Medicare Crisis
July 15, 10:53am
Medicare Crisis
You are chief of staff to your brother-in-law, Representative Howard Hughes, who was recently elected to fill out a term in Congress. a panel discussion on the Medicare funding crisis. You have been asked to prepare paper for him. The panel is asked to respond to a proposal for reducing Medicare expenditures by enrolling participants in HMOs. What does the Congressperson say?
The following key questions must be addressed in the paper:
Is Medicare in a state of crisis? Are radical measures necessary to preserve the program?
Most people will answer yes if asked if Medicare is in a state of crisis. If you scrutinize the budget in detail, it is pretty obvious that sometime around 2050, the system will go bankrupt if it keeps the same standards and rules that it follows now. Since this is a government program, most of the public feel that it is up to the government to make sure that this does not happen and Medicare as we know it continues without problems. As a congressman who has been asked to prepare a paper on this dilemma, there are two options, a) eliminate Medicare and give the funds to the people who saved the money, or b) put more severe restrictions on Medicare that will influence all care for those who qualify for these funds in the future (http://www.garynorth.com/public/5545.cfm)
How is Medicare funded now? Why do elderly people feel that Medicare is an insurance program and not a welfare program? Is this perception accurate?
Most of the people who have followed the Medicare crisis know that this is not a dollar for dollar for program. The government has been dipping into the funds for years to pay off debts and to keep the economy solvent yet realizing at some point that those Medicare dollars will have to be accounted for.
Medicare payroll taxes and premiums cover only 57% of current benefits. The other 47% comes from general funds. Within the two section, payroll taxes collect enough to pay
Medicare Crisis
You are chief of staff to your brother-in-law, Representative Howard Hughes, who was recently elected to fill out a term in Congress. a panel discussion on the Medicare funding crisis. You have been asked to prepare paper for him. The panel is asked to respond to a proposal for reducing Medicare expenditures by enrolling participants in HMOs. What does the Congressperson say?
The following key questions must be addressed in the paper:
Is Medicare in a state of crisis? Are radical measures necessary to preserve the program?
Most people will answer yes if asked if Medicare is in a state of crisis. If you scrutinize the budget in detail, it is pretty obvious that sometime around 2050, the system will go bankrupt if it keeps the same standards and rules that it follows now. Since this is a government program, most of the public feel that it is up to the government to make sure that this does not happen and Medicare as we know it continues without problems. As a congressman who has been asked to prepare a paper on this dilemma, there are two options, a) eliminate Medicare and give the funds to the people who saved the money, or b) put more severe restrictions on Medicare that will influence all care for those who qualify for these funds in the future (http://www.garynorth.com/public/5545.cfm)
How is Medicare funded now? Why do elderly people feel that Medicare is an insurance program and not a welfare program? Is this perception accurate?
Most of the people who have followed the Medicare crisis know that this is not a dollar for dollar for program. The government has been dipping into the funds for years to pay off debts and to keep the economy solvent yet realizing at some point that those Medicare dollars will have to be accounted for.
Medicare payroll taxes and premiums cover only 57% of current benefits. The other 47% comes from general funds. Within the two section, payroll taxes collect enough to pay
References: Gatty, B. (2008). Medicare Crisis Dermatology Times, 29, 8-9. Gatty, B. (2011). Imminent need: Plans to solve reimbursement crisis in the making – but time is of the essence. Dermatology Times, 32, 13. http://useconomy.about.com/od/fiscalpolicy/p/Mandatory.htm http://www.garynorth.com/public/5545.cfm Malamud, M. (2009). Community takes case for protecting its rural hospital to halls of Congress. AHA News, 45, 3.