Today also marks the 45th anniversary of the creation of Medicare.


Conceived and passed during the Johnson Administration as a government program to cover the health insurance needs of the elderly and disabled, the program’s structural flaws have become increasingly apparent over the years. As the Joint Economic Committee Republicans pointed out last year, in 1965 it was forecast to cost $12 billion annually by 1990; actual spending in 1990 was $110 billion. And let’s not forget the program’s unfunded liabilities of approximately $38 trillion. Of course, these problems will get much worse as the Baby Boomers retire… but who’s counting?


So have a happy day, Medicare – you’ll be eligible for yourself in 20 years, but you’ll be way past broke by then.