Access to health care and health insurance is always a key issue
in the presidential campaigns. Two federal programs that provide
health insurance to millions of Americans are Medicare and
Medicaid. What are they? Who is eligible? How do they differ?
What is their future? In this article, we examine Medicare,
perhaps the better known of the two programs. Part two will
examine Medicaid, which is coordinated through the states.
Congress established both Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 as part
of President Lyndon Johnson's social services programs. Medicare
is a federal program specifically designed for Americans over
age 65 and for some people under 65 who have disabilities.
Because its primary clientele are retirees, Medicare was
originally managed by the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Medicaid was managed by Social and Rehabilitation Service. Both
were part of the Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) Department.
In 1980, President Reagan split HEW into the Department of
Education and the Department of Hea