| Assessing Four Decades of
Medicare and Medicaid
Fong, Tony
Modern Healthcare, July 18, 2005, pp6
"When US Pres Lyndon B Johnson signed the bill on Jul 30, 1965,
creating the Medicare and Medicaid programs, it was the culmination
of a decades-long effort, marked by political infighting, false
starts and near misses to create a national health-insurance program.
Since their inception, the greatest challenge to the programs has
been spiraling healthcare costs, stemming largely from innovations
in medical technology and pharmaceuticals. Most of the heavy lifting
on Medicare was done with passage of the Medicare Modernization
Act of 2003, which created outpatient prescription-drug benefits,
and the emphasis has shifted to implementing that benefit, which
takes effect on Jan 1, 2006. As part of changing Medicaid, many
state officials are looking at changes to the financing of long-term
care. Despite the swirl of activity surrounding Medicaid reform,
there is no consensus that any significant reform will happen this
year or anytime soon." Tony Fong is a reporter at Modern
Healthcare.
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