Time capsule, 1965
Medicare
48th
birthday
The signing of the Medicare Act into law
celebration in Portland
President Harry Truman proposed a
national health plan in 1945. President
John Kennedy had health care on his
agenda when he was assassinated in
1963. Lyndon Johnson carried their
causes to fruition. The following are ex-
cerpts of remarks by former President
Truman and President Johnson at the
signing of the Medicare Act on July 30,
1965, in Independence, Missouri.
PRESIDENT TRUMAN — “Mr.
President, Mrs. Johnson, distinguished
guests: You have
done me a great
honor in coming
here today, and
you have made
me a very, very
happy man.
This is an im-
portant hour for
the nation, for those of our citizens who
have completed their tour of duty and
have moved to the sidelines. These are
the days that we are trying to celebrate
for them. These people are our prideful
responsibility and they are entitled,
among other benefits, to the best med-
ical protection available.
Not one of these, our citizens, should
ever be abandoned to the indignity of
AUGUST 2, 2013
charity. Charity is indignity when you
have to have it. But we don’t want these
people to have anything to do with char-
ity and we don’t want them to have any
idea of hopeless despair.
Mr. President, I am glad to have
lived this long and to witness today the
signing of the Medicare bill which puts
this nation right where it needs to be, to
be right. Your inspired leadership and a
responsive forward-looking Congress
have made it historically possible for
this day to come about.
Thank all of you most highly for
coming here. It is an honor I haven’t
had for, well, quite awhile, I’ll say that
to you, but here it is: Ladies and gentle-
men, the President of the United
States.”
PRESIDENT JOHNSON — “The
people of the United States love and
voted for Harry Truman, not because he
gave them hell — but because he gave
them hope.
I believe today that all America
shares my joy that he is present now
when the hope that he offered becomes
a reality for millions of our fellow citi-
zens.
I am so proud that this has come to
pass in the Johnson Administration. But
it was really Harry
Truman of Mis-
souri who planted
the seeds of com-
passion and duty
which have today
flowered into care
for the sick, and
serenity for the
fearful.
Many men can make many propos-
als. Many men can draft many laws.
But few have the piercing and humane
eye which can see beyond the words to
the people that they touch. Few can see
past the speeches and the political bat-
tles to the doctor over there that is tend-
ing the infirm, and to the hospital that is
receiving those in anguish, or feel in
their heart painful wrath at the injustice
which denies the miracle of healing to
the old and to the poor. And fewer still
have the courage to stake reputation,
and position, and the effort of a lifetime
upon such a cause when there are so
few that share it.
But it is just such men who illumi-
nate the life and the history of a nation.
And so, President Harry Truman, it is in
tribute not to you, but to the America
that you represent, that we have come
here to pay our love and our respects to
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
Retiree groups are throwing a party Saturday, Aug. 10, to celebrate the 48th
birthday of Medicare.
The party will be held at the Hollywood Senior Center, 1820 NE 40th Ave.,
Portland, from 2 to 5 p.m. There will be cake, music, and guest speakers, who
will talk about the threats to Medicare, and about ways to improve and expand
Medicare for all.
The birthday party is sponsored by the Oregon Alliance for Retired Amer-
icans, Portland Jobs with Justice, Elders in Action, the Oregon State Council
for Retired Citizens, and United Seniors of Oregon.
H.R. 6675 — the Social Security Amendment of 1965 — began life in the
House Ways and Means Committee, where it passed the committee on March
23, 1965, and a final report was sent to the House on March 29, 1965. The
House took up consideration of the bill on April 7, and passed the bill the next
day by a vote of 313-115 (with five not voting).
The Senate Finance Committee reported the bill out on June 30 and debate
began on the Senate floor that same day, concluding with passage on July 9,
1965 by a vote of 68-21 (with 11 not voting).
The Conference Committee to reconcile the differing bills of the two houses
completed its work on July 26. The reconciled version of H.R. 6675 then went
to final passage in the House on July 27 and final passage in the Senate the fol-
lowing day. The vote was 70-24 in the Senate (with 57 Democrats and 13 Re-
publicans supporting the bill, and seven Democrats and 17 Republicans op-
posing).
In the House, 237 Democrats and 70 Republicans supported the bill, while
48 Democrats and 68 Republicans opposed it. The final vote was 307-116.
President Johnson signed the bill into law at a special ceremony in Inde-
pendence, Missouri, on July 30, 1965.
you today. For a country can be known
by the quality of the men it honors. By
praising you, and by carrying forward
your dreams, we really reaffirm the
greatness of America.
It was a generation ago that Harry
Truman said, and I quote him: ‘Millions
of our citizens do not now have a full
measure of opportunity to achieve and
to enjoy good health. Millions do not
now have protection or security against
the economic effects of sickness. And
the time has now arrived for action to
help them attain that opportunity and to
help them get that protection.’
Well, today, Mr. President, and my
fellow Americans, we are taking such
action — 20 years later ...
... Because the need for this action is
plain; and it is so clear indeed that we
marvel not simply at the passage of this
bill, but what we marvel at is that it took
so many years to pass it. And I am so
glad that Aime Forand is here to see it
finally passed and signed — one of the
first authors.
There are more than 18 million
Americans over the age of 65. Most of
them have low incomes. Most of them
are threatened by illness and medical
expenses that they cannot afford.
And through this new law, every cit-
izen will be able, in his productive years
when he is earning, to insure himself
against the ravages of illness in his old
age. This insurance will help pay for
care in hospitals, in skilled nursing
homes, or in the home. And under a
separate plan it will help meet the fees
of the doctors.
Now here is how the plan will affect
you.
During your working years, the peo-
ple of America — you — will con-
tribute through the Social Security pro-
gram a small amount each payday for
hospital insurance protection.
And under a separate plan, when
you are 65 — that the Congress origi-
nated itself, in its own good judgment
— you may be covered for medical and
surgical fees whether you are in or out
of the hospital.
The benefits under the law are as
varied and broad as the marvelous mod-
ern medicine itself. If it has a few de-
fects — such as the method of payment
of certain specialists — then I am con-
fident those can be quickly remedied
and I hope they will be.
No longer will older Americans be
denied the healing miracle of modern
medicine. No longer will illness crush
and destroy the savings that they have
so carefully put away over a lifetime so
that they might enjoy dignity in their
later years. No longer will young fami-
lies see their own incomes, and their
own hopes, eaten away simply because
they are carrying out their deep moral
obligations to their parents, and to their
uncles, and their aunts.
And no longer will this nation refuse
the hand of justice to those who have
given a lifetime of service and wisdom
and labor to the progress of this pro-
gressive country ...”
... And just think, Mr. President, be-
cause of this document — and the long
years of struggle which so many have
put into creating it — in this town, and
a thousand other towns like it, there are
men and women in pain who will now
find ease. There are those, alone in suf-
fering, who will now hear the sound of
some approaching footsteps coming to
help. There are those fearing the terri-
ble darkness of despairing poverty —
despite their long years of labor and ex-
pectation — who will now look up to
see the light of hope and realization.
There just can be no satisfaction, nor
any act of leadership, that gives greater
satisfaction than this ...”
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