Medicare and Medicaid. You can't pick up a newspaper, look at the news or listen to the radio without hearing about these programs.
The problem is that everything you hear is different depending upon who is saying it. Some of the pundits and politicians have been talking about doing away with the programs and starting over. Others have been trying day and night to bolster and save these essential services and have said that if Medicare, Medicaid and healthcare are balanced right, the programs would save enough money to grow and thrive in the future.
For those of you who depend on Medicare or Medicaid the first thing to remember is that after eons of wrangling about all the programs, lawmakers are getting closer to determining the issues and figuring out answers. According to the lawmakers, Medicare and Medicaid will be saved, and though some things may change, overall, things will be changed - most likely for the better. (more...)
There are a million ideas about what overhauling the healthcare system will bring about for everyone and for every program involved in the healthcare system itself. One of those programs is Medicare, and they have some feelings and ideas about what possible changes might mean.
The secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, who oversees the federal Medicare program, issued a report on Thursday, to help keep seniors and Medicare recipients from worrying about anything that might be coming in the future.
The title of the report is “Protecting Coverage and Strengthening Medicare.” The report addresses various issues and also states that proposals that are being worked on by lawmakers in Washington will help seniors. These proposals, Sebelius says, will keep Medicare from bankruptcy and will help senior with issues including trying to lower the out-of-pocket costs and copays for prescription drugs and make them more affordable for seniors. (more...)
September will be the most difficult month regarding healthcare reform for the Obama administration and the advocates of comprehensive health reform. They knew that it would be a tough month but knowing it and going through it is two different things. This administration and advocates are going through it.
Lawmakers are returning from a break and the President is returning from his vacation. Healthcare reform is not an easy task and has been a tough fight.
On top of everything else, Ted Kennedy – the Lion of the Senate – has now passed away.
Senator Kennedy had served for over 45 years and was a guiding light for lawmakers that were on both sides of the aisle. He was able to explain his point of view tactfully and respectfully so that even those who didn’t agree would still at least listen – and some of them actually heard him and adjusted their thinking on whatever subject was at hand. Of course, there were those times when he could be quite forceful and absolutely nobody missed the point. (more...)
Seniors throughout he country are extremely concerned and worried about their Medicare benefits. Everytime they hear the words "healthcare reform" they cringe, worried that as money continues to get tighter and cuts are made to many programs, they will lose critical and essential benefits that in many cases keep them alive and out of the hospital.
At a telephone town meeting Tuesday, President Obama answered questions from mostly seniors. One of the things that he said to reassure these older Americans regarding their Medicare benefits was, “Nobody’s trying to change what does work in the system,” Obama told the estimated 180,000 listeners. “We are trying to change what doesn’t work in the system.” (more...)
As the saying goes, stuff rolls down hill. In the situation with all the budget constraints on the federal government, comes constraints on the state and local government. Healthcare is definietly no exception. Lawmakers in Washington are looking at some very deep cuts when it comes to many programs and trying to figure out how to keep them from being deeper than they already are.
One of the programs that is being looked at piece by piece and line by line is Medicare. There will definitely be cuts to that program, period. As a result, as things roll down hill, Medicaid, which is a state program but bolstered by federal dollars, is taking a big hit, too.
Not only are some Medicaid benefits being cut way back, but getting into the program, which is already on the difficult side, has become much tougher indeed. It seems as though unless you are in the most dire straits getting approved for Medicaid is extremely difficult. Even if you are in dire straits and the rope you are hanging onto is beginning to fray - a lot - it is still difficult to get approved. (more...)
There have been discussions about how to make Medicare work better since the beginning of time, or at least since the beginning of Medicare. There are always at least two types of people when it comes to any situation - optimists and pessimists. Somewhere in the middle lie the realists, and somewhere in another part of the middle lie the critics.
These days, with a new president and congress left with billions, no, make that trillions of dollars in debt to unscramble, there are some major, essential programs that are being looked at under the proverbial microscope. One of those programs is Medicare.
Trying to balance trillions of dollars in debt while keeping as many essential programs in tact is basically a difficult, if not impossible, task. However, the attempt is being made. (more...)
Just as congress is trying to pass legislation which will give Medicaid a boost, Alaska has been put on a moratorium by the federal government and CMS due to noncompliance when it comes to enforcing Medicaid rules. This is temporary, however there is no guess as to how temporary it will be.
Because of this moratorium, many people who need to sign up for Medicaid need to wait until this is over. The review raised concerns that the state Medicaid agency has not taken necessary safeguards "to protect the health and welfare of the recipients of the services." (more...)
When looking for information to write each week there is a process of combing every piece of news and information possible. Right now, it is a critical time for the folks that depend on Medicaid or need to get it. I have friends with serious disabilities who have been denied in applying for Medicaid coverage.
We are not talking about small disabilities. We are talking about traumatic brain injury, degeneration or deterioration of joints and spines so they are unable to sit or stand for long periods and either use a cane, but usually a wheelchair.
It is unbelieveable that in this day and age they can't get the help they need. However, with the news that Medicaid may get a boost and be able to help more people, possibly those who are truly disabled and living under the poverty level, barely hanging on, would be able to be approved the next time around. (more...)
Medicaid is a program for individuals who can't afford to pay for medical care. You may be covered by Medicaid if you have high medical bills; you receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI); or you meet certain income, resource, age, or disability requirements.
This is the official idea behind Medicaid. It was designed to help take care of medical costs that you can't manage on your own due to one or some of the reasons above.
Medicaid differs a little from state to state. It's foundation is the same, however, it depends on the state's terms, conditions and budget. (more...)
There is a lot of controversy these days about what should go and what should stay in the huge U.S. budget which affects each state's and county's budget. Somewhere in that mirage of confusion, site Medicaid.
Though many of the proposed Medicare cuts and the ones already in progress are frightening and difficult, at best, to deal with, the thought of more Medicaid cuts puts more pressure on the people that need the program most.
Seniors and individuals with very low income often depend on Medicaid to get basic medical care. Nothing fancy or frilly. A few doctor's visits, maybe some tests and some medication. Medicaid is what is supposed to help these individuals who can't afford Medicare Supplements and who need to have regular medical care - even minimal care - to stay reasonably healthy. (more...)
I saw this article while reading The Seattle Times. I read papers around the nation regularly to see what people have to say about the healthcare situation we are in as a nation. There are as many millions of opinions as there are people and lawmakers are playing tug of war with the situation. The problem with that -at least the biggest problem - is that they have the best healthcare in the world.
If they get a hang nail, a hernia or a heart attack their healthcare will cover it. The rest of us who are not covered like that or not covered at all can be having a stroke going into the hospital and being questioned as to whether we have insurance or not while we can't hold our head up in a wheelchair. This happened to my friend just before she fell out of the wheelchair, had an aneurysm, went into a coma and died a month later. She was 42 years old. (more...)
Recently, we have all been overwhelmed with talk about the proposed healthcare reform that many Democrats want to pass. President Barack Obama and volunteers that comprise of e-mail lists of the volunteers used during the elections and supporters of Barack Obama during the campaign have been on a major mission to pursuade patients, doctors, and politicians to join them.
The idea is to “cover all Americans”, mostly through government mandates to purchase insurance.
We currently have little information but still, there are already many supporters of the plan, but some others are not comfortable with parts of the proposed plans. Many who support the plan bring up the fact that there are many in this country who are uninsured.
This is where Medicare and Medicaid come up. (more...)
This is a question that keeps going back and forth between all of the individuals who are working hard to come to a solution to the healthcare and Medicare woes. Each side of the issue feels strongly about their position.
One side says that Medicare needs to be done away with or completely changed. They feel it has too many flaws and issues, as well as financial deficits, so that we might as wel start from the beginning and build something new.
The other side feels that the foundation of Medicare is perfectly fine and started out differently than it is being used now. Still, the foundation could still be used now with a few changes to make it work better. (more...)
It's no secret that Medicare has problems to be fixed. However, the issue regarding oxygen support for patients on Medicar who need that type of treatment to basically stay alive is confusing Medicare recipients. The gist of the proposal by President Obama and his team working on Medicare and Healthcare reform is that first of all, patients will continue receiving their oxygen.
This is an important point, since the way it sounds as lawmakers are hashing ths out is that patients coule lose their oxygen care. This should not happen. It is an issue to be hashed out with oxygen providers and not patients. What is actually proposed is that from the time that individuals on Medicare begin oxygen, suppliers and providers will provide it at their regular prices for the first three yeas that it is being provided. (more...)
Medicare has evolved into a program rather different now than when it started. It covers over 40 million seniors and it has changed the way it is administrated. In addition, poor oversight has caused cutbacks and tight budgets which means that there are cutbacks in services, cutbacks in payments to doctors, hospitals and other medical professionals.
Yet, Medicare still moves on. They have been predicting its demise for years but it is still here. Now, don't get me wrong. It is obvious that Medicare has some serious financial issues. It is also possible that in the years between now and the time the program is supposed to run out of money, there are many things that can be done to straighten out the program by creating better oversight regarding fraud and abuse, creating better incentives for doctors in the program to stay - especially some of the great doctors that are treating Medicare patients at a fracthion of the price that they treat their private patients. This is a sacrifice financially because they care about their Medicare patients. (more...)
It's no secret that Medicare has some problems and flaws, and it's no secret that some pundits and lawmakers would like to just toss it in the trash and start over - or not. The unfortunate part about eliminating Medicare is the millions of seniors it would affect - seniors who depend upon Medicare to survive - literlly.
Many seniors live on Social Security and bring in well under $1,000 per month to pay all their bills including their rent. They can barely afford to keep the lights on and food on their table, and the only way for them to get medical care is through Medicare. (more...)
It is estimated that the number of internists will decline substantially by 2025, and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission indicates finding a new primary physician is becoming more difficult for seniors—meaning that Medicare recipients should begin as early as possible for the best doctor and get established and comfortable with that doctor.
According to MedicareSupplementPlans.com: Many Medicare recipients, are having a difficult time finding a new primary care physician. A 2008 survey conducted by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) found that by 2025 there will not be enough primary care physicians. In addition, an estimate from the American College of Physicians (ACP) that there won’t be enough internists to go around by 2025. Let's add one more issue: the ACP also indicates that current internists are becoming less willing to accept new Medicare patients. (more...)
This seems to be a week for special stories that need to be told and need to be heard. There are many stories about problems with Medicare, just as there have been many successes with Medicare, as well. The fact that Medicare is in trouble in various ways is not news. We have been hearing this for decades, yet, it has taken until now - where Medicare is in a crisis - for lawmakers to sit down and really pull up their sleeves and put in the work to try to stabilize not only Medicare, but Social Security and the entire healthcare system. (more...)
When you have one pot of money and it is finite, it can be hard to split it up in a way that makes everyone happy. Let's take what the government is going through with the budget right now. It would be great if they had unlimited amounts of money, if the automakers and banks weren't in big trouble and if Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security were at least stable.
But the picture isn't that pretty, and the fact that we are in the middle of a recession doesn't help either. Add to that bad mortgages, foreclosures all over the place and handing over money to the banks without an accounting of where it has gone and the picture gets worse. (more...)
The New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal's world-wide newsbox all had lead articles with regard to a new government report that paints a dire picture of the financial situation of the nation's two largest benefit programs. The recession, of course, has not helped with the already stressed Medicare system, especially the fund for hospital care which will run out of money (purportedly, depending upon who you get your information from) in 2017, two years earlier than the government had predicted a year ago.
The Social Security trust fund is in a bit better shape but will still start spending more money than it receives in 2016 and will be depleted by 2037, four years sooner than projected last year. lawmakers are arguing over whether the country can really afford to expand health insurance coverage, the report sparked calls for the administration to start working on a plan to prevent the two entitlement programs from becoming insolvent.
There is a great deal of work going into the Medicare situation as well as trying to create a similar healthcare system for everyone who does not have health insurance or access to health insurance, to strengthen the Medicare system that definitely needs bolstering and create a health care system that millions of people need.
Lawmakers feel that tax dollars from workers, such as payroll tax, deductions for social security and other funds will be able to help finance all of these ideas. In addition there are some Lawmakers pushing hard to stop subsidizing and just flat-out give banks and othe institutions "bailout money" why not give out less or none at all , for that matter, to fund more of the domestic issues especially. Another idea has been to patner the banks with the insurance companies and help them work together to develop a policy that would be fiscally responsible. If the polcy worked out well, it could very possibly help bolster Medicare and the the vast majority - if not all - of the people in the country that are uninsured.
