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During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt placed wage controls on companies

 preventing them from offering higher pay when competing for workers.  The companies overcame

 this obstacle by offering richer benefits to workers.  One of the most valuable of those benefits

 was health insurance.  This encouraged many women to join the workforce.   President Harry S. Truman observed this and noticed
 
the improvement in people’s lives and productivity when they received good medical coverage.  After the
 
War he tried for many years to establish a National Health Insurance Plan, and although he was not
 
successful he inspired professionals in the Social Security Administration to work on a medical program
 
for people aged 65 and older.  This evolved into "Medicare" which President Lyndon
 
Johnson signed into law in 1965.  Former President Truman was the first to enroll.  







What Does Medicare cover?



Medicare PART A paid a portion of the cost of HOSPITAL,  SKILLED NURSING,  AND BLOOD OR DERIVATIVES
 
Medicare PART B paid a portion of the cost of DOCTORS OFFICE VISITS,  EMERGENCY ROOM,  SURGEON,  ANESTHETIST,  ASSISTANT SURGEON
 
FEES,  RADIOLOGY,  PATHOLOGY,  AMBULANCE, OUTPATIENT HOSPITAL CARE,
 
DOCTOR VISITS IN HOSPITAL  Over the years, the Medicare program continued to evolve and became available to more people.
 
Additional benefits were developed and added to the program:  For example,
 
          1972   Chiropractic services, speech therapy and physical therapy.
 
                      Disabled people under 65 became eligible for benefits.
 
          1982   Hospice benefits.
 
          1984   Federal Employees including “The President”, Members of Congress
 
                      and the Federal Judiciary were added as qualified recipients.
 
          1989   Mammograms and Pap Smears.
 
          2006   Part D Prescription Drugs
 
 
As Medicare was not intended to pay the entire cost of medical services, something was required to
 
fill the gap in coverage, so insurance policies called Medicare Supplements were developed.
 
As time went by Medicare paid less and less of the costs, resulting in the development of improved
 
supplements that covered the ever increasing gap.  Today the most popular supplement is Plan F.