Healthcare is among the important sectors in any given state, which explains where the sector is always ranked among the top priorities in almost every financial year. In addition, various policies have been put in place to ensure effective and efficient provision of health care. Medicaid and Medicare Act 1966, one of such policies, is seen as a landmark as far as health care provision is concerned in the history of the United States. It paved the way for development of the health care sector in various ways including increasing accountability of the state in providing the people with health care services (Smith & Moore, 2008).
Medicaid and Medicare have evolved significantly to take into account to the ever changing health care needs in the society. During its formative stages, Medicaid and Medicare extended health coverage to include all Americans of 65 years or over, children from low-income families, the blind, elderly, and the disabled people. In 1972, eligibility for Medicare was extended to cover people less than 65 years suffering from long-term disabilities as well as those suffering from end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Further developments occurred in 1980 following the broadening of the Medicare home health services (Smith & Moore, 2008).
Various other developments occurred with the enactment of numerous Acts such as Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act, Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, Balanced Budget Act, Benefits Improvement and Protection Act (BIPA), and Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) (Smith & Moore, 2008). The latest developments, with regard to the Medicaid and Medicare, is the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as the Obama Care. All these policies have not only improved the provision of health care services to the people in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, but all enhanced health care accessibility to the low-income earners. Nevertheless, controversies on some of these developments have been experienced over time.
References
Smith, D. G., & Moore, J. D. (2008). Medicaid politics and policy, 1965-2007. New Brunswick, N.J: Transaction Publishers.
