Medicare and Medicaid Tom Spiekermeier

IntroducTION Medicare and Medicaid are health insurance programs sponsored by the federal government that cover medical expenses for elderly, disabled, and low-income Americans. Both programs took effect in 1965 and are administered by the Health Care Finance Administration (HCFA) which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. Medicare and Medicaid are extremely important for the people that use those programs, however, its increasing costs have created a lot of controversy in the United States political arena and are usually one of most discussed topics in major election seasons.

History President Lyndon B. Johnson signed legislation creating the Medicare and Medicaid programs in 1965. (Williams Sr., 2015) Started as basic insurance programs for elderly and poor. (Williams Sr., 2015) Medicare was extended to individuals under age 65 with long term disabilities and individuals with end-stage renal disease in 1972. (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2014) The Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988 was enacted improved benefits and increased coverages. (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2014) Medicare prescription drug coverage began in 2005. (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2014)

Controversies Costs are rising rapidly. Medicare costs totaled $492 Billion in 2012 and is expected to be $895 billion in 2012 (Luhby, 2012) How do we reduce costs? Eliminate waste and make the programs more efficient. (Luhby, 2012) Reduce benefits. (Luhby, 2012) Reduce Coverage. (Luhby, 2012) Increase Premiums. (Luhby, 2012) Medicaid patients are covered differently in different states. (O'Donnell & Ungar, 2015) Political parties refusing to work together to fix the programs issues. (Brown, 1996)

Future President Trump and Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price will likely revamp Medicare and Medicaid. Possibly taking Medicare away from single-payer system to one in which beneficiaries use their benefits to buy private insurance. (Fitzgerald, 2017) Possible reduction in federal funds for Medicaid leaving states to fund more, reduce coverage and/or charge enrollees. (Fitzgerald, 2017) Medicare expanded to include all Americans. This could be a very heavily debated issue in the next presidential election in 2020. (Bradner, 2017)

conclusion Medicare and Medicaid have helped a lot of people since its inception in 1965. The programs undergone many changes. Some big changes and many small changes. They comes with a lot of controversy mostly to do with the continued rising costs associated with the programs and political divide among these programs. The programs will likely continue to be controversial. Both major political parties have drastically different ideas on how to reform the programs and refusal to work together will likely mean that nothing major will ever get done and costs will continue to rise.

Works cited Bradner, E. (2017, April 3). Democrats' Medicare-for-all litmus test. Retrieved from CNN Politics: http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/03/politics/medicare-for-all- democrats-bernie-sanders/ Brown, L. D. (1996). The Politics of Medicare and Health Reform, Then and Now. Semantic Scholar, 163-168. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (2014). Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Retrieved from Medicare and Medicaid Milestones: https://www.cms.gov/About-CMS/Agency-Information/History/Downloads/Medicare-and-Medicaid-Milestones-1937-2015.pdf Encyclopedia of Small Business. (2007). Medicare and Medicaid. Retrieved from Encycolpedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and- law/economics-business-and-labor/economics-terms-and-concepts/medicare-and Fitzgerald, J. (2017, January 23). Beyond Obamacare--How Trump and Price will disrupt the health care system. Retrieved from CNBC: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/23/trump-price-plans-for-obamacare-medicare-and-medicaid-commentary.html Luhby, T. (2012, December 4). America's Debt & the Economy: The controversy over Medicare Reform. Retrieved from CNN Money: http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/04/news/economy/medicare-reform/ O'Donnell, J., & Ungar, L. (2015, July 15). Medicaid turns 50 mired in controversy. Retrieved from USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/07/15/medicaid-expansion-effect-on-patients-taxpayers-states-hospitals/25612707/ Williams Sr., K. A. (2015, August). Medicare and Medicaid. Retrieved from Journal of the American College of Cardiology: http://www.onlinejacc.org/content/66/7/861