AARP Medicare Principles

Ensure universal access—Medicare should remain a social insurance program that guarantees health care to older people and people with disabilities, regardless of income and health status.

Ensure adequacy and affordability—Medicare should guarantee specified benefits, defined in law. They should be affordable and sufficient to meet beneficiaries’ health care needs.

Achieve sustainability—Medicare should be strengthened and improved for current and future beneficiaries.

Guarantee access—Medicare should ensure access to high-quality health care for all beneficiaries. Beneficiaries should have a reasonable choice of coverage and health care providers.

Ensure quality, equity, efficiency, and program integrity—Medicare should improve the quality and efficiency of care for beneficiaries, improve health equity, and maximize value for the program. Program waste, fraud, and abuse should be identified and eliminated. The process for doing so should not unduly burden beneficiaries.