Question

Do you think Medicare and Medicaid programs face challenges from the perspectives of providers, the government, and consumers (recipients of Medicare or Medicaid)? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Yes, Medicare and Medicaid programs face challenges from the perspectives of providers, the government, and consumers. They are explained as follows:
Cost control: Expenses typically soar during economic downturns as enrolment increases when people lose jobs and their health benefits. States typically try to control costs by cutting payment rates to doctors and hospitals or reducing benefits.
Expand income edibility: many people are without health insurance because they don’t make enough money to qualify for federal subsidies to buy private coverage on the health law’s exchanges, even though they are ineligible for state Medicaid programs.
Better oversight of managed care: There are widespread inaccuracies in Medicaid managed care plans’ provider directories. Half of the doctors listed in the directories are unavailable because providers were not at that location, were not in the plan’s network or were no longer taking new patients.
Ensuring access to doctors and dentists: People can get primary and preventive care as easily as those with private coverage, but have a harder time finding specialists and dentists who are willing to treat them. Even when states offer adults coverage, patients often struggle to find dentists willing to see them because of low payment rates. In many places, community health centers have helped to meet the growing need for dental care, but patients can face long waits.
Meeting growing demand for long term care: it is for helping poor, inner-city families; it’s also the only safety net for millions of middle-class people who need long-term care at home or in nursing homes.