Women and Medicare: An Unfinished Agenda

For fifty years, Medicare has played a critical role in promoting economic security for older women in the United States. Today, Medicare serves 24 million women ages 65 and older, representing 56 percent of older adults enrolled in the program, and provides them with financial protection at a time in their lives when they have the greatest need for medical care and often the fewest family and economic resources. The passage of Medicare in 1965 marks a key milestone in women’s economic security and a major contribution to reducing income equality in old age between men and women.

read more