Adjustment Of Healthcare Policies

Submitted By jonny_fl
Words: 970
Pages: 4
Open Document
Adjustment of Healthcare Policies

Public health policies include laws, regulations and rules, both formal and informal that impact on social, economic or the physical environment conditions, leading to the adoption of behaviors conducive to health. Medicare has multiple policies. Over the recent past, questions have arisen as to whether some of these policies need changes. Some of the policies include those affecting the eligibility age for Medicare and the means testing of medical care benefits. This paper focuses on the need for the adjustment and incorporation of appropriate changes with regards to the two major policies of eligibility age and means testing of Medicare.
The limited availability of private health care led to the formation of medical care in 1965 (What is Medicare / Medicaid N.p). At that point in time, the retirement age was 65, as well as life expectancy (Teitelbaum, Joel and Sara 203). From this perspective, life expectancy and age become important as factors to be considered in Medicare review. Today, those over 65 years of age still continue to benefit from Medicare through the provision of the basic health care; to a great extent, it lowers the burden of payment on those who are already living on a limited budget (Kluger 102).
Currently, life expectancy has dramatically increased, and according to Ruggiero (207), life expectancy has increased from 78 years in the year 2008 to 78.2 in year 2009. The increase in life expectancy has been greatly attributed to improved technology. The high prospect of technology advancing in the future will definitely allow the life expectancy to continue rising as well. With this in mind, it would only be prudent to increase the health care age requirement. The health care age requirement would need to be increased on a gradual scale for proper implementation of the changes. Say, every one or two years, the age requirement would rise. From a personal point of view, the most suitable incremental rate would be a year. For instance, if the plan were to begin in 2013, the age requirement would rise to 66 in the subsequent year, and not 65. However, those under Medicare at the age of 65 during the year 2013 would not be affected by the new age requirement. In the long run, the new age would be coped with in the society.
Several factors have led to a healthier older generation: for example, the advent of better pharmaceuticals and improvement of methods employed in medical treatment. Subsequently, working for an extended time is no longer a problem and many people over the age of 65 may still be employed and work and be in a position to assume their employer’s healthcare. Since retirement age and life expectancy have both increased, the medical care age requirement has no option but to increase. The factors that influenced the determination of the medical age requirement at the time of Medicare origin are no longer the same, and there is reason to help those who need it.
Means testing, on the other hand, involves an investigation into a person’s financial stability for the determination of eligibility of help from the government. There is a massive crisis of entitlement spending in America. In the coming years, say ten years, government debt will be greater than the nation’s entire domestic product, and the main driver of the debt will be attributed to entitlement programs (MacQueen and Buehler 204). Because of the aging population and rising health care costs, Medicare has been pushed to the limit. The range of possible solutions has been restricted by depressed federal revenues, budget deficits, just to name a few (Ruggiero 213). There is no more protection of funding or time. The incremental slow and steady increase of the retirement age and the minor modifications in benefit formulas can no longer keep off the impending disaster. It is paramount that policy solutions, once considered unimaginable, must now be entertained
Show More

Related Documents: Adjustment Of Healthcare Policies

Persuasive Essay

Marisol Hernandez Mrs. Otis ERWC 22 October 2014 Persuasive essay Growing up in a single parent family has been viewed different for many years. It seems that being raised by one parent is impossible to many, over decades it has become usual. Today’s society children have grown to become emotionally stable and successful even if they had one or two parents to show them a rocky road. The problem lies in the difference of children raised by both mother and father versus by single parents. Do children…

Words 328 - Pages 2

Persuasive Essay!

Persuasive Essay Jarrod Drury lit and comp 3 Dec. 16, 2011 Have you ever wandered why our government is in debt by so much? Have you thought to yourself that it needs to be fixed before something really bad happens in America? How about what caused this ginormous debt? I have the answers to your questions. Our government has made some wrong turns and passed some bad laws to make this happen. The reason why this debt even started in America is because, like people, the government…

Words 371 - Pages 2

Persuasive Essay

Persuasive Essay What would happen if the famous African American have a national holiday? In an article says that Richard Allen, A famous African American should have a National Holiday. In my opinion I think he should have the National Holiday. If he doesn’t have it, it will be unfair because he helped a lot in the community, so I agree with the idea for the following reasons (A) He founded the African Methodist Episcopal (AME), (B) He was a minister, educator and writer, (C) He opened the first…

Words 347 - Pages 2

Persuasive Essay

Leah Moore Catherine Pritchard Childress English 1010 Persuasive Essay 11/17/14 Donate Life My mother was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease twenty- three years ago during a routine ultrasound while she was pregnant with me. Polycystic Kidney Disease, also known as PKD, is a genetic disorder that consists of numerous cysts in the kidneys that eventually causes the kidneys to fail. A person without PKD has kidneys that are about the size of a fist. My mother’s kidneys are the size of footballs…

Words 803 - Pages 4

Persuasive Essay

Samantha Landry March 24, 2014 Language Arts 3, 7­Pre Algebra Persuasive Essay Did you know that smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States? The risk of dying from cigarettes has increased for both men and women over the last fifty years in the United States. Smokers have a greater chance than non smokers to develop lung cancer…

Words 1135 - Pages 5

Recess Persuasive Essay

Persuasive Essay Recess may just be known as the fun break during the school, but in all reality it’s the most important part of the school day. Recess gives students a break from school work, however it also gives their bodies a chance for exercise. Recess is mandatory for middle schools, because of the benefits it gives to students’ health and brains. Recess is an unexpected source of exercise for all kids. Studies prove that 42% of students in the U.S. get their exercise from recess. Without…

Words 620 - Pages 3

Persuasive ESSAY SAVANNAH

Savannah Bowley 2-19-2015 Persuasive Essay: Should recycling be mandatory? Recycling has come a long way to help protect our environment. Although many people don’t recycle, they should. I believe recycling should be mandatory, because it would keep our community cleaner, we could reuse instead of use more limited resources, and it would help our environment as a whole. Recycling is very important, and if we work together, it could change many circumstances with trash. Recycling has already helped…

Words 420 - Pages 2

Chickens Persuasive Essay

Persuasive Essay Backyard chickens are becoming more and more popular all over the country, especially in suburban and urban areas. Many people in towns and cities think that they are unable to have chickens of their own, but in reality, chickens are a good option for small spaces. Chickens have unique personalities, they come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and require minimal care. Your flock with give back to you with fresh eggs and lots of love. Here are some of the reasons I feel chickens…

Words 424 - Pages 2

Persuasive Essay

| Why Are Gas Prices So High? | | | | Comm/215September 7, 2012 | | | Today along with the slump in the economy, Americans are also faced with the rise of gasoline prices. A gallon of gas today costs $4.09, whereas twenty years ago a gallon cost $1.13. Many Americans think that this intense rise in gas prices is a way for the government to be in control and govern the types of vehicles people drive. The rise in price is that the government continues to purchase oil from…

Words 619 - Pages 3

Persuasive Essay

Today, in Canada the imprisonment rates are extremely high and continue to be an issue for First Nation people. In 1996 the Federal Government imposed the legislation that will be in place specifically tailored for First Nation Natives, (Aboriginal) Under the Criminal code section 718.2(e). (Dept. of Justice p.33) Contrarily, the criminal code is a positive thing based on the history of colonization and suppression. However, the code also has negative denotations, implicated from the general public…

Words 478 - Pages 2