Insurance & Healthcare Info

Insurance

Another important thing for IMGs to remember is that US doctors are required to be insured with either malpractice or liability insurance. This protects a physician from potential lawsuits from patients. Liability insurance is usually applied to medical students, and Malpractice would be applied to a practicing doctor.  This is not health insurance, which would be applied to the costs of medical services for any potential health problems a student or doctor may incur.

Medicare and Medicaid

In 1965, sitting US President Lyndon B. Johnson amended the Social Security Act of 1935 to establish Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare is a federally funded program providing healthcare coverage for people aged 65 or older, people under 65 living with certain disabilities, and all people suffering with end-stage renal disease. In 2013, more than 55 million Americans were covered under this program. Medicaid, supported at both the state and federal level, is a program that pays for healthcare expenses for low-income individuals. Under Obamacare, Medicaid coverage expanded to individuals with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty level. Medicaid enrollment reached nearly 60 million in 2013.