Kenneth (kensmind) wrote in potus_geeks,
Kenneth
kensmind
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LBJ and Medicare

On July 30, 1965, 45 years ago today, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law a bill establishing the medicare program. The bill was signed at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri and present at the ceremony was former President Harry S Truman, along with his wife Bess. The Trumans received the first medicare cards issued in the United States. It was a gesture of tribute to Truman, who had unsuccessfully tried to institute medicare on his watch two decades earlier.




The new law, known as the Social Security Act of 1965, authorized Medicare and provided federal funding for many of the medical costs of older Americans. The legislation was pased despite bitter resistance from the American Medical Association, who opposed the idea of publicly funded health care or what they called "socialized medicine." Benefits were made available to everyone over sixty-five, regardless of need. A year later, in 1966, welfare recipients of all ages received medical care through the Medicaid program. Medicaid was created on the same day that the Medicare bill was signed, July 30, 1965 under Title XIX of the Social Security Act.

Many of the same arguments about "socialized medicine" would be dusted off and brought out in 2009 and 2010 during President Obama's fight for his health care bill. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Tags: barack obama, harry s. truman, lyndon johnson
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