Medicare

Abstract

Medicare plays a central role in American medical care and is enormously important for persons with chronic illnesses. For over 50 years, Medicare has provided health insurance to older Americans, ensuring their access to medical services and a measure of financial security during retirement. Since 1972, the program has additionally insured persons with permanent disabilities and end-stage renal disease. In 2016, Medicare covered over 57 million persons. That number will climb substantially during the next decade as the baby boom generation retires. Medicare also has an enormous role in shaping health-care payment and delivery. Medicare is the single largest purchaser of medical services in the United States and a major source of income for physicians, hospitals, and other medical providers. The decisions that Medicare makes about how to pay providers, and what types of medical care delivery to promote and experiment with, reverberate across American medicine. The future of payment and delivery reform depends in no small part on their fortunes in Medicare.