July 30 - President Johnson Signs Medicare Into Law

This Day in History: 30 July 2020

 

30 July 1965

 

55 years ago, today, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare into law. This was a health insurance programme for elderly Americans. At the bill-signing ceremony, which took place at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, former President Harry Truman was enrolled as Medicare's first beneficiary and received the first Medicare card. His wife, the former First Lady, Bess Truman, was the second recipient of the program. President Johnson wanted to recognise Truman, who, in 1945, had become the first president to propose health insurance. This initiative was opposed at the time by Congress.

 

The Medicare program, providing hospital and medical insurance for Americans aged 65 or older, was signed into law as an amendment to the Social Security Act of 1935. Around 19 million people enrolled into Medicare when it came into effect in the following year. Johnson also signed Medicaid into law on the same day as Medicare. This was a state and federally funded program offering health coverage for low-income people. In 1972, eligibility for Medicare was extended for Americans under 65 who had certain disabilities, as well as people of all ages with permanent kidney disease that required dialysis or transplant. More than three decades later, President George W. Bush added outpatient prescription drug benefits to Medicare with the Medicare Modernisation Act.

 

Want to find out more about the history of Medicare? Click here for more information, or here for more on the relevance of Medicare today with the COVID-19 pandemic.