Medicare is an essential program that guarantees access to health care for older adults and people with disabilities. But there are a lot of misconceptions and misinformation about how the program functions, and that means too many decisions get made without adequate information. We want to be sure you have the information you need to understand how Medicare works and why it’s so important to so many people.

Over the next few weeks, Medicare Rights will release a series of policy fact sheets on our Protect & Strengthen Medicare page that deal with various Medicare policy proposals, threats to Medicare and other programs that help older adults and people with disabilities, as well as underappreciated benefits of these programs. Included with many of the fact sheets are stories from people who call our national helpline—those who depend on the Medicare program to help meet their needs and protect their well-being. This includes people like Arthur, whose family was able to buy a car once his grandmother was eligible for Medicare, which meant he could take on more responsibilities and eventually go to college.

To launch our new series, we begin with “Medicare: Strong and Built to Last.” This fact sheet gives some basic statistics about the Medicare program, including who uses it, why it’s important, and its financial footing. Future installments will include fact sheets on how Medicare and Medicaid work together, how proposals like raising the eligibility age or allowing private contracting would affect the Medicare program, and how State Health Insurance Assistance Programs, or SHIPs, help people with Medicare better understand their coverage options.

Visit www.medicarerights.org/protect to learn more.