POLSC232: American Government

Medicare and Medicaid

On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the legislative bill that led to Medicare and Medicaid. The original Medicare program included Part A (hospital insurance) and Part B (medical insurance). Today these two parts are called Original Medicare. Over the years, Congress has made changes to Medicare:

• More people have become eligible.

For example, in 1972, Congress expanded Medicare to cover the disabled, people with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring dialysis or kidney transplant, and people 65 or older that select Medicare coverage.

• More benefits, like prescription drug coverage, have been offered.

At first, Medicaid gave medical insurance to people getting cash assistance. Today, a much larger group is covered:

• Low-income families,
• Pregnant women,
• People of all ages with disabilities, and
• People who need long-term care.

States can tailor their Medicaid programs to best serve the people in their state, so there's a wide variation in the services offered.

Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Benefit

The Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) made the biggest changes to the Medicare program in 38 years. Under the MMA, private health plans approved by Medicare became known as Medicare Advantage Plans. These plans are sometimes called Part C or MA Plans.

The MMA also expanded Medicare to include an optional prescription drug benefit, Part D, which went into effect in 2006.

Children's Health Insurance Program

Congress created the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in 1997 to give health insurance and preventive care to nearly 11 million, or one in seven, uninsured American children. Many of these children came from uninsured working families that earned too much to be eligible for Medicaid. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories have CHIP plans.

The Affordable Care Act

The 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) created the Health Insurance Marketplace, a single place where consumers can apply for and enroll in private health insurance plans. It also made new ways for us to design and test how to pay for and deliver health care. Medicare and Medicaid have also been better coordinated to make sure people who have Medicare and Medicaid can get quality services.

50th Anniversary – Medicare and Medicaid Event: 50 Years, Millions of Healthier Lives

Medicare and Medicaid: keeping us healthy for 50 years

On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law legislation that established the Medicare and Medicaid programs. For 50 years, these programs have been protecting the health and well-being of millions of American families, saving lives, and improving the economic security of our nation.

Although Medicare and Medicaid began as basic insurance programs for Americans who did not have health insurance, they have changed over the years to provide more and more Americans with access to the quality and affordable health care they need.

We marked the anniversary of these programs by recognizing the ways in which these programs have transformed the nation's healthcare system over the past five decades. We continue to look to the future and explore ways to keep Medicare and Medicaid strong for the next 50 years by building a smarter and healthier system so that these programs will continue as the standard bearers for coverage, quality, and innovation in American health care.

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Source: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, https://www.cms.gov/about-cms/agency-information/history?redirect=/history/
This work is in the Public Domain.