[July 30, 2015] My grandmother turned 63 years of age when President Johnson signed Medicare into law 50 years ago on this date – July 30, 1965. That was a good thing because she relied on it for her healthcare and that’s probably why she lived to just a month shy of 100 years. Most Americans are familiar with the Medicare program but don’t know of the early leadership effort to start it well before 1965 … it began with the senior leadership of President Truman.
“The health of American children, like their education, should be recognized as a definite public responsibility.” – U.S. President Harry S. Truman
Just a few months into his presidency, Truman proposed to the U.S. Congress a new national health care program.1 He noted that 40 percent of the country had either no local hospital or did not meet minimum standards set by professional medical associations. His plan was to improve the state of health care in the U.S. by addressing the deficiencies in the medical system to include a lack of doctors and poor quality hospitals. When Truman presented his proposal to Congress he cited statistics that negatively affected the U.S. military effort during World War II.
For example, Truman noted that of the 5 million male registrants for wartime service, about 30 percent were rejected due to medical issues. In addition, about 1.5 million men were discharged from the Army and Navy for reasons other than wounds and another 1.5 million were treated by the Armed Forces for diseases or defects that pre-existed induction into the military. Similarly, the rejection rate for women into the Women’s Army Corps was approximately one-third.2
Truman’s plan was eventually submitted to Congress but was opposed by the American Medical Association which characterized the bill as “socialized medicine” and that it followed the Communist “Moscow party line.” Organized labor that supported the health care program had, by that time, lost the goodwill from the American people because of a series of unpopular strikes. With the outbreak of the Korean War, Truman abandoned the bill but he never gave up the fight for improved health care.3
Our respect for Presidents Truman and Johnson, and to the many that pushed for the passage of a law that helped make health care better in the United States.
[Don’t forget to “Like” the Leader Maker at our Facebook Page.]
————————-
- http://www.trumanlibrary.org/anniversaries/healthprogram.htm
- http://www.trumanlibrary.org/publicpapers/index.php?pid=483&st=&st1=
- A complete text of President Truman’s remarks at the National Health Assembly Dinner in 1948 can be found here: http://www.trumanlibrary.org/publicpapers/viewpapers.php?pid=1612