Medicare (United States): Difference between revisions

[[File: Lyndon Johnson signing Medicare bill, with Harry Truman, July 30, 1965.jpg|thumb|right|[[Lyndon B. Johnson]] signing the Medicare amendment (July 30, 1965). Former president Harry S. Truman (seated) and his wife, [[Bess Truman|Bess]], are on the far right.]]

Various attempts were made in Congress to pass a bill providing for healthcare for the elderly, all without success. In 1963, however, a bill providing for both Medicare and an increase in Social Security benefits passed the Senate by 68-20 votes. As noted by one study, this was the first time that either chamber “had passed a bill embodying the principle of federal financial responsibility for health coverage, however limited it may have been.” There was uncertainty over whether this bill would pass the House, however, as White House aide Henry Wilson's tally of House members’ votes on a conference bill that included Medicare “disclosed 180 “reasonably certain votes for Medicare, 29 “probable/possible,” 222 “against,” and 4 seats vacant.”<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=LPXaAAAAMAAJ&dq=This+marked+the+first+time+that+a+chamber+had+passed+a+bill+embodying+the+principle+of+federal+financial+responsibility+for+health+coverage,&pg=PA133 Chronic Politics Health Care Security from FDR to George W. Bush, By Philip J. Funigiello, 2005, p. 133].</ref> Following the 1964 elections however, pro-Medicare forces obtained 44 votes in the House and 4 in the Senate.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=YEYNpBFHqxMC&dq=The+turning+point+for+Medicare+came+on+November+3,+1964&pg=PA186 Crisis in Health Care, an Overview Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Health and Long-Term Care of the Select Committee on Aging, House of Representatives, Ninety-eighth Congress, First Session, May 5, 1983, Volume 4, By United States. Congress. House. Select Committee on Aging. Subcommittee on Health and Long-Term Care, 1983, p.186].</ref> In July 1965,<ref>{{cite news |title=Medicare Bill Signed By Johnson: 33 Congressmen Attend Ceremony In Truman Library |first=Edward T. |last=Folliard |author-link=Edward T. Folliard |newspaper=The Washington Post |date= July 31, 1965 |page=A1 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/142611149/ }}</ref> under the leadership of President [[Lyndon B. Johnson|Lyndon Johnson]], Congress enacted Medicare under Title XVIII of the [[Social Security Act of 1965|Social Security Act]] to provide health insurance to people age 65 and older, regardless of income or medical history.<ref>{{cite news |title= What Medicare Means to Taxpayers: How to Get Voluntary Insurance |first= Drew |last=Pearson |author-link=Drew Pearson (journalist) |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=July 29, 1965 |page=C13 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/142602859/ }}</ref><ref>See Health Insurance for the Aged Act, Title I of the Social Security Amendments of 1965, Pub. L. No. 89-97, 79 Stat. 286 (July 30, 1965), generally effective beginning with the month of July 1966. Section 321 of the Act amended section 1401 of the [[Internal Revenue Code]] to impose the Medicare tax.</ref> Johnson signed the [[Social Security Amendments of 1965]] into law on July 30, 1965, at the [[Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum|Harry S. Truman Presidential Library]] in [[Independence, Missouri]]. Former [[President of the United States|president]] Harry S. Truman and his wife, former [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Bess Truman]] became the first recipients of the program.<ref>{{cite web |title=Truman Library – July 30, 1965: President Lyndon B. Johnson Signs Medicare Bill |url=https://www.trumanlibrary.org/anniversaries/medicarebill.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527201512/https://www.trumanlibrary.org/anniversaries/medicarebill.htm |archive-date=May 27, 2019 |access-date=April 2, 2017 |website=Trumanlibrary.org}}</ref>