The federal government reinforces several health services for the poor incorporating services for children, women, Native Americans, and war veterans. Additionally, it supports a national network of community health centers that complement the services provided by private healthcare providers, especially to communities whose incomes are below average; low-income communities. However, Medicare and Medicaid are two government-run, separate major public health programs in the U.S. The programs were established during the administration of Johnson and the “Greta Society.” The two programs are “in-kind” services, implying that the beneficiaries are not directly given cash support. They are funded and operated by diverse parts of the government and fundamentally address the health issues of various groups. Medicare refers to a program run by the federal government meant for providing health coverage for persons living with disabilities without considering the amount of their income. On the other hand, Medicaid is a program run by both the federal and state governments providing health coverage for a meager income. It is important to note that if a person is eligible, dually eligible, and is suitable for Medicare and Medicaid, they can benefit from both programs at the end of the day.
Relationship of Social Work and Social Welfare
The government of the United States provides welfare programs to enhance the living conditions of its citizens. As a result, the political power goes along with numerous wellbeing schemes as far as the social welfare of Americans is concerned. When discussing the idea of welfare, social policy has to be taken significantly since offering social wellbeing programs is always based on the social policies of the United States (Karunarathne, 2021). Both social work and social welfare refer to the development and provision of private or public social services in the quest of promoting people and groups of people. The term social work refers more particularly to the professional practice of delivering these social services. On the other hand, social welfare refers more mainly to people and groups and the social welfare delivery system. Social; work is all about assisting a person in overcoming the difficulties they might be going through in their day-to-day activities. Social welfare is the efforts being put by the government to improve living socially. Social work aims to maximize the development of human potential and the contentment of human requirements through the same assurance to Enabling and working with individuals to achieve the expected magnitudes of social and personal wellbeing, aiming at achieving social justice through social change and social development. With that in mind, Medicare and Medicaid are some of the programs put in place to help the well-being of people and society, in general, is concerned. The programs help people in the United States access quality and affordable healthcare at the end of the day.
The objectives of social welfare require to be articulated according to the prevailing fundamental value expectations. These actual values may be diverse in diverse parts of the globe, and at times they even differ in one country. There is a need to differentiate between “basic values” political, social, and cultural attitudes. Additionally, people are conscious that in the transforming society and under transforming situations, new values will come out and that this may result in conflicting values in due course. Generally, social services reflect fundamental values. However, they do not necessarily pursue the preservation of all present attitudes. In most cases, it would be necessary to change cultural and social attitudes, thus enabling individuals to integrate into living conditions of urban and its life. If the transformation mentioned above of perspectives is well-matched with the prevailing fundamental values, achieving them will not be complex.
Social Worker’s Strategies of Ensuring Access to Medicare and Medicaid
Miller et al. (2017) propose that Medicare and Medicaid policymakers articulate the value of social work as far as paying attention to the social determinants of health is concerned. However, there is no sufficient proof of social work engagement in the system reform initiatives of such programs. As state development efforts are significantly aimed at payment and delivery system transformation across social and health services and such programs, there is a critical part to be played by social workers in engaging in those inventions. Social work’s contemplation of cultural responsiveness, community organizing, social justice orientation, and social and welfare supports, among other things, can aid Medicare and Medicaid promote admittance, incorporation, high-quality reasonably priced care, and prevention. Therefore, social workers are geared up to play a leading part in the reforms of such programs.
On the other hand, the profession of social work does not seem to be taking up that role ultimately. Significant steps have been taken in emphasizing the strength of social work as a profession essential to improving the wellbeing and health of people, families, and the community in general. Nonetheless, significantly more efforts are required to enhance research, practice, and education involving the potential of social workers and their contributions to advanced care through the life course (Garlington & Collins, 2021). Since the onset of the last century, social workers have been playing important roles in the healthcare of people and communities. In other words, social workers have been contributing significantly when addressing complex and, at times intersecting needs of people in the United States.
As mentioned earlier, social work and social welfare are all about addressing the issues facing people and groups in their day-to-day activities. In other words, they help people in overcoming the problems that confront them daily. In the United States, there are numerous programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, which help settle medication fees for the beneficiaries. For many years, the programs have been best suited to addressing the social and healthcare requirements of Americans. The talk on whether and how to replace, repeal, and amend some other health-related programs has drawn focus to the critical part that is played by Medicaid and Medicare programs in offering coverage and access to quality and affordable healthcare services to more than 73 million people in the United States. The role mentioned above places Medicaid and Medicare as supreme policies on which to create an assimilated system that addresses social and healthcare requirements at the same time. Proof has shown that health’s social determinants have a significant effect even than health care services on individuals’ quality, functioning, and health of life. But America, while questionably improving some of the most robust healthcare technologies across the world, has not been putting sufficient efforts into addressing health’s social determinants systematically. Medicare and Medicaid programs offer reasonable podiums to create a health infrastructure that includes the health’s social determinants. The programs could offer common entry points that connect families and individuals to healthcare services and social services that significantly impact them. State Medicare and Medicaid leaders have for a long time included this idea and have sufficient experience when it comes to building bridges that connect social and health programs to meet the comprehensive requirements of Americans.
In summing up, social workers are poised to play significant leadership roles in the efforts of Medicare and Medicaid reforms. A clear enunciation of the contribution social workers can bring to the table is urgently required to ensure persons and groups’ wellbeing. Social work-led trans-disciplinary teams can pinpoint differences in service delivery and how the social work profession can be employed to mitigate these differences in quantifiable approaches as far as determinants of health are concerned. It is imperious that role definition and professional advocacy move past focus on billing equivalence to the more significant issues that will ultimately help enhance and improve the collective welfare for more than seventy-three Americans covered by Medicare and Medicaid. In the United States, there are numerous programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, which help settle medication fees for the beneficiaries. The programs are two government-run, separate major public health programs in the U.S. The programs were established during the administration of Johnson and the “Greta Society.” The talk on whether and how to replace, repeal, and amend some other health-related programs has drawn focus to the critical part that is played by Medicaid and Medicare programs in offering coverage and access to quality and affordable healthcare services to more than 73 million people in the United States. The programs offer reasonable podiums to create a health infrastructure that includes the health’s social determinants.
References
Garlington, S. B., & Collins, M. E. (2021). Addressing environmental justice: Virtue ethics, social work, and social welfare. International Journal of Social Welfare, 30(3), 353-363.
Karunarathne, R. (2021). Importance of Social Policy in Social Welfare. Available at SSRN 3829850.
Miller, D. P., Bazzi, A. R., Allen, H. L., Martinson, M. L., Salas-Wright, C. P., Jantz, K., … & Rosenbloom, D. L. (2017). A social work approach to policy: Implications for population health. American journal of public health, 107(S3), S243-S249.
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