The Medicare Healthcare Policy

How the Medicare Healthcare Policy became Law and the Role of the Government
The Medicare healthcare program dates back from the days of President Roosevelt’s
campaign of 1912 (Behring, 2021). It was after President Truman’s push in 1945 did the
policy take hold. Truman presented the notion to Congress but failed during that time. In
1961, President J.F. Kennedy suggested that the program should cover Americans aged 65
and above since most citizens did not have access to insurance cover after their retirement. In
1962, President Kennedy launched a plan to develop a healthcare program through the Social
Security Fund Congress disapproved. However, the US Congress enacted the program into
law in 1965 after President Johnson proposed it to Congress in 1964 (Behring, 2021).
Since then the Medicare program subsidizes healthcare services for individuals over
the age of 65, those with specific diseases, and young people who meet the eligibility criteria.
The US government has played a massive role in the establishment of the Medicare program
by ensuring coverage to a large segment of its citizens. The federal government has created
much legislation regarding the Medicare program from the 1980s to the 2000s resulting in
expenditures amounting to $1.11 trillion (Straube, n.d.). These laws, regulations, oversights,
and systems have had significant indirect and direct impacts on the private sector parties
including healthcare for Americans not under the federal programs. The government has
made the healthcare system cost-effective and efficient and more recently it added extra
preventive services to the Medicare benefits as per section 101 of the Medicare and Medicaid
Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) (Straube, n.d.).
The most current and influential policy under the program is the Preventive Health
Care and Affordable Care Acts. These Acts indicate how the federal government addresses
healthcare issues by emphasizing illness prevention and health enhancement as the
fundamentals to the overall healthcare modification, health outcomes improvement, and
mitigating healthcare costs. Since its commencement, the program has shown a significant

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rise in older people’s general health as shown in figures from life expectancy and functional
status where people above 65 years old lives are expected to rise by 21.5 years (“Retirement
Security for an Aging Population”, 2019).
What the Policy is, the US Policy-Making Process, and the Role of Different Branches
The US Medicare program refers to the health insurance that backs medical services
for people above 65 years, preventive services, and young individuals who meet the criteria.
Specifically, the program covers older individuals, those with particular illnesses, and
younger people who are eligible. The plan divides people into categories including Part A for
Hospital Insurance, Part B for specific doctor’s services, medical supplies, preventive care,
and outpatients, and Part D covering drug prescriptions. With this program, individuals have
a choice to get medical insurance in two ways: the original Medicare and the Medicare
Advantage. The former program covers Part A and B where people pay 20 percent of the
Medicare-approved service cost but does not cover drug coverage in Part D
(Medicareresources.org. 2019). The latter plan refers to a Medicare-approved program
regarding a private company offering an alternative to the original plan. It includes Part A, B,
and D including benefits like hearing, dental, and vision services not included in the Original
Medicare.
The US healthcare policy process involves the development and execution of rules,
regulations, and laws concerning the management of its healthcare system. The system covers
services by medical practitioners to treat, prevent, and diagnose physical and mental illnesses.
It also includes sectors from the pharmaceuticals, insurance, and health IT sectors (Campos &
Reich, 2019). The US three branches are essential in formulating the health policies of the
nation. The judiciary provides the ideal platform for many health legislations. For instance,
the US judiciary has helped develop various significant policies like defending women’s
reproductive rights. Specifically, the Supreme Court interpreted the privacy right to prevent

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the government from influencing the distribution and sale of contraception. The legislature
draws on its diverse membership experience and employees to gather information from a
range of sources concerning health (Campos & Reich, 2019). However, it does not have the
mandate to develop health policy, which is exclusively the role of the judiciary to interpret,
apply, and review such legislation.
Finally, the executive branch brings objectivity and accountability to health policy
formation. Particularly, this branch is suited for organizing all data, proof, and rationale for
developing sound health policies (Campos & Reich, 2019). On the other hand, the federal
government provides funding for the country’s Medicare program. In other words, the federal
government sets legislation, executes and pays for Medicare, co-funds, and sets basic
requirements. Moreover, it funds health coverage for federal workers, past and current
individuals of the military, their families, and regulates medical and pharmaceutical products,
and runs federal market grounds for health coverage (Osborn et al., 2020). This coverage
extends to all American territories and states.

Impact of the Medicare Healthcare Policy

In the beginning, this policy covered individuals above 65 years regardless of their
background, health status, or income. Later in 1972, the government extended the program’s
mandate to include younger individuals under 65 with chronic disabilities (“Retirement
Security for an Aging Population,” 2019). Currently, the program has had a major influence
in providing health and financial security to over 60 million younger and older people with
disabilities. It has helped pay for medical services including inpatient care, drug
prescriptions, skilled nursing training, hospice care, and doctor visits. For instance, the
federal government spent 15 percent of the aggregate country’s budget and 20 percent of
national health with benefits amounting to $688 billion (“Retirement Security for an Aging
Population,” 2019).

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References
Behring, S. (2021, February 23). The History of Medicare.
https://www.healthline.com/health/medicare/medicare-history#how-it-began
Campos, P. A., & Reich, M. R. (2019). Political analysis for health policy
implementation. Health Systems & Reform, 5(3), 224-235.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23288604.2019.1625251
Medicareresources.org. (2019, September 27). What’s Medicare?
https://www.medicare.gov/what-medicare-covers/your-medicare-coverage-
choices/whats-medicare
Osborn, R., Mossialos, E., Djordjevic, A., & Wharton, G. A. (2020, June 5). The United
States. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/international-health-policy-
center/countries/united-states
Retirement Security for an Aging Population Requires Higher Federal Spending. (2019,
November 4). https://budget.house.gov/publications/report/retirement-security-aging-
population-requires-higher-federal-spending
Straube, B. M. (n.d.). A Role for Government. https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-
3797(12)00631-9/fulltext