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N0KFQ > TODAY 30.07.16 15:41l 49 Lines 2165 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Jul 30
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Sent: 160730/1431Z 2774@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ6.0.12
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 becomethe 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.
73 - K.O., n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
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