On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid Act, also known as the Social Security Amendments of 1965. He established Medicare, a health insurance program for seniors, and Medicaid, a health insurance program for people with limited incomes.
In 1965, the Social Security Amendments, commonly known as Medicare and Medicaid, were passed, providing a basic health insurance program for people age 65 and older and providing health care to people whose incomes are limited by state and federal sources. Another program was born to provide insurance. , Each. The scheme, funded by taxes on employees’ income and contributions from employers, was well received. In his first three years of the program, nearly 20 million beneficiaries enrolled in the program.
Discussion about the program actually began 20 years ago when President Harry S. Truman sent a message to Congress asking for legislation to establish a national health insurance plan. At the time, opponents loudly warned of the dangers of “socialized medicine.” By the end of the Truman administration, he withdrew from plans for universal health care, but Social Security system administrators and others continued to develop programs aimed at insuring the growing number and needs of Social Security recipients. began to focus on ideas.
According to the 1950 Census, the elderly population in the United States increased from 3 million in 1900 to 12 million in 1950. Two-thirds of older Americans earn less than $1,000 a year, and only one in eight has health insurance. Between 1950 and 1963, the elderly population increased from approximately 12 million to 17.5 million. This equates to 8.1 to 9.4 percent of the U.S. population. At the same time, hospital care costs were rising at a rate of about 6.7% per year, several times the annual increase in the cost of living, and health care costs were rapidly outpacing income growth for older Americans. .
Private insurance companies have long considered people susceptible to the disease to be “bad risks.” The need for a Social Security program to provide reliable health insurance for older Americans has begun an extensive debate within the Social Security Administration and in Congress, with public hearings held and several proposals considered in the House of Representatives. However, the debate did not intensify. By 1960, it became clear that private insurance companies were no longer able to provide comprehensive and affordable health insurance to a rapidly growing elderly population. From 1960 to 1965, the health care debate was a front-row issue in Congress, involving dozens of members. We have compiled proposals and testimonies presented by representatives from major organizations such as the American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, and AFL-CIO.
After Congress passed the bill in the summer of 1965, President Lyndon Johnson held a memorial service at the Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri, to recognize Truman’s early efforts to establish a national health insurance program. He decided to sign the bill with former President Truman. On July 30, 1965, Air Force One departed for Missouri with the President. Mrs. Johnson. George Meany, AFL-CIO President; Anthony Celebrese, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare; Texas Governor John Connally. 13 U.S. senators. and 19 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. President Johnson and his entourage met President and Mrs. Truman at the Truman Library in Independence. They stayed for a while before moving to the podium in the library’s auditorium for the bill signing. After some brief remarks, President Johnson signed the Medicare-Social Security Amendment. Prime Minister Johnson gave his first souvenir pen to Mrs. Truman, the second to President Truman, and the remaining pens to guests on the platform.