On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law. Today marks the 46th anniversary of that signing. In recognition of that anniversary, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz released the following statement:

Since Medicare was signed into law in 1965, generations of American seniors have enjoyed the iron-clad guarantee of quality health care. As a result, Americans across the country have been able to live out their retirement in better health and with greater dignity. Unfortunately, that has not stopped Republicans from repeatedly attacking this important program, striving to do nothing less than ending Medicare as we know it. But Democrats will not allow them to succeed.

With the Affordable Care Act, President Obama and Democrats in Congress strengthened Medicare and made prescription drugs and preventive care more accessible to American seniors. Today, Democrats are working hard to guarantee that we aren’t balancing our budget at the expense of our parents’ and grandparents’ health. We cannot renege on our obligations to the people who raised us. We will not turn our backs on the Greatest Generation. On this anniversary of the signing of Medicare, I join with Americans across the country in pledging once again to defend and champion this vital program.

Today marks the 45th anniversary of the implementation of Medicare, which was signed into law on July 30, 1965 and began to take effect July 1, 1966. Regarding this anniversary, Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said:

For 45 years, Medicare has offered American seniors the ability to obtain the care they need throughout their retirement and live in a more healthy and dignified way. Though Medicare has evolved throughout the years, the promise we've made to seniors has been unbroken, and through the Affordable Care Act, Democrats have provided greater security to America's seniors by closing the prescription drug 'donut hole,' ensuring affordable access to preventive care and trimming overpayments to insurance companies.

Unfortunately, Republicans are doing everything they can to guarantee that Medicare as we know it never reaches its 46th year. In Congress and on the campaign trail, Republicans are calling for reduced benefits and higher costs to seniors – all so that they can offer more tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. We cannot allow Republicans to deprive America’s seniors of vital benefits simply to line the pockets of the wealthiest few – to do so would be to cast aside our obligations to our parents and grandparents and to turn our backs on the sense of mutual responsibility for our fellow citizens that has made our country great and helped build our middle class.

On this anniversary of the implementation of Medicare, I as a Representative of tens of thousands of Florida seniors and the Democratic Party reaffirm our commitment to protecting Medicare and guaranteeing that this program marks many more successful years.

A little more than a week after losing a heavily Republican leaning congressional seat in New York on the issue of the GOP effort to end Medicare, Republicans are doubling down on their support for the plan passed by Republicans in the House of Representatives and endorsed by 40 Republicans in the U.S. Senate. Today, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz released the following statement underscoring the devastating consequences of that plan for elderly Americans:

The Republican plan for balancing the budget on the backs of America’s elderly, poor, and vulnerable has been whole-heartedly embraced by Republicans in Congress. But their plan is more than wrong-thinking, it’s just plain wrong.  And you don’t have to dig too deeply to see why: it would end Medicare as we know it. 

The Republican plan would ‘save’ money not by reducing costs but by passing them along to seniors in Florida and across the country. That’s not just me talking – the independent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has said that seniors would end up paying 68% of their premiums and out-of-pocket medical costs under the Republican plan. In fact, a decade from now their plan would add $6,400 to the average senior’s annual medical bill. That means more elderly Americans would face an awful dilemma: purchasing the basic goods they need to live or the health care they need to stay well.

And what would be accomplished through the additional suffering the Republican plan would impose on seniors? More tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans because the Republican plan would direct that money into the pockets of the wealthiest Americans with tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. I won’t have such a plan on my voting record or my conscience, and America can’t afford to put such a plan on the books.