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Health Technology and U.S. Medicare Policy in the Late 20th Century




Author(s)

Randall E. Basham Ph.D., Doctor of Social Work, The University of Texas at Arlington.

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DOI:10.17265/2159-550X/2016.04.003

Much of the history of the American Social Welfare movement has been directed to the identification and development of entitlement programs needed to strengthen the health and economy of even the neediest members of the society. The emergence of health technologies have precipitated and supported policy advances. The Medicare Act (Title XVIII the United States Social Security Act of 1935) as such an entitlement program, was originally directed to resolving the health coverage concerns of the elderly without families or finances to afford coverage. The program entered crises periods over rising costs and continuity of funding concerns. Many have been assisted, in the U.S., in addition to the aged population, by the development of Medicare entitlements. These entitlements have emerged during periods of social need often accompanied by health technology or service delivery innovation. The program benefits more than its constituents and contributes to the health of the overall society. This paper will provide both a historical overview of the conflicts and uncertainties weathered by the Medicare Act in the later quarter of the 20th Century in the U.S. (United States of America). The paper will also explore the implications of changes in the technology of federal and state funding mechanisms along with demographic changes that offered the greatest challenges to the continuation of the Medicare Act as a mainstay of stable health coverage to millions of needy Americans, into the 21st century.

health technology, U.S. medicare policy, 20th century