Medicare provides health insurance to individuals aged 65 or older, regardless of income or medical history. Later expansions offered coverage to those under age 65 with permanent disabilities and those with end stage renal disease. The Medicare program consists of four parts, with each covering different benefits available to beneficiaries.

The Medicare trust fund is facing financial challenges due to increasing health care costs, aging U.S. populations, declining worker-to-beneficiary ratio, and other economic factors–all contribute to projections that costs will double in the near future. To counter this trend, NAPH members are embarking on system-wide efforts to curtail costs and ultimately help bend the cost curve.