Medicaid is the state healthcare program for residents that cannot afford to purchase health insurance. Medicare is a federally run program healthcare program that workers pay into for sometimes over 50 years. Medical (Health) insurance is a privately purchased program that funds healthcare and is very expensive. Medicare is not an entitlement program but Medicaid is. When one qualifies for Medicaid, taxpayers in the state and federal government pay for the recipient’s healthcare benefit. Medicare on the other hand is earned over a taxpayer’s lifetime. People pay into the Medicare system through payroll taxes. When one retires, if he or she qualifies for Medicare they receive a healthcare benefit. Medicare is not free and the federal government requires that one pay fees based on one’s annual income. Also, most Medicare beneficiaries purchase a private company insurance supplement to pay for their deductibles and out of pocket expenses associated with basic Medicare coverage. Medicaid is free to those that qualify. So how is the government releasing numbers on the insured and uninsured? When Congressional Budget Office (CBO) claims that the uninsured population is going to rise, what does that mean? What else is interesting are people that are covered under the public health systems all over the country being included in those statistics? Chicago, New York and Los Angeles a lone cover about 4 million people that don’t seem to show what anywhere in the reports we receive. Also, left out is the charitable healthcare facilities that deliver community care all over the US. When we hear about the uninsured, do our elected officials understand that insurance is just a funding vehicle to secure healthcare? I can receive healthcare without having medical insurance. So, next time you hear the news media tell you that there are millions of people without health insurance, ask them if that means they don’t have healthcare?
Tim Elenz
Principal
Benefitsage
“Medical insurance is our specialty”
Telenz@Benefitsage.com
800-317-0181 ext. 306
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