Medicare and Medicaid
The current paper aims to discuss the prevalence of Medicare and Medicaid and enlighten the influence of Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the hospital system of the United States. Medicare offers the healthcare insurance to the individuals who are aged 65 years or more and have provided their services to country. Medicare also provides financial assistance to the young individuals with disabilities or chronic diseases. The program was originally initiated in accordance with the legislation of Medical Care Act in the year 1956 in order to provide financial assistance in healthcare services to the military personnel (Chan et al., 2006).
In 1965, the Social Security Act enhanced the prospects of financial assistance to the elderly irrespective of their income or medical history. In this manner, Medicare provides health insurance to the retirees and young individuals with chronic diseases (Andersen & Newman, 2005). On the contrary, Medicaid is focused on providing financial assistance for healthcare to the individuals who cannot afford the healthcare expenses. It targets the families with low income level and underprivileged families and hence, its financial assistance is irrespective of age of the individuals. This program addresses the healthcare needs of children, pregnant women, youth and elderly and hence, its financial assistance focuses on providing healthcare services to the overall family members rather than one individual (Sommers et al., 2012; Andersen & Newman, 2005).
The prevalence of Medicare and Medicaid has enhanced the access to care because the individuals and families, who cannot access the healthcare services due to lack of affordability, can access the healthcare services at free of cost. The provision of healthcare assistance has been ensured to the citizens regardless of their income level and hence, the healthcare services in the country are not stagnant to a specific social class. The provision of healthcare services has been incorporated on the basis of eligibility which encompasses the age and income level of the individuals rather than their race and ethnicity. In this manner, the access to care has been enhanced which has reduced the morbidity and mortality rate in the country (Sommers et al., 2012).
The hospital system of the United States could have been a lot different than today if the Medicaid and Medicare were not implied in the country. The access to care would have been deteriorated and the healthcare facilities would have been accessible to the upper-middle and upper class of the country. The lack of access to healthcare would have increased the morbidity and mortality rate of the country specially among elderly, pregnant women and infants. It would also have caused the economic downturn in the country due to the recurring threat of viral and epidemic diseases. In this manner, it is inferred that the prevalence of Medicaid and Medicare has enhanced the healthcare status of the country (Sommers et al., 2012).
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has ensured that not a single individual in the United States has been refrained from the access to the healthcare services. It has increased the dimension of Medicaid and has made 32 million individuals eligible for Medicaid assistance. The healthcare objective of ACA and Medicare ensures that the healthcare services are provided to the low-income families and disabled adults. The quality of healthcare has also been increased due to the on-going investments on account of ACA to increase healthcare access. The enhanced quality has amplified the effects of Medicaid at the healthcare status of the country. The ACA ensures that the healthcare services are provided at low or no cost by means of ensuring that every citizen is ensured with the adequate healthcare. The increased dimension of Medicaid under the ACA incorporated the increased access to care in the country (Sommers et al., 2013).
References
Andersen, R., & Newman, J. F. (2005). Societal and individual determinants of medical care utilization in the United States. Milbank Quarterly, 83(4), Online-only.
Chan, L., Hart, L. G., & Goodman, D. C. (2006). Geographic access to health care for rural Medicare beneficiaries. The Journal of Rural Health, 22(2), 140-146.
Sommers, B. D., Baicker, K., & Epstein, A. M. (2012). Mortality and access to care among adults after state Medicaid expansions. New England Journal of Medicine, 367(11), 1025-1034.
Sommers, B. D., Buchmueller, T., Decker, S. L., Carey, C., & Kronick, R. (2013). The Affordable Care Act has led to significant gains in health insurance and access to care for young adults. Health affairs, 32(1), 165-174.
