Medicare In Crisis: A Case Study

370 Words2 Pages
- Medicare is not currently in a state of crisis now, but considered and definitive action is needed to avoid an impending funding crisis with respect to the program. - Medicare is funded through taxation of income; any additional funding will have to be derived from cuts in other programs or an increase in the tax rate. - The elderly regard Medicare as insurance, rather than welfare because they spent their working lives paying into the system. This is not an unreasonable viewpoint, and serves to solidify the notion that the population, elderly and otherwise, will not take kindly to substantial cuts in a benefit thought to be an entitlement, rather than a handout. - Whether there should be Medicare at all is a fundamentally moot point. The program exists and will continue to do so in some form regardless.…show more content…
Lack of preventative care is much more expensive in the long term, and it is standard practice at health care facilities to allow emergency care regardless of ability to pay. The cost of this care ends up imposed upon the taxpayer in any case. - The Infrastructure of existing Medicare programs has the potential of expanding to cover the needs of the uninsured who are either children or adults who cannot afford private insurance. - Producing an efficient, client-driven system of national healthcare will force private insurance to become more competitive in terms of their own practices. This trend will benefit all Americans, not merely those who need the public Insurance system. - HMOs are not an effective alternative to
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