Medicare Benefits Overview

The Medicare Government Program – What’s it all about?

Medicare Government is a health insurance program that the Government provides to citizens and permanent resident of the United States. Age 65 years and older tend to qualify for the Medicare program. However, if you are under 65 and have a serious medical condition you may still meet the requirements.

The benefits behind Medicare Government

Medicare used to be split into two parts. Part A referred to hospital insurance and Part B covered medical insurance.

Part C and D explained

During 1997 Medicare Government gave you the choice of receiving benefits through your own private insurance plan. These rules were altered in 2003 providing “Medicare Advantage” which offered coverage equal to both Part A and Part B.

In 2006 another change was made covering prescription drugs by bringing in Part D. Before this Part A and B hardly ever covered prescription drugs. Due to this, those meeting the requirements of the Medicare government program are able to receive coverage of Part D.

How is Medicare paid for?

The payment for Medicare is mainly funded through tax deductions out of workers paychecks. This is a joint deduction with both the employer and employee contributing 1.45% equalling the 2.9% required. If you are self employed the whole 2.9% will have to be paid.

For some people it is not compulsory to pay anything towards Part A if the person or their partner has worked more than 40 quarters in a job. This requires that the correct amount of tax has been deducted from their paychecks. Part A coverage can be paid for monthly for those not reaching the 40 quarter boundary

To qualify for Part B Medicare government you will have to pay a premium monthly. A method that is used my most people is to have it deducted from their Social Security check every month.

The scale of this program

With over a billion claims per year and 13% of the Federal Budget used in 2003. The Medicare government plan is the countries biggest managed care purchaser.

Medicare future issues

The funding for the program is estimated to run dry by the year 2018. This is due to the increasing number of people retiring each year. As such the tax that is being deducted from the workers will no longer keep up with the funding required for the Medicare government program. The funding may not be available to sustain the Medicare program.

Seeing as you have paid for Medicare throughout your working life, you may as well apply and reap the benefits.

Entry Filed under: Benefits Explained