Healthy Aging: Medicare Reform is key to Healthy Aging.As older Americans strive to achieve a Healthy Aging lifestyle, one of the key components for success will be a "healthy" Medicare Medicare, national health insurance program in the United States for persons aged 65 and over and the disabled. It was established in 1965 with passage of the Social Security Amendments and is now run by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Program. Congress has been attempting to reform Medicare for years in order to protect its solvency The ability of an individual to pay his or her debts as they mature in the normal and ordinary course of business, or the financial condition of owning property of sufficient value to discharge all of one's debts. solvency n. and expand the benefit to include meaningful prescription drug prescription drug Prescription medication Pharmacology An FDA-approved drug which must, by federal law or regulation, be dispensed only pursuant to a prescription–eg, finished dose form and active ingredients subject to the provisos of the Federal Food, Drug, coverage. On June 27th, both the House and the Senate passed Medicare Reform legislation. However, the two bills differ in both approach and detail, and the challenge now is to blend them into a single bill in a House-Senate Reconciliation Committee. The White House is applying pressure on Congress to resolve their differences quickly as President Bush is eager to sign a final bill into law. Both bills include a mixture of public and private participation in providing benefits to all Medicare beneficiaries, with some additional help for low-income seniors However, the differences primarily involve the role of the private sector. Although it is too early to know how the final legislation will be reconciled, there are some common elements in the two bills. Under both bills, seniors may remain in traditional Medicare and buy a separate policy to help cover their prescriptions costs or, they may choose a private managed care plan option that would include an integrated prescription drug benefit. Both bills provide a "donut-hole" structure for the drug benefit. In the Senate version, there would be an initial $275 deductible That which may be taken away or subtracted. In taxation, an item that may be subtracted from gross income or adjusted gross income in determining taxable income (e.g., interest expenses, charitable contributions, certain taxes). , then a 50% beneficiary beneficiary Person or entity (e.g., a charity or estate) that receives a benefit from something (e.g., a trust, life-insurance policy, or contract). A primary beneficiary receives proceeds from a trust or insurance policy before any other. cost share for expenditures from $276 to $4,500. Expenditures between $4,501-$5,800 would be borne entirely by the beneficiary (resulting in total out-of-pocket costs out-of-pocket costs Managed care Health care costs that a covered person must pay out of pocket–eg, coinsurance, deductibles, etc. See Copayment. of $3,700). Beyond that $3700 out-or-pocket, the government would pay 90% of all additional drug costs. In the House version, there is an initial $250 deductible, then a 20% beneficiary cost share for expenditures from $251 to $2,000. Expenditures between $2,001-$4,900 would be borne entirely by the beneficiary (resulting in total out-of-pocket costs of $3,500). Beyond $3500 out-of-pocket, the government would pay 100% of all additional drug costs. The House bill also includes a higher out-of-pocket maximum for beneficiaries with incomes over $60,000. Both bills offer drug discount cards to help cover prescription costs in 2004-2005 since the reform measures would not go into effect until 2006. Additionally, both the House and Senate address the issue of dual eligibility for Medicare-Medicaid, with one key difference. In the House bill, Medicare would become the primary payer for drug coverage; in the Senate version beneficiaries eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid Medicare and Medicaid U.S. government programs in effect since 1966. Medicare covers most people 65 or older and those with long-term disabilities. Part A, a hospital insurance plan, also pays for home health visits and hospice care. would continue to receive drug benefits through Medicaid. The timeline
Timeline may refer to:
n. 1. One who usually expects a favorable outcome. 2. A believer in philosophical optimism. op that a final bill will be passed this year. Seniors Today: Some Surprising Facts By the Numbers * The senior population numbered 35.0 million in 2000, an increase of 3.7 million or 12.0% since 1990. * About one in every eight, or 12.4 percent, of the Population is a senior. * Over 2.0 million people celebrated their 65th birthday in 2000. That's 5,574 per day! * Senior women outnumber out·num·ber tr.v. out·num·bered, out·num·ber·ing, out·num·bers To exceed the number of; be more numerous than. outnumber Verb to exceed in number: senior men at 20.6 million women to 14.4 million men. * The Census shows that our senior population is rapidly becoming more diverse. Members of minority groups are projected to represent 25 percent of all seniors in 2030, up from 16 percent in 2000. * The educational level of the senior population is increasing. Between 1970 and 2000, the percentage who had completed high school rose from 28% to 70%! About 16% in 2000 had a bachelor's degree or more. Living Longer and Alone * About 30 percent (9.7 million) of all noninstitutionalized seniors live alone (7.4 million women, 2.4 million men). * Half of women over the age 75+ live alone. * According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. US Census Bureau Noun 1. Census Bureau - the bureau of the Commerce Department responsible for taking the census; provides demographic information and analyses about the population of the United States Bureau of the Census statistics, by the year 2030, the senior population will more than double to about 70 million. * The number of seniors over the age of 85 is projected to increase from 4.2 million in 2000 to 8.9 million in 2030. Financial Matters * The median income of seniors in 2000 was $19,168 for men and $10,899 for women. Due in recent times to a less than thriving thrive intr.v. thrived or throve , thrived or thriv·en , thriv·ing, thrives 1. To make steady progress; prosper. 2. economy, real median income (after adjusting for inflation) has dropped by 2.8% for men and 3.6% for women over the last two years. * The Social Security Administration reported that the major sources of income for older people was: [check] Social Security (reported by 90 percent of seniors), [check] Income from assets (reported by 62 percent), [check] Public and private pensions (reported by 43 percent), and [check] Earnings (reported by 22 percent). Migrating to California * The senior population of our country tends to move toward warmer climates. In 2000, about half (52%) of all the seniors in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. lived in nine states, with California topping file list at over 3.6 million seniors. * Most seniors choose to live in metropolitan areas (77.5%). * Seniors are less likely to change residence than other age groups. In 1999 only 4.2% of elderly households had moved since 1998 (compared to 16.5% of persons under 65). Among the movers, home ownership declined from 60% to 48%. This article was provided by WellPoint Health Networks |
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