Medicare Essay Sample

Federal health has an insurance program aimed at people with disabilities, people with End-stage and people who are 65 years of age older. This program is referred to as Medicare. It covers people of any age for the case of disabilities and End-stage (Vogel, 1999). The program has four parts namely A, B, C and D (Vogel, 1999). PART A involves home care, skilled nursing facility, hospice care, and inpatient care. If your spouse or you do pay taxes while working, then if you want part A of the health program you don't have to pay the monthly premiums.

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For part B the insurance covers outpatient care, home health care, it offers other services from health care providers and doctors (Vogel, 1999). Part B also offers preventive health care services to their patients. In B, most of the people do pay monthly premiums. However, if one wants to get a coverage that will fill the gaps left by the Original Medical Coverage. Then one has to secure a supplement from a private company.

Part C of this health program covers other aspects such as the services and benefits that were covered under parts A and B (Moon, 2006). This part also offers other services such as medical prescriptions that are usually a plan for part D. This part of the program is usually run by medically approved private companies. This part may also give other benefits for the patients though at an extra cost for the users.

The final, D. This part is similarly known as Medicare prescription drug coverage. This part of the program helps to take care of the medical prescriptions. Medically approved private insurance companies are the ones that run part of the program. This part helps to lower the cost of prescribed drug and protect against the higher cost of drugs in future. In case, one has the limited income they are free to apply for health and prescription drugs (Moon, 2006).

How does one qualify?

Eligibility of Medicare is divided into two parts namely A and B. first have to be residing legally in U.S or be a U.S citizen (Ilminen, 1999). For one to qualify they must similarly meet the following conditions:

One must be of 65 years or more (Ilminen, 1999). Also, they should be eligible for social security. On reaching the age of 65, one is inevitably enrolled for the hospital insurance also known as part A. At this age they are also eligible for social security.

Furthermore, if one is already getting the social security benefits they automatically qualify for part A of Medicare. People who are receiving benefits from Railroad Retirement Board also do automatically qualify for part A of Medicare and one qualify for B when they turn 65 (Ilminen, 1999). If one is not receiving any benefits from RRB or social security one is eligible to register for Medicare.

The second criteria for qualification are if one permanently physically challenged or if one has been a recipient of disability benefits for a minimum of 24 months (Morton, 2014). Under these conditions, one automatically qualifies for part A and B. Also one automatically qualifies them for part A if they have been receiving RRB benefits for 24 months. Also, people with the End-stage renal disease (ESRD) irrespective of their age do qualify for Medicare on signing up (Morton, 2014).

For eligibility of part C of the Medicare, one has to be eligible for part A and B. On addition one has to be residing in the service area of Medicare. For enrollment of the prescription of drugs (part D), one has to have Medicare part A or B. Also, one must be residing near the service area of the prescriptions one want to enroll (Ilminen, 1999).

Other insurance plans needed for Long-Term Care Plan

There are other alternatives to nursing homes offered by Medicare. Before one fills the form, there is a need to consult either their family or doctor (Vogel, 1999). This is due to the fact that there is no one can predict what their future holds. Medicare can help pay for the care that one need. This depends on the kind of policy that applies for. Some of the other alternatives to nursing homes are residential care services, subsidized senior housing, hospice & respite care, community services and home health care (Vogel, 1999). When one is buying the policy, they need to look for one with flexible options.

References

Ilminen, G. (1999). Consumer Guide to long-term care Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press.

Moon, M. (2006). Medicare: A policy primer. Washington, D.C: Urban Institute Press.

Vogel, R. J. (1999). Medicare: Issues in political economy. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press.