Medicare
Medicare is a governmental program which provides medical insurance coverage for
retired persons over
age 65 or for others who meet certain medical conditions, such as having a
disability.
Medicare was signed into legislation in 1965 as an amendment to the Social
Security program and is
administered by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under the
Department of Human Services.
Medicare provides medical insurance coverage for over 43 million Americans, many
of whom would have no
medical insurance. While not perfect, the Medicare program offers these millions
of people relatively low
cost basic insurance, but not much in the way of preventative care. For
instance, Medicare does not pay
for an annual physical, vision care or dental care.
Medicare is paid for through payroll tax deductions (FICA) equal to 2.9% of
wages; the employee pays half
and the employer pays half.
There are four "parts" to Medicare: Part A is hospital coverage, Part B is
medical insurance, Part C is
supplemental coverage and Part D is prescription insurance. Parts C and D are at
an added cost and are
not required. Neither Part A nor B pays 100% of medical costs; there is usually
a premium, co-pay and
a deductible. Some low-income people quality for Medicaid, which assists in
paying part of or all of
the out-of-pocket costs.
Because more people are retiring and become eligible for Medicare at a faster
rate than people are paying
into the system, it has been predicted that the system will run out of money by
2018. Health care costs have
risen dramatically, which adds to the financial woes of Medicare and the system
has bee plagued by fraud
over the years.
No one seems to have a viable solution to save this system that saves many
people throughout the country