The History Of Medicare And Its Evolution From 1945 To 2010
Medicare it a national government health care insurance program designed mostly the benefit of seniors, aged sixty-five and older. Medicare also has provisions for younger people with certain disabilities and for patients with end stage renal disease. Some would say that the history of medicare goes back to 1945 when Harry Truman was President of the United States. At the very least, Truman’s efforts to establish a national health care plan were the beginning of the idea that ultimately resulted in today’s Medicare.
In 1945 Harry Truman was called a socialist. Today the same label has been pinned on President Obama. Perhaps the real question might be, how does a country provide all of its citizens and residents health care without some level of socialism?
In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid law. The Medicare law provided benefits to the elderly, and first people to receive their Medicare cards were former President Harry Truman and his beloved wife, Bess. Medicare’s sister program, Medicaid, provided benefits to those who were indigent or had very low incomes.
Over the following years, from 1965 to present, the provisions of Medicare have expanded. In 1972 benefits for speech therapy, physical therapy and chiropractic visits were added. This was also the year that payments to health maintenance organizations were added to the potential benefits.
As medicine progressed and made science prolonged lives, Medicare reacted by adding benefits for hospice care in 1982. However, a few years later in 1989, other benefits were repealed. Medicare no longer included catastrophic care and prescription drugs. This came as a rude awakening to elderly patients who could not afford the high cost of prescription drugs.
The cost of Medicare has escalated since its beginnings. In 1965 the monthly premium for medical insurance, Part B, was a mere three dollars. Today that same premium is $96.40 a month. However, Part A, hospital costs now range from $254 to $461 per month. When it comes to Medicare, nothing is simple. There are co-pays, carve-outs and ceilings on major expenses like the amount allowed per day for hospital stays and skilled nursing facilities. The cost of health care continues to be a major source of concern for an aging population.
Anyone receiving Medicare is forced to review the program very carefully to understand how it works with their personal health insurance. The divided responsibility of State versus Federal governments adds to the complexity, leaving some Medicare beneficiaries overwhelmed and confused.
Like President Obama, former President Truman had a vision that all Americans would have health insurance. However, the reality and the vision may lose somethings in the translation. It will take several years for Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to become a part of American’s every day lives. Whenever there is a major governmental change, unexpected consequences are certain to occur. Some Americans see the Act as further inroads to a socialistic society. The law itself is 906 pages in length. It is difficult to even grasp all the Act entails by reading the law itself. How can Americans visualize all the concepts, much less have the epitome of bureaucracy, the government, implement the law. The history of Medicare started with Harry Truman, but it surely will not end with Obama. There will be more to come, and no one can predict all the consequences, good and bad, of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
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