How health care works in the U.S. (Part 2 - delivery through government programs)

The U.S. health care system 

In the U.S., health care is provided to individuals through services delivered by a mix of public and private entities, namely the government and not-for-profit and for-profit health insurance companies.

Government Programs 

The top government agency responsible for "protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves" is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (ASPA, n.d.). HHS carries out its duties in a number of ways: 1) through various offices and agencies and 2) by working with state and local governments.  

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is an example of one such agency. CMS was created to administer the Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance (CHIP) programs, among others. These programs were created to reduce the gaps in health insurance coverage for all Americans, but especially "those who are least able to help themselves." 

• CHIP - Designed for children whose families can't afford to provide them with private health insurance coverage but have incomes that disqualify them from being covered under Medicaid (Medicare.gov, n.d.)

• Medicare - Provides health coverage for older Americans (age 65 or older), people with certain disabilities, and those with End-Stage Renal Disease, regardless of age (Medicaid.gov, n.d.). 

• Medicaid - Provides health coverage for people with disabilities and those experiencing economic hardships (qualifying income level varies by state) (HealthCare.gov, n.d.). 

According to HHS, the Medicare program is the United States' largest health insurer (ASPA, n.d.). Together both programs, Medicare and Medicaid, provide health insurance for one in four Americans (ASPA, n.d. & HHS, n.d.). So how do they do it? HHS provides funding and guidelines to state and local government agencies and to private entities to provide these programs at the local level (ASPA, n.d. & HHS, n.d.).

References

1. ASPA. (n.d.). About HHS. Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/about/

2. HealthCare.gov. (n.d.). Medicaid. Retrieved from http://www.healthcare.gov/using-insurance/low-cost-care/medicaid/

3. HHS. (n.d.). HHS: What We Do. Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/about/whatwedo.html

4. Medicaid.gov. (n.d.). Children’s Health Insurance Program. Retrieved from http://www.medicaid.gov/CHIP/CHIP-Program-Information.html

5. Medicaid.gov. (2012). Medicare Program - General Information. Retrieved from http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-General-Information/MedicareGenInfo/index.html