The Basics of Business History: Nos. 20 to 1

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20. President Johnson signs Medicare into law: July 30, 1965.

Between assignations, President John F. Kennedy in 1963 sends a bill to Congress to create Medicare, a medical-hospital insurance plan financed through Social Security. First envisioned by President Harry S. Truman, the plan provides for low-cost hospitalization and medical insurance for the elderly. It isn't passed till the middle of 1965, when it becomes a pillar of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. By 1998, Medicare would cover 37 million people and spend over $200 billion annually, providing one-fifth of all the money spent on U.S. health care. ...