The report, "Too Sick to Work; Too Soon for Medicare," estimates that 1.5 million men and women with disabilities are now struggling through the waiting period and that 600,000 of them will be without a shred of insurance during that time. Each year, says the report, more than 16,000 die waiting for Medicare.
Original Medicare, the federal health insurance program, was passed in 1965 for Americans 65 and over. In 1972, President Richard Nixon extended Medicare to people under 65 with severe physical and mental disabilities.
The most medically vulnerable Americans are those between the ages of 50 and 64, who are suddenly struck down with traumatic injury or a disabling and debilitating disease.
0 comments :
Post a Comment