Deck 8: Medicare: The Great Transformation

Question 1

Under the 1965 Medicare law, payments to physicians were ____.

A)generous, retrospective, and with little oversight.
B)generous, prospective, and closely monitored by private insurers
C)below market rates, retrospective, and subject to frequent audits
D)below market rates, prospective, and with little oversight

Answer 1

generous, retrospective, and with little oversight.

Question 2

Which statement regarding the future of Medicare is true?

A)Raising the Medicare eligibility age shifts costs.
B)Raising the Medicare eligibility age controls health care spending.
C)Rising medical costs is particularly a Medicare problem.
D)Rising medical costs is particularly a problem of private insurers.

Answer 2

Raising the Medicare eligibility age shifts costs.

Question 3

Medicare's story begins with the failed campaign for national health insurance during the first half of the 20th century. A common theme during that time was ____.

A)that national health insurance was portrayed as un-American
B)the strong support of the American Medical Association
C)the support of the people though not of the Presidents
D)an all or nothing approach to its passage

Answer 3

that national health insurance was portrayed as un-American

Question 4

The Medicare Modernization Act prohibited the government from negotiating prices with ____.

A)pharmaceutical companies
B)physicians and hospitals
C)beneficiaries
D)employers

Question 5

The Affordable Care Act had important implications for Medicare. Which statement is true?

A)Its Medicare-related provisions generated funds to help cover the uninsured.
B)Its so-called public option was modelled after Medicare.
C)It immediately eliminated the Part D donut hole.
D)It reduced coverage of preventive services to increase coverage of end-of-life care.

Question 6

By the close of the 1980s, Medicare had developed a new regulatory regime for paying providers in which ____.

A)federal policymakers asserted power over medical providers
B)medical providers maintained autonomy in setting fees
C)federal policymakers deferred to medical expertise in establishing actual costs
D)medical providers received retrospective payment subject to increased oversight

Question 7

In 1989, Congress enacted the Medicare Fee Schedule for physicians based on ____.

A)the resource-based relative value scale
B)a Congressional Budget Office study
C)diagnostic-related groups
D)the prospective payment system

Question 8

What happened in 1994 that affected the politics of Medicare?

A)The Republican Party won majorities in the House and Senate.
B)Republicans and Democrats finally collaborated across party lines.
C)Democrats gained control of the House of Representatives.
D)The Democratic Party won majorities in the House and Senate.

Question 9

In 2003, a near-decade of intensive efforts to move beneficiaries out of traditional Medicare had led to ____.

A)13% of beneficiaries enrolled in private plans
B)Medicare's near withering on the vine
C)mandating beneficiaries to join managed care plans
D)near universal enrollment in private plans

Question 10

Which statement regarding the 1965 Medicare legislation is true?

A)Medicare's actuarial performance proved to be substantially more volatile than Social Security's.
B)Medicare provided comprehensive insurance coverage of all medical costs for elders.
C)Medicare at the start was divided into three programs, Parts A, B, and D.
D)Medicare was viewed as the successful endpoint of a long effort, not just a stepping stone.

Question 11

Medicare's architects created a tension between Medicare's short-term goals and its long-term aspirations. What were the long-term aspirations?

A)expanding Medicare into national health insurance
B)providing low-cost health care to the poor
C)organizing physicians into managed care groups
D)adopting a resource-based relative value scale

Question 12

Which statement is true regarding Congressman Paul Ryan's Medicare restructuring plan?

A)It would shift costs from the federal government to Medicare beneficiaries.
B)It was denounced as creating "death panels" and would "pull the plug on Grandma."
C)It would expand preventive services and gradually fill the Part D donut hole.
D)It attracted more seniors to the Republican party.

Question 13

The formula for reimbursement under the Medicare Prospective Payment System was based on ____.

A)state experiments in prospective payment authorized by the federal government
B)the American Hospital Association's database of fees and charges
C)the formula arising from the resource-based relative value scale
D)each hospital's customary, prevailing, and reasonable charges

Question 14

What set the stage for the passage of the Medicare drug benefit?

A)a federal budget surplus and skyrocketing drug costs
B)President Clinton's concerns regarding his 2004 reelection bid
C)strong agreement of Democratic and Republican party leaders on its necessity
D)AARP's early endorsement of the Democratic drug plan

Question 15

The Medicare drug benefit is delivered by ____.

A)private companies
B)the federal government
C)private companies and the federal government
D)the pharmaceutical industry