Medicare

The US Medicare program provides health insurance to elderly and disabled Americans and patients with end-stage renal disease. The program is overseen by Congress and administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Care is delivered both by health-care providers who are paid directly by the government under the traditional fee-for-service plan and through private health plans that receive capitation payments from the government. The vast majority of beneficiaries in traditional Medicare purchase additional private supplementary insurance to fill in the coverage gaps in the entitlement benefit package. Medicare faces severe budgetary shortfalls that likely will require major restructuring of the program and increased revenue.