<P> "Medicare" was the name originally given to a program providing medical care for families of individuals serving in the military as part of the Dependents' Medical Care Act passed in 1956 . President Eisenhower held the first White House Conference on Aging in January 1961, in which the creation of a program of health care for social security beneficiaries was proposed . In July 1965, under the leadership of President Lyndon Johnson, Congress enacted Medicare under Title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide health insurance to people age 65 and older, regardless of income or medical history . Johnson signed the bill into law on July 30, 1965 at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri . Former President Truman and his wife, former First Lady Bess Truman became the first recipients of the program . Before Medicare's creation, approximately 60% of those over 65 had health insurance, with coverage often unavailable or unaffordable to many others, because older adults paid more than three times as much for health insurance as younger people . Many of this latter group (about 20% of the total in 2015) became "dual eligible" for both Medicare and Medicaid with the passage of the law . In 1966, Medicare spurred the racial integration of thousands of waiting rooms, hospital floors, and physician practices by making payments to health care providers conditional on desegregation . </P> <P> Medicare has been in operation for a half century and, during that time, has undergone several changes . Since 1965, the provisions of Medicare have expanded to include benefits for speech, physical, and chiropractic therapy in 1972 . Medicare added the option of payments to health maintenance organizations in the 1980s . Over the years, Congress expanded Medicare eligibility to younger people who have permanent disabilities and receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments and those who have end - stage renal disease (ESRD). The association with HMOs begun in the 1980s was formalized under President Clinton in 1997 as Medicare Part C (although not all Part C health plans sponsors have to be HMOs, about 75% are). In 2003, under President George W. Bush, a Medicare program for covering almost all self administered prescription drugs was passed (and went into effect in 2006) as Medicare Part D (previously and still, professionally administered drugs such as chemotherapy but even the annual flu shot are covered under Part B). </P> <P> The government added hospice benefits to aid the elderly on a temporary basis in 1982, and made this permanent in 1984 . Congress further expanded Medicare in 2001 to cover younger people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease). </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Health care in the United States </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Government Health Programs </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> Federal Employees Health Benefits Program </Li> <Li> Indian Health Service </Li> <Li> Medicaid / State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) </Li> <Li> Medicare </Li> <Li> Prescription Assistance (SPAP) </Li> <Li> Military Health System / TRICARE </Li> <Li> State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) </Li> <Li> Program of All - Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) </Li> <Li> Veterans Health Administration </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Private health coverage </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> Consumer - driven health care <Ul> <Li> Flexible spending account (FSA) </Li> <Li> Health Reimbursement Account </Li> <Li> Health savings account (HSA) <Ul> <Li> High - deductible health plan (HDHP) </Li> <Li> Medical savings account (MSA) </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Private Fee - For - Service (PFFS) </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Health insurance in the United States </Li> <Li> Managed care (CCP) <Ul> <Li> Exclusive provider organization (EPO) </Li> <Li> Health maintenance organization (HMO) </Li> <Li> Preferred provider organization (PPO) </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Medical underwriting </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Health care reform law </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (1986) </Li> <Li> Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (1996) </Li> <Li> Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (2003) </Li> <Li> Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act (2005) </Li> <Li> Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (2009) </Li> <Li> Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> State level reform </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> Dirigo Health (Maine) </Li> <Li> Massachusetts health care reform </Li> <Li> Oregon Health Plan </Li> <Li> SustiNet (Connecticut) </Li> <Li> Vermont health care reform </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Municipal health coverage </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> Fair Share Health Care Act (Maryland) </Li> <Li> Healthy Howard (Howard Co., Maryland) </Li> <Li> Healthy San Francisco </Li> <Li> Healthy Way LA </Li> <Li> My Health LA </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> This box: <Ul> <Li> view </Li> <Li> talk </Li> <Li> edit </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> </Table>

The creation of medicare and medicaid insured health care for