Bob Rosenblatt, Special Correspondent

Welcome to Covered: A Week-by-Week Look at the 1965 Politics that Created Medicare and Medicaid. Bob Rosenblatt, a Senior Fellow at the National Academy of Social Insurance and former Los Angeles Times Washington correspondent, will blog on the maneuvers that led to the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid on July 30th, 1965 the first major expansion of U.S. social insurance to health care. Rosenblatt takes us back to the decisive winter of 1965: A newly reelected President Johnson has large congressional majorities and is committed to the idea of Medicare. Writing as if he were witnessing for the first time the political and legislative events that transpired 50 years ago, Rosenblatt provides us with an informative (perhaps even entertaining) look at leaders in the 89th Congress and other major players. Covered is written with the recognition that the effort to get universal coverage, let alone health care for the elderly and low-income individuals, was – and continues to be – a decades-long fight.

The National Academy of Social Insurance is commemorating the 50th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid by providing the public and the policy community, through efforts such as this blog, with a platform for educational dialogue around the history and future of these two vital programs. We welcome questions, comments, and suggestions directly on Covered blog posts or by emailing Lee Goldberg, Vice President for Health Policy at lgoldberg[at]nasi.org.

Bob Rosenblatt is editor of the website, HelpWithAging, dealing with the finances of aging, including the costs of Medicare and Social Security. He can be reached at bobrosenblatt7@gmail.com.

Made possible with support from Anthem, Inc.

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One Comment

  1. Misako (Furuike) Fukushima June 13, 2017 at 2:54 pm - Reply

    Glad there is Social
    Glad there is Social Security.

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