The first commercial insurance company in the United States was The Franklin Health Assurance Company of Massachusetts. The purpose was to provide private health care coverage for injuries not resulting in death. It offered the first accident insurance. As we see it today, this was the earliest form of workers’ compensation. 

~Christina 

Medicare is a health insurance that provides services to people 65 or older, people under 65 with certain disabilities, and people of any age with End- Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) (permanent kidney failure requiring dialysis or a kidney transplant). Originally administered by the Social Security Administration. There are four different parts to Medicare:

1)      Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) 

2)      Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) 

3)      Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage) 

4)      Medicare Part D (Medicare prescription drug coverage) 

~Christina 

-Tracy ST Joy

The Department of Health & Human Services was borne with the departure of the Office of Education and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare

It is the mission of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans. They fulfill that mission by providing for effective health and human services and fostering advances in medicine, public health, and social services.       

 

                 1981

                         

OBRA (Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) expanded Medicare and Medicaid

The Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1981 (OBRA 81) reduced federal matching payments to states by specified percentages during period FY 1982-1984 as part of required federal budget savings. OBRA 81 repealed a requirement that states pay Medicare hospital payment rates, but also allowed states to make additional payments to hospitals serving a disproportionate share of Medicaid and low-income patients. These hospitals become known as disproportionate share hospitals

While section 1115 waiver authority predated the Medicaid program, OBRA 81 established two new types of Medicaid waivers. The first, section 1915(b) freedom-of-choice waivers, allowed states to pursue mandatory managed care enrollment of certain Medicaid populations. Prior to this new waiver, less than one percent of the managed care population is enrolled in managed care. The second, section 1915(c) HCBS waiver, allowed states to cover home and community-based long-term care services for the elderly and individuals with disabilities at risk of institutional care.