Happy Birthday, Medicare and Medicaid!

”July 30th marks the 49th anniversary of the establishment of the Social Security Act Amendments. In 1965, on this date, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law what is better known as the Medicare law. This established both Medicare, the health insurance program for Americans over 65, and Medicaid, the health insurance program for low income Americans. You can read this Public Law in the United States Statutes at Large on GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys).”

From a blogpost on GovernmentBookTalk, U.S. Government Printing Office’s (GPO) blog. The author of this blogpost is Kelly Seifert, Lead Planning Specialist for GPO’s Library Services; Content Management Division that supports the Federal Depository Library Program. Ms. Seifert goes on to give more background information about the circumstances surrounding the passage of the law in 1965, and more particularly, the Medicare resources and services that both the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the GPO make available to people today.

An authenticated copy of the Public Law is available in a link from Fdsys, GPO’s Federal Digital System, in a format certified by Superintendent of Documents, U.S.GPO.

“Massachusetts Law About Medicare” provides more links to information about the federal program, tailored for Massachusetts citizens.

“Massachusetts Law About Medicaid (MassHealth)” provides links to information about MassHealth, Massachusetts’ public health insurance program for low- to medium-income residents. Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are combined in one program in Massachusetts called MassHealth.



President Lyndon Johnson signs the Medicare Bill. President Harry S. Truman is seated next to him. Others looking on include Lady Bird Johnson, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, and Bess Truman. July 30, 1965. Photo courtesy of Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library, U.S. National Archives.