Medicare and Medicaid U.S. government programs in effect since 1966. Medicare covers most people 65 or older and those with long-term disabilities. Part A, a hospital insurance plan, also pays for home health visits and hospice care. Part B, a supplementary plan, pays for doctors’ services, tests, and other services. Requirements and benefits are com¬ plex. Patients pay deductibles and copayments. Medicaid, a joint federal- state program, covers low-income people under age 65 and those who have exhausted Medicare benefits. It pays for hospital care, doctors’ ser¬ vices, nursing-home care, home health services, family planning, and screening. Participating states must offer Medicaid to all persons on pub¬ lic assistance but decide their own eligibility guidelines. Many physicians refuse to treat Medicaid patients because of low reimbursement levels.
Medici, Alessandro de' (b. 1510/11, Florence—d. Jan. 5-6, 1537, Florence) First duke of Florence (1532-37). A member of the elder branch of the Medici family, he was probably the illegitimate son of Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici (later Pope Clement VII). The pope made Cardinal Passerini regent in Florence for Alessandro, but they were forced to flee when the unpopular regency provoked a revolt in 1527. An agreement between the pope and Emperor Charles V restored the Medici in Florence (1530), and Alessandro was declared a hereditary duke (1532). A tyrannical ruler, he sought to solidify his control by marrying Charles V’s daughter, Marga¬ ret of Austria, in 1536. In an unsuccessful attempt to cause a revolt, a distant cousin, Lorenzino de’ Medici (1514-48), murdered Alessandro in
Medici Vme-do-.cheV, Cosimo de' known as Cosimo the Elder (b.
Sept. 27, 1389, Florence—d. Aug. 1, 1464, Careggi, near Florence) Founder of one of the main lines of the Medici family. The son of the Flo¬ rentine banker Giovanni di Bicci de’Medici (1360-1429), Cosimo repre¬ sented the Medici bank and handled papal finances, becoming the wealthiest man of his time. Another leading family, the Albizzi, had him imprisoned (1433) and tried to assassinate him, but a year later the Med¬ ici regained power in Florence, and Cosimo triumphantly returned. He was the architect of the Peace of Lodi (1454). An alliance with the Sfor- zas of Milan provided him with troops to crush a coup d’etat in 1458, after which he created a Senate composed of 100 loyal supporters (the Cento). He was a patron of scholarship and the arts, including such fig¬ ures as Donatello and Filippo Brunelleschi.
Medici, Cosimo I de' See Cosimo I
Medici, Giovanni de' orig. Lodovico (b. April 6, 1498, Forli, Papal States—d. Nov. 30, 1526, Mantua, marquisate of Mantua) Italian general. A member of the younger branch of the Medici family, he was the son of Giovanni de’ Medici, who died soon after his birth, and Caterina Sforza, of the powerful Sforza family of Milan. He took his father’s name, trained as a soldier, and fought for a Medici cousin. Pope Leo X, in 1516-17 and 1521. In the service of the French (1522, 1525) he fought with the army of the League of Cognac in 1526 and was mortally wounded in the battle
a
Henry IV and Marie de Medicis por¬ trayed on the obverse side of a bronze- gilt medal by Guillaume Dupre, 1603; in the National Gallery of Art, Wash¬ ington, D.C.
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, D.C., SAMUEL H. KRESS COLLECTION
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Medici ► Mediterranean Sea I 1227
near Mantua. He was known as Giovanni dalle Bande Nere (“of the Black Bands”) for the black banners his army (or bands) carried in mourning for Leo X after 1521.
Medici, Giuliano de' (b. 1479—d. March 17, 1516, Florence) Ruler of Florence (1512-13). A member of the elder branch of the Medici fam¬ ily, he was the son of Lorenzo de’ Medici. In 1494 his brother, Piero de’ Medici, was ousted as ruler of Florence by the republicans, aided by the French. In 1512 Pope Julius II demanded that Florence enter his Holy League against France and allow the exiled Medici to return to Florence. Giuliano returned as ruler (Piero having died in 1503) and used harsh measures to suppress a conspiracy. In 1513, after another brother became Pope Leo X, he went to Rome as a cardinal. In 1515 he received the French title of duke de Nemours.
Medici, Lorenzo de' known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (b. Jan. 1, 1449, Florence—d. April 9, 1492,
Careggi, near Florence) Florentine statesman and patron of arts and let¬ ters. The grandson of Cosimo de'Medici, he was the most brilliant of the Medici family. He ruled Florence with his younger brother, Giuliano, from 1469. Giuliano was assassi¬ nated in 1478 by the Pazzi, a leading Florentine banking family, which was in league with Pope Sixtus IV (who did not support the assassina¬ tion) and the king of Naples. Loren¬ zo’s direct appeal to the king allowed him to regain power in Florence, and he was sole ruler of the city until his death. His 13-year-old son Giovanni was created a cardinal by Pope Inno¬ cent VIII and later became pope as Leo X. Lorenzo used the Medici riches to patronize many artists, including Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo, and he remains perhaps the most famous patron of all time. His policies bank¬ rupted the Medici bank, but the political power of the Medici remained strong in Florence and Tuscany.
Medici family Italian bourgeois family that ruled Florence and later Tuscany from c. 1430 to 1737. The family, noted for its often tyrannical rulers and its beneficent patrons of the arts, also provided the church with four popes (Leo X, Clement VII, Pius IV, and Leo XI) and married into the royal families of Europe, notably in France (Catherine de Medicis and Marie de Medicis). The effective founder of the family was Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici (1360-1429), a merchant who amassed great wealth in trade and was the virtual ruler of Florence from 1421 to 1429. From his two sons derived the major branches of the family. The so-called elder branch began with Cosimo de’ Medici. His grandson, Lorenzo de’ Medici, or Lorenzo the Magnificent, greatly expanded the family’s power. His son Giuliano de’ Medici became duke de Nemours. Another son, Giovanni, became Pope Leo X. Lorenzo’s great-granddaughter was Catherine de Medicis. Another of Cosimo’s grandsons, Giulio de’ Medici (1478-1534) became pope as Clement VII. His probable illegitimate son, Alessandro de’ Medici, a tyrant, was the last of the direct male line of the elder branch. The so-called younger branch of the family began with Giovanni’s younger son Lorenzo de’ Medici. His son Giovanni married Caterina Sforza of the powerful Sforza family, and their son Giovanni de’ Medici became a noted general. His son Cosimo I became duke of Florence, and Cosimo’s son Francesco de’ Medici (1541-87) was the father of Marie de Medicis. Cosimo I’s grandson Cosimo II (1590-1621) gave up the family practice of banking and commerce. Cosimo II’s grandson Cosimo III (1642-1723) was a weak ruler, under whom Tuscany’s power declined. His son Gian Gastone de’ Medici (1671-1737), who died without issue, was the last grand duke of Tuscany.
medicine Set of scientific fields related to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease and maintenance of health, practiced in doctors’ offices, health maintenance organization facilities, hospitals, and clinics. In addition to family practice, internal medicine, and specialties for specific body systems, it includes research, public health, epidemiology, and pharmacology. Each country sets its own requirements for medical degrees (M.D.’s) and