With national social insurance programs Medicare and Medicaid celebrating their 50th anniversary, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that there are now over 55 million people living in the United States covered by Medicare based on the latest enrollment numbers for each state.
During its first full year of implementation in 1966, there were an estimated 19.1 million Americans covered by the program, but by 2012, the number of beneficiaries has reached 52 million. The latest enrollment numbers indicate an increase of about three million people in the past three years as the generation of Baby Boomers has begun to reach their retirement age.
Beneficiaries of Medicare look to the program to provide them with vital health services including preventive services, such as diabetes screenings and flu shots, stays at hospitals and laboratory tests. The program also provides much needed supplies to its members such as prescription drugs and wheelchairs.
CMS acting administrator Andy Slavitt said that for the past 50 years, Medicare has become an important part of communities in the United States, looking after the financial security and well-being of families living in the country as they enter their advanced age or become disabled.
He explained that the program has kept itself up to speed with significant changes in the demographic that it was designed to serve and even led efforts to improve the delivery of healthcare services to people.
Slavitt added that as Medicare continues its programs to look after future generations of Americans, CMS is committed to building a better system based on more intelligent spending in order to help keep beneficiaries healthy.
Medicare and Medicaid: Then and Now
When both social healthcare programs were first signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in July 30, 1965, the life expectancy of 65-year-old Americans was measured at about 18 years for women and 13.5 years for men. This was based on the cohort life expectancy data of the Social Security service, which was designed to monitor improvements in survival of Americans during their later years.
Around 19 million people living in the U.S. signed up for Medicare in different Social Security offices located all over the country on July 1, 1966.
In 2015, the average life expectancy of 65-year-olds has considerably increased to 21.6 years for women and 19.3 years for men. There are now close to 56 million senior citizens and disabled Americans of any age enrolled to Medicare.
Medical services during the first implementation of Medicare and Medicaid featured segregated nursing homes and hospitals, most notably in regions of the South.
Today, while health disparities based on ethnic and racial terms still persist, segregated medical facilities no longer exist. Payment for Medicare and Medicaid services are only provided to facilities that can ensure that they do not discriminate the programs' beneficiaries.
Eligibility to Medicaid used to be connected to receiving welfare checks from the government during its early years, but the expansions of coverage for children and the welfare reform law during the 1990s effectively ended the link between the program and welfare.
Photo: Borya | Flickr
