Introduction
The need to get better health care services is a mandatory requirement by all citizens irrespective of their age, race, tribe or political affiliations. Nations have developed their health institutions to ensure everybody gets quality health services that are also affordable. The state of California and other states have programs that ensure all people get health services without struggling.
They have established the Medicaid and Medicare services that ensure all citizens are guaranteed proper medical services. This essay explores how these programs have been incorporated in California’s healthcare systems to ensure people get quality services.
Medicaid
This program was established to ensure all people who have financial difficulties access medical services without constraining their budgets. This means that this program offers subsidized services for all poor people and those that are disadvantaged in the society. It is crucial to state that this program is not offered to everybody except those that have limited sources of income and are low income earners. This means that people earning above the average pay are not allowed to subscribe to this program.
This program gives direct qualification to anyone who receives CalWORKs, foster care assistants and those that are entitled to receive Supplementary Security Income. Another group of people who can get this service includes those that have physical disabilities like the blind, pregnant, people aged less than 21 and those aged more than 65 years. People operating child care centers and nursing homes are eligible to this program since they take care of children aged 21 years.
This favor is also given to foster parents and those living and taking care of children aged below 21 years. The California Department of Health Care Services (CDHCS) administers this program by offering an identification card that contains all the details of the beneficiary and the provisions under this program. The following are also observed before consent is granted to a person to enroll in this program. A person must have assets not exceeding $2000 or if the person is married their total should not be more than $3000.
Medicare
This program exists to take care of the old people in California. This means they must have attained 65 years of age or more to qualify for it. It ensures that all old and retired people continue to get quality medical services through subsidizing their health expenses. They are allowed various privileges provided they have their membership cards. The federal government offers this insurance scheme to ensure that all young people with various physical disabilities.
This provision favors most people who already have disability insurance benefits and social security retirement advantages. In California this service is offered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. They ensure they have all the details of their clients concerning their hospital and medical insurances and when they began.
Most people have both Medicaid and Medicare and use them to help pay for their health care needs. In this case Medicare precedes Medicaid since it has more rooms to accommodate various conditions. Beneficiaries are always advised to present both cards when seeking medical services to ensure they get maximum services.
There are various health insurance providers and people are advised to seek services from providers that accept these two cards. This ensures that there will never be delays or useless expenses when seeking medical assistance.