One of the requirements of passing my insurance producers exam was learning about Medicare and Medicaid. It was a bit dry, but import because a significant portion, 20% and 21%, of our population is on one of them. Do we even know what the programs do? 

In a nutshell they are both medical insurance, the first is for the elderly and the second is for the very poor. Everyone who is working contributes to both through payroll taxes. The programs are two ways our society recognizes that everyone gets old, and cares those that would otherwise fall through the cracks. The programs cover the most basic forms of medical care. 

When you turn 65, you qualify for Medicare, but if you are still working and your company offers a medical plan, they need to keep you on that first. That is one of the many rules already established to keep government spending down and the costs at a minimum to the tax payers. The program is also very basic and most people who can afford it, usually purchase supplemental insurance. 

Medicaid is for those making minimum wage or slightly more for larger families. Again we are talking the Federal Income Poverty Level currently about 15k per year. To put that into perspective, our family’s medical insurance by itself costs more than some people make working full-time at minimum wage. There are provisions that increase qualification levels for pregnant mothers, children and the blind. Again, Medicaid so basic that many states supplement it with additional programs. Having the population guaranteed access to simple medical care is something that is financially sound in the long run because prevention is more cost-efficient than emergency interventions. 

It is extremely concerning to hear that Medicare and Medicaid are threatened to be cut when there our Gross Domestic Production is higher than it’s ever been. The government should pay more attention to regulating the medical industry rather than attacking the poor and elderly. We should look into why medicine is costing so much. Who is profiting and who is paying? Second, we should require companies to cover all of their workers, including 1099s and part-timers. No millionaires or billionaires should have anyone on their company payroll that leans on taxpayers to pay for their basic medical needs. Those big businessmen absolutely need to be held accountable for their own financial practices before cutting off funding to our most vulnerable populations.