Key figures in the history of Medicare and Medicaid

Sen. Robert Kerr (D-Okla.) co-authored the Kerr-Mills Act passed in 1960, providing federal funding to states cover medical costs for low-income seniors. It served as a model for Medicaid.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
President John F. Kennedy proposed universal health insurance for Americans 65 and older during the 1960 presidential campaign.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
Robert Ball, commissioner of the Social Security Administration from 1962 to 1973, helped craft the political strategy for passing Medicare legislation and later was key in administering Medicare.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
U.S. Rep. Aime Forand (D-R.I.) introduced a bill in 1957 providing public coverage for seniors; the proposal is seen as a forerunner to Medicare.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
Rep. Wilbur Mills (D-Ark.), chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, led the complex political efforts to craft the Medicare and Medicaid compromise legislation in 1965, after opposing national health insurance for years.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
In the early 1960s, Ronald Reagan, then a private citizen, was a prominent AMA spokesman opposing a national health program for seniors. Later, as president, Reagan signed legislation creating a new Medicare prospective payment system based on DRGs, which established set medical prices for the first time.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
Dr. Edward Annis, right, president of the American Medical Association, led its opposition to Kennedy's proposal for a public insurance program for seniors.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
Joseph Califano Jr., helped launch Medicare and Medicaid as President Johnson's chief domestic policy aide from 1965 to 1969; later, as Health, Education and Welfare secretary under President Jimmy Carter, he consolidated oversight of the two programs under the new Health Care Financing Administration (which became the CMS in 2001).Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
Wilbur Cohen, secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, was a key figure with Mills in crafting Medicare and Medicaid legislation and shaping the political strategy to get it passed.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
Rep. John Byrnes (R-Wis.) in 1965 drafted an alternative to Johnson's Medicare bill to make coverage for physician services voluntary; it was incorporated into the final legislation as Medicare Part B.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
William Hsiao of Harvard University published studies of resource-based relative values for medical services that were used in developing Medicare's DRG-based prospective payment system implemented in 1983.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
Carolyne Davis, HCFA administrator from 1981 to 1985, led implementation of the prospective payment system. Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
President Richard Nixon signed legislation in 1972 extending Medicare to disabled people under age 65 with end-stage renal disease.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
In 1985, members of congress held a 20th anniversary party for Medicare and Medicaid. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), far right, and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) spearheaded creation of the Children's Health Insurance Program, which built on Medicaid to expand children's coverage, in 1997. Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) was a major architect of Medicaid expansion from the mid-1980s through the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
Bruce Vladeck, HCFA administrator from 1993 to 1997, oversaw the introduction of Medicaid's Section 1115 waiver program, expansion of the prospective payment system, and early experimentation with Medicare HMOs.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
President Bill Clinton signed the bill creating the Children's Health Insurance Program, which built on Medicaid to expand children's coverage, in 1997. Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
President George W. Bush championed and signed into law in 2003 the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit program.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
Tom Scully, CMS administrator under President Bush, helped design and implement the Medicare Part D program.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
President Barack Obama advocated for and signed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, which expanded Medicare benefits; extended Medicaid to low-income adults; cut Medicare spending; and established the CMS Innovation Center to test reforms to improve quality and reduce costs.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
Dr. Don Berwick, acting CMS administrator from 2010 to 2011, oversaw the beginnings of the CMS Innovation Center and its many demonstration programs, including Medicare accountable care organizations.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
Kathleen Sebelius, HHS secretary from 2009 to 2014, and Marilyn Tavenner, CMS administrator from 2011 to 2015, supervised implementation and administration of the ACA's Medicare and Medicaid benefit expansions and changes.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) crafted legislation in 2015 that reformed Medicare physician payment to move to a system of value-based payment.Medicare and Medicaid: The next half century