The Story of Medicare - in Just 7 Minutes

What better time to reflect on how far Medicare has come from its origins nearly 50 years ago to its position front and center in debates over how to bring the federal deficit under control?

Written and produced by the staff of the Kaiser Family Foundation, "The Story of Medicare: A Timeline" offers an animated timeline of the program's history, including the debate that led to its creation in 1965, the passage and repeal of the medicare catastrophic coverage in the 1980s, the addition of a prescription drug benefit in 2003 and the health care law in 2010. The video also highlights Medicare's importance to the 50 million older and disabled Americans it serves today as well as the fiscal challenges that must be addressed to ensure its long-term sustainability.

The Foundation also has a short quiz to test your knowledge of the Medicare program (I got 8 out of 10). And if you want to study up a little before taking the quiz, check out our own brief history of Medicare from Truman to today.