President Lyndon B. Johnson shakes hands with President Harry S. Truman as others (in background) applaud. [LBJ Library photo by Unknown #34897-14]

Medicare Turns 47

Jul 30, 2012

On this day in 1965, at a ceremony in Independence, Mo., President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed Medicare into law. Moments later, the 36th president of the United States presented America's 33rd president, Harry S. Truman — then 81 years old and praised by LBJ as "the real daddy of Medicare" — the nation's first Medicare card. 

Medicare provides health insurance to Americans age 65 and older and to younger people with certain disabilities or health conditions. read more