On its 46th Anniversary, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard Vows to Continue Fighting to Protect Medicare

Press Release

On the eve of the 46th anniversary of the enactment of the Medicare program, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) spoke out against repeated Republican efforts to dismantle the popular health insurance program for seniors and people with disabilities.

"As we celebrate the 46th anniversary of the enactment of Medicare, I reject the Republican view that the program must be scrapped and replaced with a new system that shifts costs to seniors," Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard said. "Over the last 46 years, Democrats have fought vigorously to protect and strengthen Medicare. Now, Republicans are trying to reverse our progress. The Republican budget plan proposed earlier this year and the Republican Default Act passed by House Republicans today are nothing more than a full-scale assault on Medicare. Even more unacceptable, these same extreme proposals that hurt our seniors also protect tax breaks for Big Oil and corporations that ship jobs overseas and ask nothing of the wealthiest Americans as we seek to reduce our deficit."

On July 30, 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law, he proclaimed, "No longer will older Americans be denied the healing of modern medicine. No longer will illness crush and destroy the savings that [seniors] have so carefully put away over a lifetime so that they might enjoy dignity in their later years. [And] no longer will young families see their own incomes, and their own hopes, eaten away simply because they are carrying out their deep moral obligations to their parents."

Today, Medicare provides comprehensive health care coverage to 47 million Americans, including 39 million seniors and 8 million people under 65 with disabilities. In 1964, only 51 percent of Americans over 65 had health care coverage. Without health care coverage, many seniors went bankrupt or died prematurely from illnesses that were treatable. Today, because of Medicare, seniors and people with disabilities have health care coverage that is nearly universal. In the 34th Congressional District alone, 59,000 people are Medicare beneficiaries.

"On this historic anniversary, I am proud to live in a country in which seniors and people with disabilities have access to reliable and affordable health care coverage. I vow to continue to fight to ensure they retain the critical Medicare coverage that they depend on," Congresswoman Roybal-Allard said.

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