Not much has changed in the times since then and taking the findings of the study it can be established that the Black and Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries are subject to medication under use for economic reasons. This is also true for the chronically-ill black and Hispanic beneficiaries, who require constant medication but have no resources and have very meager drug coverage. The three common diseases that cause the depravity foremost are heart ailments, diabetes and HIV / AIDS. Though the federal initiatives have given importance to the three diseases in removing disparities, yet the benefits are to reach the target. (Briesacher; et al., 2003)
The general access to prescription drugs is not available for black and Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries. Thus these groups of people may need a different amendment in the policy to ease their burden of payment and create an easy access to medicines. The research is an eye opener and though there has been lot of changes since then it is worthwhile considering if these problems have been set right in 2009, six years after the preliminary finding. As mentioned earlier there is a direct relation between age and the use of medical resources and this applies to prescription drugs. The examination of the Medicare program that is meant to provide health insurance benefits for elderly and disabled persons initially did not have provisions for the payment of the purchase of prescription drugs for persons. While the employed may have health benefits there is no provision to cover the outpatient prescription drug purchase. At the beginning of the millennium the status of the Medicare and the previous legislations in this regard was detailed and discussed in a research. (Poisal, et al., 1999)
We may note that there have been up to the year 2000 many acts passed to overcome the deficits of the Medicare legislation that include The 'Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act', which could have brought the benefit required but was repealed in 1989. It can also be taken into account that the 'National Bipartisan Commission' on the 'Future of Medicare' recommended far back in 1977, adding an outpatient prescription drug benefit to Medicare for persons with low incomes. (Poisal, et al., 1999) However the situation as found in the beginning of the Millennium is that mostly beneficiaries who have the Medicare risk health maintenance organizations -- HMOs have prescription drug coverage. The statistics at that time showed that the black persons and other minorities had coverage rates higher than white people because of the numbers in population. Income was also a factor and the people with incomes greater than $20,000 had coverage. Thus there is a need to stress on the Prescription drugs being made a part of the Medicare benefit. The second issue is that these are based on employer-sponsored insurance, and is not available to the elderly.
6. Is there any information on the future of this legislation? (Revision, obsolete, status of bill, etc.)
There have been a lot of changes to the act ever since 2006. The part D of the act created under the social security act a voluntary prescription drug benefit that mandated two prescription drug plans and in the scheme at 2006 the beneficiaries had to pay the full costs. (CCH Incorporated, 2004) In 2010 a new program was introduced that replaced the 2006 provision to have cost adjustment programs and this brings some relief to indigent persons. Under the new plan the prescription drug coverage must necessarily include the benefits provided under the plan, and with that the cost sharing ratio ought to be spelt out clearly. The provisions for late enrolment penalty have also been laid down. (CCH Incorporated,...
The Act creates a positive balance between government interests to save money and the interests of Medicare recipients to receive a wide range of drugs for their specific needs. The current ban on government negotiations with pharmaceutical companies serves to protect Medicate recipients by using the positives of the free market, such as the experience and purchasing power of PBMs. While there are serious potential problems with this approach,
Nursing Leadership Health Policy Health Policy Change The health policy change encompasses Medicare Part D. Medicare D. is also referred to as the Medicare prescription drug benefit. It is part of the Medicare program that is purposed to bankroll the cost of prescription drugs together with coverage payments for prescription drugs for Medicare recipients (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2016). The proposed policy change with respect to Medicare Part D is
President George Bush proposed a two part strategy with initial implemented drug coverage to low-income beneficiaries coupled with a White House task force to develop a plan to reform Medicare (Health Policy, 2001). Under this plan beneficiaries with income 135% below the national poverty guidelines would be eligible for full prescription drug coverage and a sliding scale would be provided for those under 175% (Health Policy 2001). The most controversial
Unlike Medicare, Medicaid is not a purely federally-funded program. Every state has a Medicaid budget, which the federal government 'matches' based upon a formula, despite the fact that Medicaid is considered an entitlement, implying that enrollees are entitled to benefits regardless of where they live. Because federal funding is 'matched' that means that states that spend more on Medicaid -- usually wealthier states -- tend to receive more federal funds
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
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