According to a new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) highlighting the racial and ethnic backgrounds of people with Medicare, one-fifth of older Americans ages 65 and older are people of color, including 9 percent who identify as black, 7 percent as Hispanic, and 4 percent as Asian. Medicare plays a vital role in providing health coverage for the nation’s older and disabled populations.

As millions of Americans ready themselves to vote this election season, they need to know the various candidates’ positions on key Medicare issues. For this reason, the Medicare Rights Center is providing six questions to ask the 2016 presidential and congressional candidates to find out where they stand on protecting and strengthening Medicare.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced that it reached an important benchmark to tie 30 percent of Medicare payments to the quality of care delivered instead of the quantity of services provided. According to HHS, as a result “…over 10 million Medicare patients are getting improved quality of care by having more time with their doctors and better coordinated care.”