Medicare and Medicaid High School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Medicare and Medicaid High School - Essay Example Medicare covers many of the costs of health care for senior citizens, but its associated payments make it expensive to use for many of its beneficiaries. Medicare benefits will cover the cost of hospitalization, skilled nursing home care, and prescription drugs. However, these benefits are often subject to a significant co-pay or deductible and have limitations on their amount of benefits. For example, in-patient hospital care is covered for a period of 60 days, but is subject to a $1,024 deductible payment from the patient. An extended hospital stay, beyond 60 days, may require a co-payment of $256 per day. To deal with these costs, low income people may also be covered under Medicaid or carry supplemental Medicare insurance. Supplemental insurance, known as Medigap, is meant to cover the cost of these co-payments or deductibles and may even cover additional hospitalization days. Medicare also covers the cost of a limited stay in a skilled nursing facility. Eligible patients are covered for up to 20 days after which the patient is required to pay a co-payment of $128 per day for a period of up to 100 days.