Health Care Blog

The Faces of Health Care: Carol W.

What has health reform meant to this country? That's a question that millions of Americans answer every day. Carol is one of them. Read more of their stories here.

"Last December I was diagnosed with leukemia. Thank G-d, I am in remission now."

A lifelong musician, Carol lost her insurance upon retirement. But she was able to sign up for Medicare at age 65.

Celebrating 50 Years of Medicare and Medicaid

President Harry Truman fought for years to pass a bill to provide low-cost health care for elderly Americans. Yet, it took almost two decades for his ideas to come to fruition: On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Amendments into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid. He honored President Truman at the ceremony by enrolling Harry Truman, at age 81, and his wife Bess Truman as the first Medicare beneficiaries.

“No longer will older Americans be denied the healing miracle of modern medicine. No longer will illness crush and destroy the savings that they have so carefully put away over a lifetime so that they might enjoy dignity in their later years. No longer will young families see their own incomes, and their own hopes, eaten away simply because they are carrying out their deep moral obligations to their parents, and to their uncles, and their aunts.”

—President Lyndon B. Johnson, July 30, 1965

In the first six months, more than 2.5 million Americans benefitted from Medicare-covered hospital care. Fifty years later, 55.2 million Americans are enrolled in Medicare.