U03d1 Medicare Level of Care - Essay Example

RUNNING HEAD: MEDICARE – LEVEL OF CARE u03d1 Medicare Level of Care Submitted by: XXXXXX Number: XXXXXX of XXXXXXX Medicare is ahealth insurance coverage that is provided to people who are 65 years and older or also to people who meet the other special criteria. These special criteria include people under 65 years with certain disabilities and people of all ages with end stage renal diseases. This is a social insurance program which is generally managed and administered by the United States government.

This is funded completely by the federal level and it acts as a social insurance focused mainly on the older population. There are two main categories for the Medicare, Part A – which covers for hospital bills and Part B – which covers for the medical insurance coverage (HHS, 2010). There is also a Part D which covers for prescription drugs. The Part D that has been provided with the insurance is for the prescription drugs and this was mainly intended to improve the access of individuals to choose from different health plans based on their individual needs and requirements (Jacobson & Anderson, 2010).

The main intension and idea of the Part D was to provide assistance to the senior citizens who were unable to afford a separate drug cover for the prescription drugs. In an article by Shaviro he explains, “The design of the new prescription drug benefit almost ensures that it will soon be expanded. True insurance provides people with coverage against worst-case scenarios, such as having to pay a lot for healthcare when they become gravely ill. It does not offer first-dollar coverage of routine expenses; this would merely encourage waste and be a handout to anyone who received the coverage without having to pay for it.

But true insurance is not politically popular, because if you lose your insurance "bet" by not actually having a catastrophe that would trigger its coverage, you may complain, after the fact, that you didnt get anything out of it” (Shaviro, 2004). There have been numerous views and ideas that have been provided over the years for the viability of Part D of the Medicare. Several authors like Neuman and Cubanski, 2009, explain that one of best ways to reduce the costs is only of the government works towards negotiation with the pharmaceuticals rather than the private companies working towards the negotiations.

The authors also talk about another program which will be introduced in 2010, and is known as the voucher demonstration project. To conclude the paper it is safe to say that the future of the Part D is mainly dependent on the costs and the cost cutting would lead to bettered performance of this part of the insurance. Another research by Zhang et.al has also brought out the essential point that, “two years after the implementation of Part D, enrollees who had no previous coverage or whose pharmacy benefits were capped at $150 or $350 per quarter had increased their drug spending by 74%, 27%, and 11%, respectively, as compared with spending in the no-cap group, which had stable coverage during the same period” (Zhang, Donohue, Lave, Odonnell, & Newhouse, 2009).

One of the other best methods of reducing the costs is to start living healthy and ensuring that children learn to eat healthy and also learn the importance of exercise, as this will have a direct impact and will help benefit by reducing the costs of any kind of long term diseases. ReferencesHHS. (2010). Medicare. Retrieved January 28, 2010, from http://www.medicare.gov/MedicareEligibility/Home.asp?dest=NAV|Home|GeneralEnrollment#TabTopJacobson, G., & Anderson, G. (2010). Medicare part d: Ongoing challenges for doctors and patients.

Annual Review of Medicine , , 61, 469.Shaviro, D. (2004). An excerpt from Who Should Pay for Medicare? Retrieved January 28, 2010, from http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/750760.htmlZhang, Y., Donohue, J., Lave, J., Odonnell, G., & Newhouse, J. (2009). The effect of medicare part d on drug and medical spending. The New England Journal of Medicine , 361(1), 52-61.