Medicare is the second-most popular federal government program, behind only Social Security. Retirees love Medicare, and workers don’t mind paying taxes to support it. So how was this popular, effective, efficient health insurance program enacted? After a bitter, partisan political battle accompanied by warnings that government health care would bankrupt the country, ruin doctors, and bring about an end to freedom. If you enjoy Medicare coverage today—or hope to have it one day—you can thank government leaders for ignoring the hysteria and enacting Medicare 55 years ago.
Federal government
Social Security
Social Security was a “simple and elegant” solution to the Great Depression, a system of direct relief for elderly people that felt like a pension and was financed by workers and their employers. It has gone on to become the federal government’s most popular program with young and old alike, and the most effective anti-poverty program in American history. If you are one of Social Security’s 68 million recipients—or hope to be as you get older—you can thank government for it.
The Courts
State and federal courts are the bulwark of our freedoms, and the belief in public trials before our peers presided over by impartial judges runs deep in our history. But the courts are also essential to business as enforcers of contracts and defenders of intellectual, financial, and physical property rights. We have never expected anyone but government to play these roles, and for our judicial system you can thank government.
Clean Drinking Water
The creation of dependable clean water systems is one of our greatest and least recognized urban accomplishments. Unrecognized, that is, unless something goes terribly wrong. But such incidents are exceedingly rare, and hundreds of millions of Americans can trust the safety of their drinking water. For this, we can thank government.
Nuclear Safety and Nuclear Waste Disposal
Since World War II the federal government has researched, regulated, and managed nuclear production and disposal. If you’ve benefited from nuclear power and nuclear medicine but never lived in fear of radiation poisoning, you can thank government for it.