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Reference Library
The founding document as written, a plain overview of the seven Articles, and a glossary of archaic and legal terms.
Health & Education
Medicare and Medicaid (Social Security Amendments of 1965)
Enacted: 1965
Lyndon B. Johnson
Created federal health insurance for Americans 65 and older (Medicare) and joint federal-state coverage for low-income Americans (Medicaid).
Signed by Lyndon Johnson at the Truman Library on July 30, 1965 — with Harry Truman himself receiving the first Medicare card — the Social Security Amendments of 1965 created Medicare, a federal insurance program for Americans 65 and older, and Medicaid, a joint federal-state program covering low-income Americans. Medicare has since been expanded to cover people with disabilities (1972), end-stage renal disease patients, and, through Medicare Part D (2003), outpatient prescription drugs. Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act became optional after NFIB v. Sebelius (2012).