Medicare and Medicaid were signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 30, 1965 in a bipartisan effort to provide health insurance coverage for low-income, disabled, and elderly Americans. In their 50 year history, each of these programs has come to play a key role in providing health coverage to millions of Americans today and make up a significant component of federal and state budgets. …
Medicare and Medicaid are viewed by the public as important government programs. More than three-quarters (77 percent) say Medicare is a very important program, ranking just below Social Security (83 percent) and similar to the shares who say federal aid to public schools (75 percent), and the defense and military (73 percent) are very important. More than six in ten (63 percent) say Medicaid is very important, about the same as loans for college students (64 percent). CONT.
Kaiser Family Foundation
