Medicare Birthday

On July 30, 1965, at a public 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 — 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. At its creation, Medicare consisted of two parts: Medicare Part A hospital insurance coverage and Medicare Part B, an optional medical insurance program.

Medicare's first beneficiaries paid a $40 annual deductible for Part A. The monthly premium for Part B was $3.