Abstract
The second issue of Volume 18 goes to press at a time when Medicare, the federally-funded system of health and hospital insurance for people age sixty-five or older, went through revolutionary changes. The main changes in the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act added new coverage for prescrip- tions and preventive benefits, and brought in features that are dubbed as “Medicare Advantages.” These “advantages” allow seniors to leave tradi- tional Medicare and join an HMO, to...
The second issue of Volume 18 goes to press at a time when Medicare, the federally-funded system of health and hospital insurance for people age sixty-five or older, went through revolutionary changes. The main changes in the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act added new coverage for prescrip- tions and preventive benefits, and brought in features that are dubbed as “Medicare Advantages.” These “advantages” allow seniors to leave tradi- tional Medicare and join an HMO, to receive drugs and better health bene- fits, presumably at less expense to them than traditional Medicare. Reactions to the new law varied. “Depending on which interest group you talk to, this whopping $400 billion spending package intended to provide prescription drug coverage to seniors will either save the 38-year-old federal health care program or kill it” (Sneider, 2003). In its efforts to appease hundreds of different interest groups, the legislation has managed to “earn a dubious distinction: Almost nobody likes it” (Brink, 2003). The reform part of the bill, which many experts believe is inadequate and will go through several modifications, is scheduled to be implemented in 2010. But the complexity of the package and the politi- cal deals that are packed with it assure
Journal of Aging and Environment – Taylor & Francis
Published: Aug 4, 2004
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