AARP: How Social Security and Medicare Transformed Aging in America
Two lifelines for older adults reach important milestones in 2025
This summer marks major anniversaries for both federal programs.
Ninety years ago, on Aug. 14, 1935, Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act.
Sixty years ago, on July 30, 1965, Johnson — after months of arguing, arm-twisting and horse-trading in Congress — signed the law creating Medicare.
So it seems fitting to commemorate — indeed, to celebrate — two historic initiatives that have insured the American people against poverty and medical bankruptcy in the late innings of life.
“Together, Social Security and Medicare transformed the meaning and experience of old age in the United States,” notes James Chappel, a historian at Duke University’s Aging Center. “Thanks to Social Security and Medicare, these older people are far less impoverished and enjoy far better health than was imaginable a century ago.”
