Prior to 1965 (Medicare enacted) how did those 65+ deal with medical expenses/insurance? Surely, most retirees couldn’t afford private insurance policies that cover all that Medicare does.
Part of the answer, surely, is that medical care was a lot less expensive then (even adjusted for inflation), and there was a good bit less of it, in the sense that many conditions that can be treated now, simply could not be effectively treated then, no matter how much money you had to spend on it.
Retirees were on their own. There were not as many medical procedures preformed at that time. But some retirees lost all their savings to pay medical bills. This was why Medicare was inacted. It was to pay for retiree’s medical fees so they would have not have any medical bills. Now you need a medical plan that you pay for along with medicare to survive.
I remember a childhood friend telling me that in the early 1960’s, his grandfather lost all that he had to pay for medical care. He had worked his entire live as a carpenter/mason and raised a family - only to be impoverished in his 70’s by medical expenses.
Thank god we only to that now to people who are still of working age.
In some cases they simply went without, or tried to stretch a medicine by taking less than the prescribed dose. This often meant they were sicker, suffered more, and/or died earlier. Some were faced with the food vs. medicine dilemma.