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N0KFQ > TODAY 30.07.10 18:10l 51 Lines 2195 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Jul 30
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To : TODAY@WW
Jul 30, 1965:
Johnson signs Medicare into law
On this day in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signs Medicare,
a health insurance program for elderly Americans, into law. At
the bill-signing ceremony, which took place at the Truman
Library in Independence, Missouri, former President Harry S.
Truman was enrolled as Medicare's first beneficiary and received
the first Medicare card. Johnson wanted to recognize Truman,
who, in 1945, had become the first president to propose national
health insurance, an initiative that was opposed at the time by
Congress.
The Medicare program, providing hospital and medical insurance
for Americans age 65 or older, was signed into law as an
amendment to the Social Security Act of 1935. Some 19 million
people enrolled in Medicare when it went into effect in 1966. In
1972, eligibility for the program was extended to Americans
under 65 with certain disabilities and people of all ages with
permanent kidney disease requiring dialysis or transplant. In
December 2003, President George W. Bush signed into law the
Medicare Modernization Act (MMA), which added outpatient
prescription drug benefits to Medicare.
Medicare is funded entirely by the federal government and paid
for in part through payroll taxes. Medicare is currently a
source of controversy due to the enormous strain it puts on the
federal budget. Throughout its history, the program also has
been plagued by fraud--committed by patients, doctors and
hospitals--that has cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
Medicaid, a state and federally funded program that offers
health coverage to certain low-income people, was also signed
into law by President Johnson on July 30, 1965, as an amendment
to the Social Security Act.
In 1977, the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) was
created to administer Medicare and work with state governments
to administer Medicaid. HCFA, which was later renamed the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is part of the
Department of Health and Human Services and is headquartered in
Baltimore.
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