Medicare from a Liberal Standpoint.
Medicare is a national health care insurance policy that has existed for over 50 years in the United States. Started in 1966, this policy aims at providing health insurance to citizens aged 65 years and above. It also provides health care coverage for younger people that have disabilities, permanent kidney failure and ALS disease. This policy is funded by the social security tax and deductibles.
One of the Democratic Party platform relating to health is achieving universal, affordable and quality healthcare. Under this platform, the party aims at bringing down drug prices, reducing health care costs and improving health quality. The platform also prioritizes expanding healthcare services and support, eliminate health inequalities and strengthening the health care workforce (Democrats, 2020).
When it comes to achieving affordable and quality healthcare, the party aims at reinvigorating the support for existing healthcare policies. These policies include universal healthcare, Medicare, and Medicaid. When enabled, the party points out that citizens that are under a republican government that has denied the implementation of policies in their government shall be beneficiaries. The party also states that it will empower individuals to enroll to Medicare when they attain the age of 60, instead of 65 as postulated in the Medicare policy.
The Medicare policy advances the Democratic Party agenda by supporting the party’s platform. Medicare is affordable in terms of monthly costs. In addition, its use has resulted in an improvement of medical standards. These medical standards were improved because hospitals had to meet quality requirements for enlistment into this program (OLIVER et al., 2004). This directly supports the 2020 Democratic platform that aims to reduce health care costs and improve the quality of standards.
The percentage of people covered by Medicare has gradually improved since it was incepted in 1965. Since 2008, its enrolment has increased exponentially from 14% to close to 18% of the population. In 2019, statistics indicated that 25% of its beneficiaries are in poor health, with a majority of these patients having chronic conditions. 15% of the beneficiaries are under the age of 65, while those above the age of 85 make up about 12%. In terms of income, the total Medicare income has also steadily increased over the years. During the past five years, the income has risen rapidly from about $ 645 billion to about 795 billion. This figure will be significantly higher in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic (Medicare, 2020).
In conclusion, given the healthcare costs are always increasing, even more, due to the covid 19 pandemic, it is critical that these costs be reduced. This policy has continuously taken care of the most vulnerable members of our society, increasing the overall life expectancy. Higher life expectancy means longer productivity fueling the nation’s output and advancing the economy. Furthermore, the fast aging of the baby boomer generation means that this healthcare policy will be critical years to come.
References
OLIVER, THOMAS R. et al. “A Political History Of Medicare And Prescription Drug Coverage”. The Milbank Quarterly, vol 82, no. 2, 2004, pp. 283-354. Wiley, doi:10.1111/j.0887-378x.2004.00311.x.
The Republican Party Platform, 2020 – Ballotpedia. Ballotpedia. (2020). Retrieved 6 October 2020, from https://ballotpedia.org/The_Republican_Party_Platform,_2020.
Topic: Medicare. Statista. (2020). Retrieved 6 October 2020, from https://www.statista.com/topics/1167/medicare/.