Editing Lyndon B. Johnson (section)

===Healthcare reform===
{{further|Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson#Medicare and Medicaid}}
[[File:Lyndon Johnson signing Medicare bill, with Harry Truman, July 30, 1965.jpg|thumb|Former president [[Harry S. Truman|Truman]] and wife [[Bess Truman|Bess]] at Johnson's signing of the [[Medicare Bill]] in 1965, as [[Lady Bird Johnson|Lady Bird]] and [[Hubert Humphrey]] look on]]
Johnson's initial effort to improve healthcare was the creation of The Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer, and Strokes (HDCS). These diseases accounted for 71&nbsp;percent of the nation's deaths in 1962.<ref>{{harvp|Dallek|1998|p=204}}</ref>

In 1965, Johnson turned his focus to hospital insurance for the aged under Social Security.<ref>{{harvp|Dallek|1998|p=205}}</ref> The key player in initiating this program, named [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]], was Representative [[Wilbur Mills]], Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. To reduce Republican opposition, Mills suggested that Medicare be fashioned as three layers: hospital insurance under Social Security; a voluntary insurance program for doctor visits; and an expanded medical welfare program for the poor, known as [[Medicaid]].<ref>{{harvp|Dallek|1998|p=208}}</ref> The bill passed the house by a margin of 110 votes on April 8. The effort in the Senate was considerably more complicated, but the Medicare bill passed Congress on July 28.<ref>{{harvp|Dallek|1998|p=209}}</ref> Medicare now covers tens of millions of Americans.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2000pres/20000712.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080714214416/http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2000pres/20000712.html|archive-date=July 14, 2008|title=Medicare Celebrates 35 Years of Keeping Americans Healthy|access-date=January 19, 2010}}</ref>