Entitlement creep exemplified (or why we’re going broke)
- 1965, Medicare health insurance authorized for all Americans over age 65 along with Medicaid that covers both seniors and the poor. Somehow for 190 years Americans were able to make do without it.
- 2006, Largest expansion of Medicare since origin in also covering prescription drugs but only to and beyond a certain point, leaving what’s referred to as a “doughnut hole.”
- 2009, With the nation running a historic deficit that’s skyrocketing and having just passed a budget-busting health care bill in the Senate, Sen. Maj. Leader Harry Reid declares of the “doughnut hole” we must “forever end this indefensible injustice for American’s seniors.”