Medicare: A Primer

The Kaiser Family Foundation has just released Medicare: A Primer.  This 32 page document provides most of what you might want to know about Medicare, whether you are currently covered by the program, or about to be.  It shows who is eligible to participate in the program, what benefits are available under each of the four parts of the program, and how much beneficiaries pay for benefits.  

There is also a lot of helpful information such as the types of supplemental policies Medicare beneficiaries carry, how Medicare is financed, and a discussion of the access Medicare beneficiaries have to the health system. 

The document has been updated to reflect programmatic changes that were made with passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  It includes a discussion and graph which shows the health reform law's impact on spending over this decade, as the average annual growth rate in spending slows from 6.8 percent to a projected 5.5 percent per year.

Medicare:  A Primer includes an implementation timetable showing the dates and changes that the health reform law will make to this program between 2010 and 2015.  

The primer also includes a thoughtful discussion of the funding challenges facing the program as the ratio of workers to beneficiaries declines.

The Kaiser Family Foundation has produced a document that is a solid source for clear, unbiased information on a program that benefits almost one in five Americans.

What Health Reform Does in 2010

The President's weekly address today is devoted to the health care reform debate.  He lays out the immediate benefits to small business, individuals, those covered by Medicare, and those uninsured because of pre-existing conditions. If the bill is passed, these are benefits that will take effect this year.  Federal subsidies to help with the cost of insurance premiums for low and middle income taxpayers and the development of the insurance exchanges, where we'll be able to choose from a range of qualified benefit plans from many health insurers will come later.  The full text of the address is provided after the jump.