The Positive Impact of Medicare on the Nation’s Health Care Systems

IK ITS FIRST YEAR of operation, the Mediewe program has removed many of the financial barriers t,hat prevented older people from seeking medical cue ;rnd that ~larrowed the tlwrapeuti(~ &erniltives available to them. Through its standards for participation and its contributions to the surge of imerest in the development of research and in t,he training and retraining of personnel, Medicare has provided il framework to help achieve improvements in t,he health care available to all Americans. In November 1965, I described Medicare as “a door opened wide for us in t,he health professions t,o accomplish things we have talked about for years.” Today, it can be shown that Medicare has indeed helped to accomplish things; it has had a subst,antinl, positive impact on the health care systems of this Nation. There are countless instances that could be cited that, clearly show the influence of Medicare in t,he solving of individual problemsthe return of physicians to XI area where they could not have afforded to practice in recent years, for example, or the easing of recruitment of physicians for a rural community hospital. But it is the story of the broader impact of Medicare that, should be told here-what it has accomplished, the trends that are emerging and some new opportunit,ies that exist today as a result of this program. It is n program that has stirred the imagination of people in t,he communit~yJwofessionsl people and lay people. The Medicare experience has contributed a perspective for act,ion to those who are planning for community health services.