Medicare

American  

[med-i-kair] / ˈmɛd ɪˌkɛər /

noun

1. (sometimes lowercase) a U.S. government program of hospitalization insurance and voluntary medical insurance for persons aged 65 and over and for certain disabled persons under 65.

2. (lowercase) any of various government-funded programs to provide medical care to a population.

---

Medicare British  

/ ˈmɛdɪˌkɛə /

noun

1. (in the US) a federally sponsored health insurance programme for persons of 65 or older

2. (often not capital) (in Canada) a similar programme covering all citizens

3. (in Australia) a government-controlled general health-insurance scheme

---

Medicare ¹ Cultural  

1. A federal health insurance program, administered by the Social Security Administration, that provides health care for the aged.

---

Medicare ² Cultural  

1. A federal program providing medical care for the elderly. Established by a health insurance bill in 1965, as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, the Medicare program made a significant step for social welfare legislation and helped establish the growing population of the elderly as a pressure group. (See entitlements.)

---

Etymology

Origin of Medicare

medi(cal) + care

Example Sentences

Withdrawals are tax-free and don’t impact your Medicare IRMAA, your Social Security tax rate or your other taxable income.

From MarketWatch

In theory, this would help to lower your taxes and Medicare costs.

From MarketWatch

That doesn’t include the roughly $13 billion more in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid payments.

From The Wall Street Journal

Renaudin will be replaced by Aaron Martin, who will initially joined the company in January as president of Medicare Advantage and will assume the role of president of the insurance segment on Renaudin’s retirement.

From Barron's

As of Nov. 29, about 5.8 million people had enrolled in marketplace plans for 2026, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

From MarketWatch