Submitted by: Stefanie Jeann
Before Medicare was created in 1965, health insurance was an impossibility for about half of Americans 65 years old and older. The problem with health insurance was that the older you are, the higher is the insurance premium. Unfortunately, while even today health insurance for seniors costs three times the price of insurance for the younger set, most seniors earn a lot less and therefore could barely afford it. Caught on the horns of this dilemma, most American older adults before 1965 had no choice but to live through their senior years without any health insurance coverage, just hoping for the best. But when Medicare was established, this formerly disenfranchised segment of the older American population began receiving health care coverage.
By 2010, Medicare was providing heath insurance to about 48 million Americans, 40 million of whom were seniors age 65 and older, whereas the rest were younger Americans with various disabilities. For all its failings, Medicare has done a lot for the common American, especially the old, sick and low-income people.
Fast-forward to 2012: with the impending US Presidential elections in November 2012, both the Democrats and the Republicans seem hell-bent on latching their campaign momentum on the issues surrounding Medicare. As you may know, since 1965, a number of changes and attempts at improvement have been implemented by the US Federal government. Sadly, however, Medicare has remained far from perfect, with critics attacking it from all sides. What s more, both the Democrats and Republicans have identified the issue of Medicare reform as their own critical springboard to catapult their respective candidates for the top seats in the White House.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtEp5yc-g3A[/youtube]
The Democrats Obamacare
The bad news is that according to the Congressional Budget Office, Medicare would be bankrupt in 9 years. As an attempt to save Medicare, US President Barack Obama signed into law the Patient rotection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), now notoriously known as Obamacare. Despite the criticism fielded at it, Obamacare remains the most significant overhaul of the health care system in the USA since the creation of Medicare in 1965.
The aim of the Democrats Medicare solution is basically to improve healthcare coverage, costs and outcomes while trying to hold back the ballooning deficit. While not universally hailed as America s greatest solution to health care, certain parts of the law received popular responses from the American public. For example, the said law forbids insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. Another is how the law requires companies with more than 50 employees to provide health insurance to their people.
The Republican solution
Rep. Paul Ryan, the most visible Republican in terms of drafting what is now known as the Ryan budget, has been recently chosen by US Presidential Republican candidate Mitt Romney. So naturally, the race toward acquiring the much sought-after White House seats has since sharply focused on how the two parties are going to deal with out-of-control deficits, with the issues of Medicare and Medicaid serving as the red hot fulcrum.
According to the Republican Medicare solution, the program will be modified from one in which the government directly pays the doctor and hospital bills, into a system of vouchers in which seniors receive subsidies and will be able to shop around the market and buy health insurance for themselves.
Implications
On one hand, you have the Republicans riding on the crest of Rep. Paul Ryan s proposal to save Medicare and Medicaid through a detailed budgetary masterplan that is hoped to ensure the long-term sustainability of socialized health care institutions in the USA. On the other hand, Democrats declare that the Republican solution to save Medicare and its future is merely all about shifting the costs to the taxpayer basically raising the costs for seniors and those with disabilities, reducing the benefits they get, and letting private insurance companies sit on the driver s seat as far as seniors health care is concerned. From a scientific perspective, it is difficult to say at this point which party the Republicans or Democrats really have a fail-proof solution, as even the most sophisticated governmental plans have to deal with the problem of uncertainty that no one can ever be a hundred percent sure with anything. In any case, the debate continues to heat up, and it s only a matter of months before America sees the outcome after the smoke has cleared.
About the Author: Rescue Alert of California has been enabling senior citizens to live safe, happy and independent lives through education and quality medical alarms for over a decade. Please visit for the full article:
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