Medicare is a government administered health insurance program for senior citizens. In the 10 years following the creation of Medicare, mandatory spending increased from 30 percent to over 50 percent of the federal budget. The graph to the right shows the larger share of the Federal Budget that mandatory spending has taken up over time.
Medicare is a government-managed health insurance program for senior citizens. Over ten years after its inception, mandatory spending rose from 30 percent to more than 50 percent of the federal budget. The chart on the right illustrates how the proportion of the Federal Budget that mandatory spending has taken over time.