Deliverable Length:3-4 pagesIn November 2003 the U.S. Congress passed a controversial health policy...

Question

Deliverable Length:3-4 pagesIn November 2003 the U.S. Congress passed a controversial health policy bill that President George W. Bush signed into law. The new legislation makes the most far-reaching changes to Medicare since the program was created in 1965.Please address the following questions:Why were changes to Medicare deemed necessary?What are the main provisions of the new legislation? Do you think they accomplish the desired goals?Who was involved in setting the agenda for this policy change? Discuss the roles and interests of specific agenda setters and their influence on the development of the legislation.Why was the legislation controversial? Discuss the claims of the law's supporters and detractors. Who will benefit from the changes?Do you think having electronically stored data (such as costs and access to individual patient files) played a role in the decision-making process?Please cite all references

Robert · Accepted Answer

Medicare Modernization act 2003 
Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 was one of the most ever-changing in the history of the US 
health care. This federal law was signed in 2003 by the then President George Bush. It 
represented one of the most important restructuring in the field of medical care. 
Were the changes necessary? 
Medicare laws were first created and implemented in 1965, since then the usage of the drugs as 
prescribed by the experts have risen considerably. There is more number of drugs available in the 
market and the prices have risen significantly. As the price rises, it becomes difficult for most of 
the citizens to afford. And when it comes to senior citizen, the situation is dreadful. The act is 
meant to solve this problem of expensive medical care. (Health Policy Alternatives, 2004) 
This act provides subsidies to the private players in the market so as to convince them to offer 
those types of plans that were not specified by the federal law. One of the main motives of the 
act was to force most of the senior players in the industry out of the sector. They will be thrown 
into competition with the private payers in the health insurance sector. Some of the plans of the 
healthcare have lost huge chunk of money in the past mostly on the Medicare enrollees and 
finally the plan got dumped. (Public Law, 2013) 
Provisions 
There were many provisions added to the plan apart from the basic need of providing cheaper 
health care to the citizens. Some of the provisions that were provided by this Act of 2003 were as 
follows: 
 Benefit to begin in 2006 
 Benefit or the cost or the access of the act was never guaranteed as per the law 
 Six-city trial was mandated by 2010 
 Rural hospitals were given an added advantage of $25 billion 
 Out-patients and visits to be means-tested 
 Higher fees to be charged from the wealthy citizens 
 Electronic subscription added in 2009 
 For working people, a special account was to be maintained 
The provisions as mandated in the act were working towards the goal of providing a cheaper 
alternative to the citizens especially the senior ones. But at the same time that was creating huge 
restrictions on many of the payers in the industry.

Deliverable Length: 3-4 pages In November 2003 the U.S. Congress passed a controversial health policy bill that President George W. Bush signed into law. The new legislation makes the most...

Solution

Answer To This Question Is Available To Download

Related Questions & Answers

Submit New Assignment