NEW YORK -- Congressman Charles Rangel spoke out today in defense of Medicare on the 45th Anniversary of its implementation. President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law on July 30, 1965, and the first enrollees entered the program on July 1, 1966.

"Medicare is one of our nation's greatest programs," Rangel said. "Today, we celebrate the tremendous success of the program in providing seniors and people with disabilities with health care security for the past 45 years."

Medicare provides comprehensive health care coverage to 47 million Americans, including 39 million seniors and 8 million people under 65 with disabilities. In 1964, only 51 percent of Americans over 65 had health care coverage.  In addition, Medicare has dramatically reduced poverty rate among seniors. Nearly 30 percent of seniors lived below the poverty line in 1964 – today that number dropped to 7.5 percent. Medicare has also helped significantly increase American life expectancy and beneficiaries have reported more satisfaction with their coverage than Americans with private insurance. 

"Millions of our nation's seniors and their families count on the government's promise to provide what they have rightfully earned. It is inexplicable that the Republicans are threatening to end Medicare as we know it," said Rangel. 

House Republicans passed a budget on April 15, 2011 that would end Medicare for all Americans now under 55 and replace it with a system where seniors get a voucher to buy private insurance. Under the Republican plan, seniors would see their out-of-pocket costs rise by more than $6,000 and would have to spend more on prescription drug costs. Studies also found that Medicare recipients will also lose benefits, such as free preventive care under Medicare, which went into effect under the Democrats' healthcare reform. 

"The GOP's cruel agenda to end Medicare and give $1 trillion in tax breaks to millionaires and Big Oil not only harms the health of Americans but imperils our economic future." Rangel added. "We cannot turn our backs on the elderly who need their healthcare. I will continue to work to strengthen Medicare’s solvency and ensure that it will continue be there for future generations."