Changes

==Politics==

==Politics==

Medicare was first implemented as part of President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]'s [[Great Society]] in 1965.

Medicare was first implemented as part of President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]'s [[Great Society]] in 1965. The Senate voted for the program by a vote of 68 to 21, with 13 Republicans joining 55 Democrats in favor, and 7 Democrats joining 14 Republicans in opposition.  

 

Former Democratic Sen. John Breaux made a proposal which supports raising the Medicare eligibility age. [http://www.factcheck.org/overspiced_louisiana_gumbo.html]

Medicare accounts for more than one-fifth of all health spending in the U.S.. Its costs per beneficiary, about $12,000 in 2008, rose at an average annual rate of 8.5% a year from 1970 to 2007.

Medicare accounts for more than one-fifth of all health spending in the U.S.. Its costs per beneficiary, about $12,000 in 2008, rose at an average annual rate of 8.5% a year from 1970 to 2007.