GMAT Critical Reasoning - Medicare, the United States Government’s Health Insurance Program for the Elderly and Disabled

Question: Medicare, the United States government’s health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, covers the full cost of home health care, ____________

1. but not with other nonhospital services where 20 percent of the costs must be paid by beneficiaries.
2. but not of other nonhospital services, making beneficiaries pay 20 percent of the costs.
3. but not of other nonhospital services, for which beneficiaries must pay 20 percent of the costs.
4. which is unlike other nonhospital services in that 20 percent of the costs must be paid by beneficiaries.
5. which is unlike other nonhospital services that make beneficiaries pay 20 percent of the costs.

“Medicare, the United States government’s health insurance program for the elderly and disabled” – is a GMAT Critical question. To answer the question, a candidate can either find a piece of evidence that would weaken the argument or have logical flaws in the argument. GMAT critical reasoning tests the logical and analytical skills of the candidates. This topic requires candidates to find the argument's strengths and weaknesses or the logical flaw in the argument. The GMAT CR section contains 10 -13 GMAT critical reasoning questions out of 36 GMAT verbal questions.

Answer: C

Explanation: This is a GMAT critical reasoning question. An assumption is an implied hypothesis. So we are looking for something that is implied in the argument. In case it is wrong or maybe disable the argument.

The statement states-

Medicare, the United States government’s health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, covers the full cost of home health care_______________

Error Analysis:

1. Use of “with” violates the parallelism in the sentence. The two entities in the list should be “the full cost of home health care” and “(the full cost) of other nonhospital services”.
2. Relative pronoun “where” is used to modify places. The use of “where” to talk about a service is incorrect.

Choice A: but not with other nonhospital services where 20 percent of the costs must be paid by beneficiaries: Incorrect for the reasons stated above.

Choice B: but not of other nonhospital services, making beneficiaries pay 20 percent of the costs: Incorrect. Comma + verb-ing modifier “making” modifies the preceding clause “Medicare… covers the full cost…” and renders the meaning of the sentence illogical.

Choice C: but not of other nonhospital services, for which beneficiaries must pay 20 percent of the costs: Correct. “which” is the correct relative pronoun to modify “nonhospital services”.

Choice D: which is unlike other nonhospital services in that 20 percent of the costs must be paid by beneficiaries: Incorrect. This choice fails to establish the fact that Medicare does not cover non-hospital services.

Choice E: which is unlike other nonhospital services that make beneficiaries pay 20 percent of the costs: Incorrect. Same error as in Choice D.

Suggested GMAT Critical Reasoning Questions

• GMAT Critical Reasoning- Building a space station, in which astronauts would live for a considerable time
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- Manufacturers are Now Required to Make All Cigarette Lighters Child-Resistant
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- Our school district should not spend its money on the new Verbal Advantage reading program
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- One legacy of Madison Avenue’s recent campaign to appeal to people fifty years old
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- Between 1980 and 2000 the sea otter population of the Aleutian Islands declined precipitously.
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- A major network news organization experienced a drop in viewership in the week
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- Josh has twenty years of typing experience behind him
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- Because no employee wants to be associated with bad news in the eyes of a superior
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- Irrigation runoff from neighboring farms may well have increased the concentration of phosphorus
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- A new medication for migraine seems effective, but there is concern that the medication might exacerbate
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- French Cuisine is Highly Regarded All Over The World
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- The Marison County Police Department recently implemented a new traffic safety program
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- Patients Wearing Tinted Eyeglasses are Prone to Depression and Hypochondria
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- To Evaluate a Plan to Save Money on Office Space Expenditures
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- The Interview is an Essential Part of a Successful hiring Program
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- Last Year the Rate of Inflation was 1.2 percent, But for the Current Year it has been 4 percent.
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- Columnist: The country is presently debating legislation
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- When People Evade Income Taxes by not Declaring Taxable Income
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- Utrania was formerly a major petroleum exporter, but in recent decades economic stagnation
• GMAT Critical Reasoning- Useful protein drugs, such as insulin, must still be administered by the cumbersome