Most people know Medicare as one of the most successful social programs in our country’s history for its impact on the health of our older citizens and those with disabilities. But did you know that the Medicare program was key to integrating hospitals?
Medicare has not only provided access to care for people who could not get private insurance, it has also significantly reduced poverty.
By Connie Cherba, Guardian for Medicare Beneficiary, Iowa
By Max Richtman, President and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
By Former U.S. Senator Christopher J. Dodd
By Congressman Joe Courtney (2d Dis. CT)
We are continuously amazed at the courage and empathy of our clients. The plaintiffs in Jimmo v. Sebelius, a class action lawsuit, filed by the Center for Medicare Advocacy in 2011 and settled in 2013, are remarkable examples of this.
By Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (3rd Dis. CT)
Many people outside the Medicare and health care world don’t know that in 1989 Medicare was briefly, dramatically altered. The “Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act,” (MCCA) was the most significant revision to Medicare since its inception. The law increased the amount of coverage available in all care settings, established limits to beneficiary cost-sharing, and added new benefits. Unfortunately, MCCA also added a new financing model; this proved to be the law’s undoing.
Medicare home health coverage can mean the difference between an individual staying home or becoming a nursing home resident. While the Medicare skilled nursing facility benefit is very limited, for beneficiaries who meet the coverage criteria, the home care benefit can be an ongoing Godsend.
By Kevin Prindiville, Executive Director, Justice in Aging
By Harry Ting, PhD, Health Economist
At the Center for Medicare Advocacy's "National Voices of Medicare Summit" (March 20, 2015), three Medicare leaders presented their perspectives on Medicare's promise and challenges. All spoke to the value of Medicare for its intended beneficiaries: older and disabled people. They also noted the resources and funds Medicare spends on providers and private industries.
By Frank Miata, Medicare Beneficiary
By Terry Berthelot, JD, MSW
By David Lipschutz, Center for Medicare Advocacy Senior Policy Attorney
By Steve Gleason, the Gleason Initiative Foundation
Medicare is a wonderful program. It provides important health insurance for millions of older and disabled people. But, contrary to common belief, Medicare does not cover long-term care in skilled nursing facilities (often referred to as nursing homes).
By Matt Shepard
By A Medicare Beneficiary
By Gill Deford, Director of Litigation, Center for Medicare Advocacy
By Douglas Gould, President, Douglas Gould and Company
By Judith Stein, Executive Director, Center for Medicare Advocacy
When Medicare began to provide coverage for prescription drugs almost 10 years ago, under Part D, millions of people who previously had no drug coverage were able to access needed medications. By any measure, the drug benefit has helped many people. While drug coverage was a key missing ingredient in Medicare coverage until then, the way drug coverage is provided in Medicare raises ongoing concerns, particularly as some would view it as a model for other Medicare coverage and delivery systems.
By LGBT Aging Advocacy (Connecticut) and CT TransAdvocacy Coalition
By Howard Back, a Medicare Beneficiary from California
Medicare is not just an acute care benefit. It covers skilled maintenance nursing and therapy; in some cases it covers long-term home care. Also, importantly, Medicare covers many preventive services, which, when utilized, can help limit the need for more costly future care.
By R.B., a Medicare Beneficiary from New Mexico
Our country has a patchwork of different types of health insurance coverage, including individual insurance policies, employer-based insurance coverage plans available through the new Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, and Medicare – the country’s flagship insurance program. While some people go without health insurance altogether, others have different types of coverage over the course of their lives, some people may even have more than one type at a time.
By L. W., the Spouse of a Medicare Beneficiary from Florida
By Mary Ashkar, Senior Attorney, Center for Medicare Advocacy
By Marilyn Moon Institute Fellow, American Institutes for Research, and Center for Medicare Advocacy Luminary
Most people think Medicare is a government program. That’s only partly true. While Congress created Medicare, and continues to develop Medicare coverage and appeal rules, decisions to pay claims are actually made by private companies. The government does not make those decisions. This was one of the compromises made in order to pass Medicare in 1965 – and the public-private partnership continues to date.
By P. B., a Medicare Beneficiary from Colorado
Many healthcare institutions are required to provide discharge planning for their Medicare patients as part of their “Conditions of Participation” in the Medicare program. Under the Medicare program, discharge planning services are required for hospital inpatients, long-term care hospital and rehabilitation inpatients, skilled nursing facility residents, patients in swing-beds, and hospice patients. Discharge planning services may include:
By an Anonymous Beneficiary from Iowa
By V.W., a Medicare Beneficiary from Colorado
By Jenny Gore Dwyer, Washington State
One of Medicare’s key strengths, compared with most other types of health insurance, is that its benefits are “defined.” The Medicare law, regulations and rules set out the minimum scope of benefits that the program must cover and outlines the out-of-pocket costs for which beneficiaries are responsible.
By C.G., California
One of the most fundamental rights set out in the Constitution is the right to due process of law when government action harms an individual. “Due process” means both notice and an opportunity to be heard. In other words, individuals are entitled to be informed about a government action, as well as their right to challenge such action.
By L.S., a Medicare Beneficiary from New York
By Lisa Hall, Appeals Administrator, Center for Medicare Advocacy
By D.C., a Medicare Beneficiary from California
When a Medicare beneficiary lives in an area that has been declared an emergency or disaster by the President, a Governor, or the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the usual Medicare rules for coverage and related concerns may be changed in order to assist those in need. Below you will find specific information, if you have further questions, call 1-800-MEDICARE.
By Max Richtman, President & CEO, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
By T.P., PhD, a Medicare Beneficiary from Ohio
While the Medicare Act covers physical, speech, and occupational therapies in various community-based and facility settings, coverage is often denied or inappropriately limited.
A compilation of beneficiary testimonials.
The 50th anniversary of Medicare has given us an opportunity to reflect on all it has accomplished to advance the health and well-being of families throughout the country. It also reminds us what could have been better – and what could still be improved.
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