The fastest growing expense in healthcare is prescription drugs. It has been seen that many seniors in the US do not have Medicare prescription drug coverage and they have to pay from their pocket to get the drugs.People who are entitled to Medicare believe that quality service by doctors is just meant for patients from higher socioeconomic strata of the society. These are the same patients who might have supplementary coverage to their Medicare. The question that is being asked is whether the US healthcare system treats patients with Medicare differently compared to those who have a more thorough coverage.As people access the healthcare system in the US, they move through 4 stages. Preventive care is where the screening happens and the patients start an ongoing relationship with the doctor. Diagnosis starts the access to a hospital and getting admitted. Treatment is when care is provided so that you overcome your illness. Finally there is the follow-up where you listen to the doctor’s advice and have the ability to get the required medicines. Medicare has influence in all these stages and affects your access to healthcare services.How Medicare affects your access to healthcare is clearly illustrated by this example. Imagine that your doctor puts you on lipid lowering medication. However, Medicare will not pay for one cholesterol test a year. This way you do not know whether the medication is helping you or not.It is quite common in the US to see patients in their 70s to take up a menial job to pay for their medications. People from lower socioeconomic strata are struggling to get prescription medicines all because of lack of government funding and the growing size of elderly population due to improved medicine and technology.It is a vicious cycle and one thing is for sure that Medicare affects your access to healthcare services, especially if you do not have supplementary coverage. Your doctor will prescribe life-extending medicines and interventions, while you will be unable to pay for them because you do not have Medicare coverage.