Assignment on Laws and Ethics in Public Health

Laws and Ethics in Public Health
Author
Institution

Laws and Ethics in Public Health
(Medicare)
Medicare is a health insurance program under the federal. The bill of Medicare had taken
20 years in congress to endorse government health insurance for the older citizens after it was
proposed by Harry Truman. In 1945 he sent Congress the first comprehensive federal health
insurance proposal. Unfortunately, the bill did not go anywhere at that particular moment.
During Dwight Eisenhower's presidency, the Kerr Mills bill was enacted by the congress to
cover the elderly who required help with their medical bill. These elderly people did not qualify
in their state's welfare. However, due to the rising number of the elderly and the consequent rise
of healthcare cost the bill was regarded as inadequate.
President John F. Kennedy in 1961 prioritized the Medicare legislative policy and
appointed Clinton Anderson to manage the bill. Although there was strong public polls support
for the bill, it faced a powerful opponent from the Senate Finance Committee and American
medical association. The bill was narrowly defeated by the opponent in 1962. Following the
Kennedy assassination, the bill was reintroduced in 1963. In 1964, the senate and house passed
alternate versions of the bill but failed to resolve differences in the conferences. Due to
significant effort by Lyndon Johnson in the 1964 presidential contest increased the support of
Medicare in both congress chambers. On July 27 and 28, 1965 the bill was agreed by both
congress chambers and offered coverage of three-layer cake. It covered the aged hospital
insurance, physician’s coverage for the aged and extended federal aid to complement state
medical payments for the poor. The bill was signed into law in 1965 by President Lyndon B.
Johnson from the publications of United State Senate.