In 1966, every American citizen over the age of sixty-five received a card in the mail emblazoned with the words “HEALTH INSURANCE” and an official seal from the federal Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

The card certified the right of its recipient to health care coverage, funded by progressive taxes. The elderly could no longer work? No problem. They would receive insurance untethered to employment. Many had little savings, and families with few resources. Again, no problem. The coverage would be paid for by all of society, on the basis that every person deserved to lead a dignified and secure existence in their final decades. The program was called Medicare.

On the anniversary of Medicare’s creation, Bernie Sanders is calling for its expansion into a universal and comprehensive public health insurance policy. For over half a century, Medicare has guaranteed millions of people medicine, treatment, and relative peace of mind. Everyone deserves these things, says Sanders, not just older people.