Blog
August 18, 2026
Happy Anniversary Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid
| All Americans should take a moment each summer to recognize the significance of two tremendous benefits that continue to serve us all very well, as they have for decades – Social Security (1935) and Medicare (1965).
No one should take these programs for granted. They benefit us all and they are currently at risk. While Franklin Delano Roosevelt receives much credit for Social Security, it was another great New Yorker, Frances Perkins, the first woman in a President’s cabinet, who really made it happen. Social Security, funded by worker contributions – each of us pays in during our working life – has provided generations of Americans with baseline retirement protections. Some simple steps now to reform and improve could easily ensure its benefit for generations to come. Medicare, enacted as part of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society initiative provides essential health benefits to older Americans. It’s literally a life-saver. Both programs are efficient, effective and popular and we should all support them because they make each of us and our communities stronger! |