On this day 60 years ago, the Medicaid and Medicare programs were signed into law by former President Lyndon B. Johnson. It was July 30, 1965, and both programs were established within the Social Security Act.

Designed as federal programs to assist the elderly, disabled individuals and those with low income, both have grown into the largest sources of health care coverage in the country.

Tens of millions of Americans rely on the programs, and they have protected the country’s most vulnerable populations for over six decades now.