Pallone Celebrates 47th Anniversary of Medicare With Long Branch Seniors

Congressman Frank Pallone (D-6) celebrated the 47th anniversary of Medicare being signed into law with members of the Long Branch Senior Center on Monday morning.

"Today we celebrate Medicare's success providing seniors and people with disabilities with health care security for the past 47 years," Pallone said.

Medicare was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 30, 1965 and now it provides 48 million Americans with health care coverage.

Pallone said he will fight to keep Medicare as an option for all seniors and Americans with disabilities who had a difficult time affording and obtaining health care coverage before Medicare was signed into law.

"It is very important that we keep Medicare as a guaranteed benefit from the government," Pallone said.

Pallone said he has voted against and rejected proposals to turn Medicare into a voucher system or to privatize it. He has been a supporter of the Affordable Care Act and said it has helped expand the benefits of Medicare.

Pallone also spoke about the importance of getting a higher reimbursement rate for primary care physicians. He said many young doctors who have just gradated from medical school have high student loans and do not want to become primary care physicians because the pay is not as great as those who choose to become specialists.

"We need more medical schools and we need to make them for affordable," Pallone said. "The shortage of doctors is a real problem."

Pallone answered several questions from the seniors in attendance and finished off the morning by helping cut a birthday cake for Medicare.

"Medicare remains one of the Democrats' greatest achievements, and I will fight to protect it for future generations," Pallone said.