In the 1960s, public attention focused on rising health care costs for the elderly. Congress responded in 1965 with the Medicare Act to provide seniors with medical insurance. Medicare was an amendment to the Social Security Act of 1935, becoming the first major addition to the landmark social legislation of the 1930s—laws that had signaled a new relationship between the government and its citizens. When enacted, 36 million senior citizens benefited from the Medicare program.
