Medicare/Medicaid Current and Future Trends Research Paper

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This means that the program will need to support many more people than it currently does, and there will be fewer (proportionally) workers paying into the system (Johnson 2006). The particular problem cited and explored by this author is prescription drug coverage, with the researcher predicting ongoing volatility in coverage laws and particulars, but truly this trend has many far-reaching implications.

The aging of the U.S. population and the increased burden this places on the Medicare program is alarming for another reason, as well: despite ongoing efforts to correct the situation, over a quarter of Medicare payments go to beneficiaries and their providers in the last year of the beneficiary's life (Riley & Lubitz 2010). This is a problem for several reasons, not the least of which is that is represents a fairly inefficient use of Medicare dollars -- payments and benefits that improve the quality of life in earlier years and help to maintain health, rather than more fully covering hospital stays that tend to become quite lengthy during the end phases of life in this country could save money and improve the effectiveness of the program as well as the health of the country's elderly population (Riley & Lubitz 2010).

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As the proportion of beneficiary payments going out in the last year of life has not changed much in over thirty years, it is unlikely to change a great deal in the near future, meaning that many of the problems identified with healthcare in the elderly are going to persist.

Conclusion

Medicare and Medicaid are highly useful programs that are utilized out of necessity by many to receive the healthcare that they need. These programs are facing significant issues in the rising number of people enrolled in these programs to receive benefits, however, as well as in the aging population and inadequately/inefficiently met healthcare needs of these beneficiaries. If the programs don't adapt to these trends, far more significant problems will emerge......

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"Medicare Medicaid Current And Future Trends" (2011, September 27) Retrieved May 13, 2024, from
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