US Politics Special: The Conservative Way Forward on Medicaid and Medicare
Monday, February 14, 2011 at 5:16
The conservative Roadmap's guiding philosophy is the vaunted economic efficiency of the free market,with hundreds of millions of individual choices in the health insurance market driving down the overall cost of health care provision.
Both Medicare and Medicaid began in 1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society". Medicare is funded solely by federal dollars, partly through an employee payroll tax, and provides health care coverage for participants who are over 65. Medicaid is a joint state-federal enterprise, with states generally receiving a dollar of federal money for each dollar they spend, allowing low-income families to receive medical treatment.
The highlight of Rep. Ryan's recommendations for Medicaid is the issuing of a debit card to low-income families, loaded with a set amount of funds that can be paid to approved health care insurers.