The Current State of Medicare

Medicare took the front seat once again during the presidential election when dealing with controversial health issues. Due to its importance as well as the delicacy surrounding the issue, the state of Medicare and its viability seem to be of the greatest concern to the public and politicians. Added to this already volatile mix is the rising costs of healthcare and the increased power of managed care organizations.

Through my search on the web I was able to find numerous documents and web pages that were dedicated to the subject of Medicare. Included in this summary are five important web pages along with their ratings as well as five documents that are very briefly summarized and then rated.

 

Web Pages

  1. Official Medicare Web Page – This web site is a comprehensive one with a search engine and numerous other links that could answer almost any questions that one might have regarding Medicare. The obvious purpose is to relay information on Medicare. In addition, this site is very user friendly and consequently very easy to use. (Rating *****)
  2. HCFA Page – This web site is a more general one than the one previously referenced. This is due to the more general topic of the web site, specifically the government’s role in health care financing. This site is a little more demanding on the user because of all the menus that have to be scrolled through to get to the information regarding Medicare. (Rating ****)
  3. Medicare Rights - This non-for-profit sponsored web site’s purpose is to educate consumers on Medicare. In that it is pretty good except that it provides just the bare minimum of information to its consumers. Everything else is available with membership. The navigation is a little difficult at times due to the placement of the links to different documents, but otherwise the site is relatively comfortable to navigate. (Rating ***)
  4. Medicare HMO Web Site – This site’s purpose is to provide information and a chance to enroll in Medicare HMO’s. As to the topic, this is a very relevant web site due to its concern with HMO’s, an already powerful force within the healthcare industry. As for its ease, the site is well planned out with organized sections and headings. (Rating *****)
  5. Citizens for Better Medicare – This site’s purpose is to convey the importance of the Medicare issue for future legislation. To that end, this site represents different viewpoints on the topic and its possible current state. Thus it is very useful to the topic of the current state of Medicare primarily because it incorporates such a broad spectrum of views. It is also very easy to use and therefore deserves a five-star rating. I, however, will not give it that rating only because it holds minimal factual information. (Rating ****)

Documents

  1. Medicare in the Twenty-first Century – This document is a compilation of the ideas and thoughts of several health economists regarding the viability of the Medicare program in both the short-term and the long-term. Their recommendations regarding Medicare "strive not only to improve the program’s efficiency but also to maintain fairness to the various constituencies involved." On the whole, the document is not too comprehensive, merely because it is a summary of the viewpoints of several people. (Rating ***)
  2. The Twentieth Century Fund – This document is presented by The Twentieth Century Fund, an organization that researches and writes about important political and economic issues. I found this site to be extremely useful because of its structure. It is broken down into the strengths and weaknesses of Medicare and then suggested reforms that would improve upon the weaknesses. Overall, this site also seemed to have the most detail and scope regarding the current state of Medicare. The site itself was very easy to use. (Rating *****)
  3. Medicare Reform – This document is a testimony before the Congress Budget Committee regarding Medicare Reform. This testimony analyzes the current state of Medicare and then proceeds to give a few recommendations. Although the testimony is lengthy (almost 18 printed pages), the points are very concise and clear. In addition, to the point topic headings make it very easy for a reader to glance through the testimony and have an idea of what is being proposed. (Rating *****)
  4. Financing Medicare’s Future - This document is an executive summary of a report that is available for a fee on the web. The topic itself is a very important one because it is so hotly debated in the legislative houses. According to some estimates, Medicare funds will run out by the year 2010. Thus, creating a more efficient system might sustain this program for a longer period of time. I found the summary to be very informative, yet I did not seem to find a conclusion or a recommendation that I was looking for that might help save Medicare. Instead numerous options were given without these options being analyzed. Because of this, I have to downgrade my rating. (Rating ***)
  5. America’s Seniors and Medicare – This document highlights a report conducted by the National Economic Council. As is common with the other documents that have been referenced above, this report highlights the deficiencies in the current Medicare system and its perceived lack of viability far into the future. Although it does not provide many solutions, the highlights were extremely easy to follow due to the descriptive headings above each section as well as the abundant use of statistics. The statistics greatly helped the points that were made throughout the report. (Rating ****)
Note: The information below may contain additional relevant materials and documents. Some of the information may be duplicate. The evaluations depend on both the student doing the review and the information contained at the time of the review. Sites are subject to change!