Medicare & Medicaid

• Healthcare 


  • Elderly had always constituted a large proportion of Americans poor and healthcare- a major cause of their poverty
  • Democrats like Johnson had long advocated federal financial support for healthcare but the Conservative Americans insisted that subsidised or free healthcare smacked of communism
  • 4 successive Congresses had refused to help the large proportion of over 65’s who had no private health insurance
  • The Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress and Johnson's powers of persuasion- Congress established Medicare and Medicaid in the Social Security Act- 1965
• Medicare & Medicaid


  • Provided federally funded health insurance for over 65’s and those with disabilities, regardless of their income or existing medical conditions
  • 1966- 19 million Americans enrolled - Medicare
  • Under the provisions of Medicaid- federal government gave financial assistance to states- help them price medical assistance to residents who couldn't afford essential medical services
  • Within a single year Medicaid increased the amount spent by the federal and state government in healthcare for poor citizens from $1.3 billion to over $2 billion