Medicare is Not a Welfare Program
Author: AARP
Published: 2011/07/17 - Updated: 2026/01/20
Publication Type: Informative
Category Topic: AARP - Related Publications
Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main - Insights, Updates
Synopsis: This information explains why Medicare represents earned benefits rather than government welfare, as seniors contribute to the program throughout their working years based on the promise of secure health coverage at retirement. The distinction matters significantly for older adults, disabled individuals who qualify for Medicare, and anyone concerned about healthcare security - the framing affects policy decisions that determine whether benefits remain universally available or face income-based restrictions that could undermine decades of contributions. By clarifying the earned nature of Medicare, the content helps readers understand the policy debate surrounding means-testing and recognize how their contributions create a legitimate claim on these benefits, making it particularly relevant for seniors and disabled beneficiaries facing arguments that their healthcare should be subject to wealth tests - Disabled World (DW).
Introduction
AARP Senior Vice President Joyce Rogers offered the following statement in response to President Obama's indication that he would support means-testing Medicare as part of a debt ceiling deal.
Main Content
AARP is focused on protecting Social Security and Medicare for the millions of beneficiaries who have paid into the systems over their working lives. Rogers' statement follows:
"Medicare is not a welfare program. Seniors pay into Medicare their entire working lives based on the promise that they'll have secure health coverage when they retire. Applying a means test for their earned benefits would erode the popular support that has sustained these programs for years and made them so effective in helping older households."
"The small minority of seniors who are wealthy also contributed more to these programs throughout their working lives, and continue to pay higher taxes in retirement to support them. Also, in contrast to plans for those under age 65, premiums for Medicare Part B and Part D already are pegged to income."
"We believe the right way to strengthen Medicare is to improve the quality and lower the cost of care throughout the health care system. Simply shifting the bill to seniors would be like squeezing one end of a balloon - it does nothing to improve health care quality or combat the real problem of rising costs."
AARP
AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a membership that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates.
Insights, Analysis, and Developments
Editorial Note: The debate over Medicare's fundamental character reflects a deeper question about social contracts: whether programs funded through decades of payroll taxes constitute earned rights or discretionary government spending. This distinction shapes everything from political feasibility to program sustainability. When AARP pushes back against means-testing, the organization isn't defending luxury benefits for the wealthy - it's defending the insurance principle itself, the idea that universal programs maintain broader public support precisely because they treat benefits as something everyone pays for and everyone receives. Eroding that universal character, even incrementally through means-testing, risks the political coalition that has kept Medicare solvent since its inception. Whether one agrees with this position or prefers targeted benefits, recognizing Medicare's structure as an earned program rather than a discretionary benefit clarifies what the actual policy choice entails - Disabled World (DW).Attribution/Source(s): This quality-reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World (DW) due to its relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by AARP and published on 2011/07/17, this content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity.