Medicare Essay Example

Access to and provision of quality healthcare services is considered to be a basic human right in many parts of the world. Medicare is a health insurance program in America that is composed of several parts e.g. hospital insurance and medical insurance that caters for various medical services. It is a program mainly created for old people although young disabled people and those with diseases such as permanent renal failure are also eligible to this Medicare program. Its main source of finance is from taxes deducted from employees and also employers, and partly from Social Security premiums. Medicare being a social insurance program has helped many old people access quality health services plus other many benefits as outlined below.
Before Medicare came into existence, larger populations of Americans were covered by private health insurance policies which were provided by their employers, this meant that the old people who had retired could not be catered for by the private health insurance companies as they were no longer working hence without any income to pay for high premiums charged. But with the coming in place of Medicare, the older people are no longer excluded from enjoying health insurance cover hence they no longer have to depend on their children funds or use a larger portion of their savings on medical services. Another significant importance of the Medicare program is that it has contributed to the reduction in number of mortalities of elderly people. The provision of good and quality health care services to the elder people by Medicare has had a positive impact in reducing the number of who would have otherwise succumbed to the various illnesses, especially chronic diseases that are common with the older people and require treatment for many years.
Another important role Medicare has contributed to since its introduction is the improved medical procedures, research and also advancements in the use of technology. Establishment of Medicare resulted in an increased funding to meet the demands of the many old Americans who needed medical care, the increase in funding enabled the health care sectors to invest more on new medical facilities, modern equipment, a well-trained medical personnel as well as proper diagnosis and treatments. All these investments have led to a significant improvement in the medical care services provision. It is therefore evident that Medicare strives to provide quality health care to those who need it most i.e. the old and the disabled. There is a challenge however on how to cater for the ever increasing number of the elderly in the future.