# How Long Did Medicare Take From Passage To Implementation?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-medicare-take-from-passage-to-implementation/532310>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 12, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-medicare-take-from-passage-to-implementation/532310 "2010-03-12T23:39:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-medicare-take-from-passage-to-implementation/532310/1 "2010-03-12T23:39:10Z")

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With all this talk of healthcare be it universal health care or insurance, I was just wondering, in the 60s medicare was passed.

How long did it take from the final passage of medicare to the first people to actual benefit from it’s implementation.

It seems like even if they passed some sort of health care package today it would be 2 to 6 years before anyone even starts to see a benefit.

So how long did Medicare in the USA take from passage to implementation?

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**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-medicare-take-from-passage-to-implementation/532310/2 "2010-03-12T23:44:44Z")

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Medicare and Medicaid were signed into law in 1965. Medicaid funding started being available to states on January I, 1966 (states were phased in), and Medicare began offering benefits as of July 1, 1966.