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. Coverage for the disabled began in 1973. Medicare provides for a basic program of hospital insurance, under which enrollees are protected against major costs of hospital and related care; and a supplementary medical insurance program, through which persons are aided in paying doctor bills and other health-care bills. It is funded by a tax on the earnings of employees that is matched by the employer and by premiums paid by enrollees. In 2002 nearly 40.5 million Americans were enrolled in Medicare. Legislation passed in 2003 provides for a drug benefit program (beginning in 2006), higher premiums for enrollees earning more than $80,000, and subsidies over 10 years to encourage private insurers to compete with Medicare.

Med·i·care / ˈmediˌke(ə)r/ a federal system of health insurance for people over 65 years of age and for certain younger people with disabilities.

Medicare (USA) A healthcare scheme introduced to Congress by President Johnson in July 1965 as one of a series of reforms for his Great Society. Funded by compulsory health insurance, it meets a very high proportion of the cost of medical treatment and hospital care for persons aged 65 or over. The scheme also includes Medicaid for sick people with absolutely no personal resources. The American Medical Association (AMA) had staunchly opposed any more general provision as ‘socialized medicine’, having successfully resisted any medicare scheme from its first proposal by President Truman in 1947. As the proportion of the population over 65 grew steadily, the system became increasingly strained as the expenditure had to be met in spite of a growing budget deficit. Reform of Medicare formed a major theme of President Clinton's 1992 election campaign. After some delay he entrusted his wife, Hillary Clinton, with the passage of a health care bill. However, diverse opposition in Congress, as well as fierce hostility by the pharmaceutical lobby and, once again, the AMA, led to the failure of health care reform in 1994. Although expenditure for Medicare and Medicaid continued to soar, the system was put on a more stable basis by the growth of income generated by the economic boom during the Clinton Presidency.

Medicare (Canada); national health service (uk)