Medicare and Medicaid

Abstract

Both Medicare and Medicaid so expanded in scope all previous programs that they constituted a new kind of federal commitment in the health care financing field. Both programs were expected to operate within the existing health care system; but with no provision for expanded supply of services, these programs helped contribute to a rapid rise in the cost of the various health care services. In terms of future developments, Medicare and Medicaid and any successor pro grams must show an increasing concern for improving the sys tem of providing health care. One possible direction of change is that involved with a health maintenance organization (HMO), the designation for a group paid to provide health services to an enrolled "population" on a prepaid per capita basis, such as has been tried in some states with Medicaid. Whatever the future form of federal involvement, programs must be concerned with both the financing and the provision of health services on an adequate scale.