Medicare/Medicaid

In the United States, government-run Medicare/Medicaid programs help to insurance the elderly and low income families. Some assert that these programs have had the unintended consequence of determining the price of medical procedures[citation needed]. Many suspect that these prices are set independently of medical necessity or actual cost[citation needed]. Some assert that private insurers have little incentive to pay more than the government does.

Beginning in 1972, the number of individuals in the United States who lacked any form of health insurance for any period during the year increased each year, every year with the exceptions of the years 1999 and 2000[citation needed]. The reductions in the number of uninsured individuals during those years was due entirely to the expansion of Medical Assistance (Medicaid) under the auspices of the Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

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