Medicaid turns 50

Health care program serves 71 million in U.S.

Medicaid turned 50 years old today.

In Minnesota, its positive impact on health has never been greater. 

Seth Boffeli, with AARP Minnesota said 260,000 new enrollees are seeking out preventative care and are healthier than expected, and that’s helped the state save $650 million on this year’s Medicaid budget.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law on July 30, 1965 and, at that time, roughly half of Americans 65 and older had no health insurance.

Medicaid covers 71 million poor across the country.