In recent years, bitter partisan debates have erupted over Medicare reform. Democrats and Republicans have fiercely contested issues such as prescription drug coverage and how to finance Medicare to absorb the baby boomers. But as Jonathan Oberlander demonstrates in The Political Life of Medicare, these recent developments are an exception in the long-term history of the program. Contrary to popular belief, from Medicare's inception in 1965 until 1994, a remarkable bipartisan consensus governed Medicare politics.

In The Political Life of Medicare, Oberlander provides the first comprehensive history of Medicare politics, from the decades of consensus to current debates over Medicare reform. He shows how tensions embodied in the program since its enactment drove the politics of Medicare benefits, regulation, and financing policy during the consensus period. For instance, rising Medicare costs led both liberal and conservative policymakers to embrace stronger government regulation of the program while rejecting expansion of benefits. Both parties also accepted the liberal vision of Medicare as a universal government program to provide federal health insurance for the elderly. Oberlander incisively traces how this consensus unraveled because of fundamental changes in American politics, the health care system, and policymakers' attitudes about the elderly.

Revealing how Medicare politics and policies have developed over the past several decades, and what the program's future holds, Oberlander's timely and accessible analysis will interest anyone concerned with American politics and public policy, health care, aging, and the welfare state.

Acknowledgments
1: Introduction
2: Medicare's Roots
The Elusive Search for National Health Insurance
3: Going Nowhere
The Politics of Benefits
4: Going Broke
The Politics of Financing
5: The State Rises
The Politics of Regulation
6: Medicare Politics
Patterns and Explanations
7: The New Politics of Medicare
Notes
Bibliography
Index