LO: To identify healthcare policies overseas (USA) – Term Paper

LO: To identify healthcare policies overseas (USA).
The most well-known program related to healthcare in United States of America is Medicare. Medicare is a health policy that provides medicinal support for those who are 65 years old and above, 65 years old and below with disability and anyone with end stage renal disease. It is divided into 4 main parts, which are Hospital Insurance, Medicinal Insurance, Medicine Advantage Plan and Prescription Drug Coverage. However, those who wish for Medicare need to pay for it. Those who are unable to pay the fees for Medicare can search for Medigap that helps pay for the Original Medicare plan. Medicaid is another healthcare policy related to Medicare, that covers for plans that are not covered under Medicare. CHIP is also an organisation that is related to Medicaid as well, that give free Medicaid plans to those who need it.

There are many healthcare policies that support the community in terms of healthcare and wellbeing in United States of America. These are the examples of the well-known organisations and programmes and some description. Most of these organisations help a certain group of the community, for example, Department of Veteran Affairs helps providing healthcare and medication support to veterans, TRICARE provides medication support for retired uniformed service members and their family members, and The Hill-Burton Free and Reduced Cost Healthcare Programme that supports those who are not covered under insurance policies. There are also organisations that help a particular race of people in USA, such as The Indian Health Service that serve America-Indiana or Alaska Natives.
Other than direct healthcare support, there are also organisations that provide support in another form. For example, Bureau of Primary Health Care provides primary and preventive healthcare by the form of community health centre. Social Security Administration provides information of Medicaid for those who have inquiries or wish to have more understanding about the programme.
Some of the states in USA have State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIP) that helps by providing free health insurance advice, and State Pharmaceutical Assistance Programs (SPAPs) that helps the residence of the state to pay for prescribed drugs.
Last but not least, the organisation named Women, Infant and Children (WIC) also supports pregnant women, infants and children with supplemental foods, healthcare referrals nutritional education and breastfeeding information.
Other than that, some organisation pays the inferior community in terms of money. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) pays for those who are unable to work, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) pays for disabled people, children and adults who earn very little.

Reference:
National Institute of Health (2014). “Financial Help for Diabetes Care.” Retrieved 9th April 2017 from https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/financial-help-diabetes-care.