Medicare, Medicine

Related Category: Medicine

Medicare, national health insurance program in the United States for persons aged 65 and over. It was established in 1965 with passage of the Social Security Amendments and is now run by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It provides for a basic program of hospital insurance, under which most persons aged 65 and over are protected against major costs of hospital and related care; and a supplementary medical insurance program, through which persons aged 65 and over are aided in paying doctor bills and other health-care bills. It is funded by a tax on the earnings of employees; that amount is matched by the employer. In 1997 more than 38 million Americans were enrolled in Medicare. Expenditures exceeded $200 billion, and contentious political debate over its future joined the one concerning national health insurance as a whole.

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