Medicare: Health Insurance in the United States and Social Security
Chapter 7:
1. Who is eligible for Medicare? Person eligible for Medicare include individuals ages sixty-five and over, those with disabilities, and those with end-stage renal disease (Hammaker, 2011). here are three basic entitlement categories: persons 65 years of age or over who are eligible for retirement under Social Security or the railroad retirement system, persons under 65 years of age who have been entitled for at least 2 years to disability benefits under Social Security or the railroad retirement system, and persons with ESRD who do not otherwise meet the age or disability requirements. The latter two groups together are known as the "under 65" enrollees (Petrie, 1992).
2. As the baby boomers approach age sixty-five, how many people will soon be eligible for Medicare? What effect will that have on available resources? Soon, over one hundred million people will be eligible for Medicare, meaning the demand will likely exhaust the resources (Hammaker, 2011). Policymakers periodically advocate rising the age of eligibility for Medicare beyond sixty-five to contain program costs, which will grow rapidly once the large baby-boom cohort begins to receive benefits. Proponents argue that improvements over time in the health of the aged population now permit many older adults to work past age sixty-five, which reduces the need for Medicare coverage before beneficiaries reach their late sixties (Davidoff, 2003).
3. What would make more sense than the current Medicare prescription drug coverage, which has a gap? What is a purpose of the gap? Compared to rational catastrophic coverage with a deductible, Part D reduced coverage for people with high expenses (where, in theory, people would have gotten the most economic utility value form coverage) to offer generous coverage for people with low expenses (where, in theory, coverage should be less valuable), to provide most beneficiaries with a return on their premium. While concentrating more of the
1. Who is eligible for Medicare? Person eligible for Medicare include individuals ages sixty-five and over, those with disabilities, and those with end-stage renal disease (Hammaker, 2011). here are three basic entitlement categories: persons 65 years of age or over who are eligible for retirement under Social Security or the railroad retirement system, persons under 65 years of age who have been entitled for at least 2 years to disability benefits under Social Security or the railroad retirement system, and persons with ESRD who do not otherwise meet the age or disability requirements. The latter two groups together are known as the "under 65" enrollees (Petrie, 1992).
2. As the baby boomers approach age sixty-five, how many people will soon be eligible for Medicare? What effect will that have on available resources? Soon, over one hundred million people will be eligible for Medicare, meaning the demand will likely exhaust the resources (Hammaker, 2011). Policymakers periodically advocate rising the age of eligibility for Medicare beyond sixty-five to contain program costs, which will grow rapidly once the large baby-boom cohort begins to receive benefits. Proponents argue that improvements over time in the health of the aged population now permit many older adults to work past age sixty-five, which reduces the need for Medicare coverage before beneficiaries reach their late sixties (Davidoff, 2003).
3. What would make more sense than the current Medicare prescription drug coverage, which has a gap? What is a purpose of the gap? Compared to rational catastrophic coverage with a deductible, Part D reduced coverage for people with high expenses (where, in theory, people would have gotten the most economic utility value form coverage) to offer generous coverage for people with low expenses (where, in theory, coverage should be less valuable), to provide most beneficiaries with a return on their premium. While concentrating more of the
References: Hammaker, D. & Tomlinson, S. (2011). Health Care management and the Law Principles and Applications Sturdevant, M. (24 September). Medicare Prescription Drug Plans Will Drop In Price By 4 Percent. McClatchy - Tribune Business News, Retrieved October 2, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Dateline. (Document ID: 2466733531).