U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for July 30: Medicare Anniversary

WASHINGTON, July 30, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

MEDICARE ANNIVERSARY

Profile America — Saturday, July 30th. The national government's broad involvement in individual health insurance goes back to this date 50 years ago. That's when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Social Security Amendments, which established Medicare and Medicaid. The legislation was introduced in Congress in March 1965, and went through more than 500 amendments before being passed by large majorities in both the House and Senate. In January 1966, President Johnson handed the first Medicare cards to former President Harry Truman — who had advocated such a program — and his wife, Bess. Today, the Medicare system covers more than 55 million Americans. The 65-and-older population in the U.S. has surpassed 46 million and is expected to reach over 98 million by the year 2060. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at www.census.gov.

Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts (Fifth Ed.) 4541Legislative process/accessed 4/29/2016: http://www.ssa.gov/history/ssa/lbjmedicare1.html LBJ and Truman/accessed 4/29/2016:  http://www.lbjlibrary.org/press/the-1965-medicare-amendment-to-the-social-security-act Truman advocacy/accessed 4/29/2016: http://www.trumanlibrary.org/anniversaries/medicarebill.htm Medicare beneficiaries/accessed 4/29/2016: https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Press-releases/2015-Press-releases-items/2015-07-28.html Older population: http://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2016/cb16-ff08.html Projection: http://www.census.gov/population/projections/files/summary/NP2014-T3.xls

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or narrative purposes, and are not attested to by the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu). 

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau