Health care coverage has been historically debated and continuously modified over the past century by lawmakers attempting to meet the needs of America’s aging population, and newly released information from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirms that today we have a “strong Medicare program.”
President Harry S. Truman first proposed his ideas for health coverage for aging Americans in 1945 and on July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid programs into law with President Truman by his side.
In 2003, one of the most significant changes to the program, called the Medicare Modernization Act, was signed into law by President George W. Bush. Among other important changes, the Act adds the Medicare Part D outpatient prescription drug benefit; however, a portion of the population fell into a “doughnut hole.” This term refers to Medicare patients reaching an annual medication cost of $2800, at which time coverage lapses and the patient is responsible for full drug costs until they have spent $4550 and coverage kicks back in.
HHS released new information the day before the 48th anniversary of Medicare enactment which shows that mature Americans are closer than ever to healthcare coverage stability, in part due to the enactment of the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA). This latest round of coverage changes, with the gradual closing of the “doughnut hole” to be completed in 2020, has so far resulted in over 6.6 million Medicare patients saving over $7 billion on prescription medication costs with an average savings of $1061 per beneficiary.
In addition, HHS reports that “no cost-sharing” preventive services included in the ACA is helping Americans “take charge of their own health” by allowing patients to work preemptively with health professionals to prevent disease with early detection and health condition monitoring. Many cancer screenings, for example some colorectal screenings which cost patients as much as $160, are now free under the Medicare section of the ACA. Approximately 16.5 million Medicare patients took advantage of preventative services in the first six months of 2013.
A statement by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius reaffirmed the importance of the Medicare program citing it as a “sacred promise our country made to older Americans” securing the medical care they need “after contributing a lifetime of hard work to our nation’s well-being.” “Seniors will be able to live their golden years with the security and peace of mind that comes with having affordable health coverage under Medicare,” she said. The ACA also contains tools to protect the health of seniors and save tax dollars by addressing Medicare fraud, waste and abuse, and strengthening the Medicare Trust Fund “extending its solvency until at least 2026,” nearly a decade longer compared to estimates before the passage of the ACA.
