21. Conservative opposition compared Medicare to communism
In 1964 Senator Barry Goldwater, then running as the Republican candidate for president, argued against Johnson’s proposed Medicare program, calling it communism in disguise, a government giveaway. “…why not food baskets, why not public housing accommodations, why not vacation resorts, why not a ration of cigarettes for those who smoke and of beer for those who drink?” he demanded. George H. W. Bush called the program “socialized medicine” the same year. The chairman of the Republican Party’s Health Solutions Group called it a “Soviet-style model”. Conservatives continue to call for the program to be cut today.
But seniors have benefitted from the program in clearly measurable ways. In 1964 life expectancy for someone aged 65 was just over 14 years. By 1998 it was just under 18 years. Chronic disability dropped from approximately 25% (1964) to 20% (1994). When Medicare was initiated about half of America’s seniors had no health insurance and about a third were living under the poverty line, with medical bills their single biggest expense. By the end of the 20th century, nearly all seniors had access to healthcare via Medicare and Medicaid, and those living under the poverty line had been reduced to just under 15%.