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.

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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

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Medicare ¹ Cultural  

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

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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.)

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Etymology

Origin of Medicare

medi(cal) + care

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Medicare

The bipartisan Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act would move Medicare Advantage prior authorizations to an electronic system and require quicker response times and greater transparency from insurers.

From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026

While most of the nation’s 64 million Medicare recipients will have plenty of options, some changes underscore the importance of shopping during open enrollment.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

Turning 65 doesn’t necessarily mean leaving your workplace health plan and going on Medicare.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

An OpenAI agent went "rogue" and "infiltrated" a private statistics portal containing "non-sensitive" data from Australia's universal healthcare scheme Medicare in June in what cyber-security experts said was the first hack of its kind.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

All but one of the others are female, with an average age I would guess in the late twenties, though the range seems to go from prom-fresh to well into the Medicare years.

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich