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

Medicare is a place to go for ratings.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026

A spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the agency routinely monitors for abnormal billing patterns and complaints to identify fraud.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026

Today, Medicare pays the insurer about $18,200 a year to cover him.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

They collect Social Security, Medicare and, in many cases, Medicaid — especially if they end up in a nursing home in their final months or years.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 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