Government Involvement in Health Care

Health care in America is not just the private sector's or the state government's responsibility. Although there is no universal health care in the United States, the federal government does play an important role in taking care of special populations and its employees. This article will describe exactly what the government does for health care.

Military

• Health care for members of the Department of Defense's military branches is provided by military members or contracted civilians. Most military bases house clinics for these workers. Active-duty members, Reservists, National Guardsmen and their dependents are eligible to receive health care at these facilities.

Veterans Administration

• The Veterans Administration is a federally funded institution that serves the needs of the military's veterans after they have served. This includes health care. The VA provides health care to qualified veterans so long as they register within the system and see their assigned primary care physicians at least once a year. The VA operates dozens of hospitals and clinics all over the United States.

Public Health Corps

• The Public Health Corps operates under the Department of Health and Human Services. Health Corps workers operate in government entities that provide health care access to the public. These entities include the Centers for Disease Control, Food and Drug Administration and the Indian Health Services. Workers are commissioned into the Public Health Corps and are administratively run like a military branch of service, with pay and benefits compensatory to rank and experience.

Medicare

• Medicare provides government-funded health care to senior citizens 65 and older who receive Social Security disability payments and/or are low income. Medicare also serves qualifying populations under 65 who receive special disability pay. Medicare recipients are entitled to general health care, examinations and emergency services for little to no payment. This is known as Part A care. Low-cost premiums are required for Part B care, which includes rehabilitative or specialty care.

Federal Employees

• Federal Employees are entitled to several discounted health care packages under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). Employees can choose options such as PPOs and HSA accounts, through health insurance companies including Aetna, Blue Cross and Kaiser. According to the FEHBP website, a California employee who selects the Aetna consumer-driven health care plan for his family would pay $50.28 every two weeks in 2009. The Government would pay $322.