| | Health Care Financing Administration |
 | | The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) was created as a principal operating component of the Department by the Secretary on March 8, 1977, to combine under one administration the oversight of the Medicare program, the Federal portion of the Medicaid program, and related quality assurance activities. |
 | | The Medicare Program provides health insurance coverage for people age 65 and over, younger people who are receiving social security disability benefits, and persons who need dialysis or kidney transplants for treatment of end-stage kidney disease. |
 | | Beneficiaries can receive care either through the traditional fee-for-service delivery system or through coordinated care plans, such as health maintenance organizations and competitive medical plans, which have contracts with Medicare. |
| www.os.dhhs.gov /about/opdivs/hcfa.html (394 words) |