospitals as an inpatient, critical access hospitals, hospice care, or some home health care. Part B helps pay for doctors’ services or other services that Part A doesn’t pay for, such as, physical and occupational therapy. Most people receive Part A automatically and then have to sign up and pay for Part B.
(Source: medicare.gov)
2. When Was it Implemented and Why?
In 1965, as a part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society” project, Medicare and Medicaid were added to the Social Security Act established by Roosevelt in his New Deal. Medicare was drafted as a measure to provide healthcare to the elderly; at the time nearly half of all seniors did not have health insurance. The addition of healthcare for the elderly was proposed and fought for by Kennedy but after his death was carried on my LBJ.
3. Who oversees the policy now to eveluate its effectiveness? How do they do that?
The Office of Management and Budget is responsible for overseeing the federal budget, which includes the budget for Medicare (which is managed by the Department of Health and Human Services).
4. What does the policy cost?
According to Patient Power, "medicare's cost to taxpayers this year will be $25 B larger than last year." Entitlement spending has reached a record of about 14 percent of GDP, and has grown by 81% in the last decade (Heritage Foundation, "Federal Spending by the Numbers").
Image one shows that "surging Social Security, Medicare, and net interest costs are set to crowd out spending on other programs" (Heritage Foundation).
Image two shows Medicare spending in relation to other federal spending (White House website, whitehouse.gov).
5. Is this a good policy? Or should it be changed?
The members of our group range from undecided to neutral to critical. Our group's critics believe that it's bloated and needs to be substantially reduced. Another major concern is that people are receiving benefits that they do not deserve, and that there is too much excess in the program.
