Medicare is one of America’s greatest successes — and a fiscal time bomb

Anniversaries are a time to celebrate accomplishments. They are also a time to take stock. As Medicare turns 61 this month, we should do both. Start with the celebration, because it is deserved. When Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law on July 30, 1965, only about half of Americans over 65 had hospital insurance and nearly a third lived in poverty. Growing old in this country carried a real risk of being sick and broke at the same time. Today coverage for older Americans is essentially unive