President Lyndon B Johnson's Vision For Health Care

Medicare and Medicaid are programs that have been developed to assist Americans in attainment of quality health care. Both programs were established in 1965 and are federally supported to provide health care coverage to vulnerable populations such as the elderly, the disabled, and people with low incomes. Both Medicare and Medicaid are federally mandated and determine coverage under each program; both are run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a federal agency ("What is Medicare? What is Medicaid?” 2008).

The Social Security Act of 1965 established Medicare and Medicaid which are health insurance programs for the poor and elderly people of the United States. It is funded by a tax on the earnings of employees and contributions by the employers. “It is now broadly apparent that those who opposed Social Security in 1935 and Medicare in 1965 were wrong in their fears…” (Nicholas Kristof  “The Wrong Side of History”).

Medicare has had many legislative changes to modernize the program since it was first signed into law. Medicare has assisted many retirees from a financial disaster by providing benefits during a healthcare crisis. The prescription drug program has ensured seniors have access to the medications they require. Medicare has also provided care to the disabled that are under age 65. This national social healthcare program has also come under fire politically because of the extremely high cost of the program.

Medicare has gone through many changes through the years since President Johnson signed the programs, including Medicaid into law in 1965. Almost ¾ of the senior population, over 65 were uninsured. Even before that President Truman was eager to start a national health insurance plan, in 1945. In 2003, President GW Bush added a prescription drug plan to Medicare. Even President Teddy Roosevelt proposed a national health insurance plan when he was running in 1912. In 1972, President Nixon signed a bill allowing people with long-term disabilities under the age of 65 and patients with ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease), to be covered. Over the years more services were accepted for Medicare coverage, including hospice and home health. 2010 brought good

President Johnson recognized America’s need of support from the government. As it is said in Doc. A “the nations aged now face another aspect of insecurity.”, which is the high costs of healthcare. Abraham Ribicoff, secretary of health, education, and welfare, testified before the House of Representatives in 1961 “with life spans lengthened, with medical science breaking into undreamed realms of discovery”, this statements makes one wonder if the government will aid the older generation as society progresses? Though Johnson was not in office during this time, his later creation of medicare, which survives to this day, provides the elderly with necessary funds to cover costly pharmaceuticals. Not only does medicare aid the elderly but is a form of federal welfare assistance. As stated before, Johnson recognized the

Suitable health care would not be possible for the elderly population in America without the assistance of Medicare Part A. Medicare did not come about easily. Currently Medicare spending is more than what is being collected, questioning future solvency. There are many challenges with sustaining Medicare into the future. Medicare’s past struggles, present outcomes, and future challenges confirm that a national health plan is ever evolving to meet the needs of the current population and spending inflation.

It has been recognized that ever since its passage into law the Affordable Care Act frequently known as Obamacare has and will continue to attract criticism and scrutiny. This is the America`s major and mainly well-liked social indemnity programs. Despite the fact the Affordable Care Act is a highly multifaceted piece of legislation featuring many regulatory and intergovernmental provisions meant to deal with lack of health insurance coverage affecting a variety of diverse groups, Medicare and social security are much more focused programs providing benefits primarily to the aged. Social security and Medicare were in the beginning implemented more without difficulty and with a little of bipartisan support, because in 1935 and 1965 democrats

President Harry Truman was the first president to call for a national health insurance program. His first attempt failed in 1945. He would try again in 1947 and 1949 but failed to make it through Congress. It would be another 20 years before the idea of a national health insurance would come to fruition. On July 30th 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed Medicare into law. Immediately upon signing the law into effect, President Johnson issued 81 year old former President Harry Truman the very first Medicare card. In its first year of enactment, the Medicare program received 19 million enrollees. Medicare is a national health insurance program provided for Americans who are 65 years of age and older and who have worked/paid into the

Medicare and Medicaid has been providing huge benefits for senior citizens and low income families. The one question nobody seems to answer is how are we going to afford this type of insurance? Maya Rockeymoore argues in her article, “Groundless Fears about Medicaid and Medicare,” that we are able to afford this as long as we make good decisions. Rockeymoore claims that we need to keep Medicare and Medicaid or our country will fall apart.

However, the social security bill provided some funds to states for expansion through hospital construction, as well as child and maternal health services. After WW II the economy greatly expanded and American capitalism thrived, this was due to the growing family’s needs (Kaiser, 2009). President Truman picked up what Roosevelt had started and called the congress to pass a national health program to guarantee medical access to the American people (Kaiser, 2009). In 1945, President Truman was the first president to propose national health insurance (Medicare/Medicaid) but it was rejected by the congress at that time due to the racial segregation that existed among hospitals. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law as an amendment to the Social Security Act. Although Johnson’s creative health plan improved access to healthcare for many poor and elderly citizens, it fuelled a spiral increase of healthcare costs that has continued till this day (Kaiser, 2009).

Having been instituted on July of 1965 by President Lyndon, Johnson, for 50 years now, Medicare has served as a means of of health insurance for individuals 65 and above. This program has served as a means of getting healthcare to the elderly despite their financial situation. Going back as far as 1912, America had long been aspiring to establish a health insurance policy for Americans, but alas, none of these projects ever got real momentum. That was until 1945 when Harry Truman was elected into office. Truman believed health care for every American was an urgent matter so he requested that congress create a National Health Insurance Policy, which would help every American pay for meticulous things such as routine doctor visits, dental care, and other necessities. Despite his dedication, Truman’s plan deteriorated and nothing was accomplished. Finally, in 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson signed for legislation to establish what we all know today as Medicare.Since then, the program has experienced countless changes coming to cover far more Americans. At the time, it only consisted of Part A and B, but over the years, but has come to include C and D as well. Despite having been created in order to help a wider population, the program has been proven to have aspects of it that ultimately harm consumers.

Medicare is America’s largest health insurance program for the men and women over the age of 65 or with certain disabilities. For many Americans, this a huge part of how they can afford medications, doctor visits and other medical expenses. In recent years the number of Medicare enrollees has doubled (NASI, 2015). The “Baby Boomers”, people born from 1946-1965, is the largest generation within America with roughly 75 million Americans. This generation of Americans are all turning 65 around the same time and enrolling into this medical program. With the amount of new enrollees the total spending for Medicare will rise from 3.6% of the nations GDP to 5.1% by 2030, when the youngest of the baby boomer generation will be 65 (NASI, 2015). Even

think that Medicare is one of the greatest and most important programs for US society that was ever created. Followed by National Defense and Social Security program, Medicare is the third largest program in the Federal budget. In 2013 cost of Medicare was $492 billion which is 14 percent of total federal spending. According official information by the end of 2014 49,435,610 people received health coverage through Medicare program.

Due to the upcoming presidential election, the two major political parties, and their candidates, have been focusing on the primary problems that the nation will face. Chief among those problems is the future of Medicare, the national health-insurance plan. Medicare was enacted in 1965, under the administration of Lyndon B. Johnson, in order to provide health insurance for retired citizens and the disabled (Ryan). The Medicare program covers most people aged 65 or older, as well as handicapped people who enroll in the program, and consists of two health plans: a hospital insurance plan (part A) and a medical insurance plan (part B) (Marmor 22). Before Medicare, many Americans didn't have health

The growing concern regarding the financial security of Medicare is one of particular interest to the nearly 72 million baby boomers that become eligible for this government-assisted, and tax-payer bolstered, program over the next two decades. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2010), there will be a rapid increase in baby-boomers between 2010 and 2030, as the entire baby boomer population move into the 65 years and over category (p.3). Political and financial revisions must be made to ensure the security of Medicare as the numbers of individuals paying into this program are soon to be surpassed by the number of individuals drawing-off this program (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). The elderly are also at a disadvantage with transportation to health care visits, picking up prescriptions, and rehabilitation services. There needs to be an establishment of access not only to primary care providers, hospitals, and rehabilitation services, but access to other aspects of the health care system for the elderly population.