The HCFA was created in 1977 to combine under one administration the oversight of the Medicare program, the Federal portion of the Medicaid programme, and related quality assurance activities. Today, HCFA serves 67 million people, or one in four elderly, disabled and poor Americans through Medicare and Medicaid. In addition to providing health insurance, HCFA also regulates all laboratory testing (except research) in the U.S. through the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) program.