The Healthcare Financing Administration (HCFA) was created as a principal operating component of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in March of 1977. Its purpose was to combine under a single administration the oversight of the Medicare program, the Federal portion of the Medicaid program, and the related quality assurance activities.
Medicare: The Medicare Program provides health insurance coverage for people over the age of 65 and younger people who are receiving social security disability benefits. Beneficiaries of Medicare can receive care either through the traditional fee-for-service delivery system or through coordinated care plans; plans such as health maintenance organizations and competitive medical plans, contracted through Medicare.
Medicaid: The Medicaid Program is a medical assistance program jointly financed by State and Federal governments for eligible low-income individuals. Medicaid covers healthcare expenses for all recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and most States also cover the needy elderly, blind, and disabled who receive cash assistance under the Supplemental Security Income Program. Some coverage is may also be extended to certain infants and low-income pregnant women. Some States also allow for the coverage of other low-income individuals with medical bills that qualify them as categorically or medically needy.
Quality Assurance: The Medicare/Medicaid programs include a quality assurance focal point to help carry out quality assurance provisions of the programs, the development and implementation of health and safety standards of care providers in Federal health programs, and the implementation of the End Stage Renal Disease Program and the Peer Review provisions.
