The 2024 presidential race is heating up. On Wednesday, candidates vying for the Republican nomination discussed their policy platforms in the first primary debate .

Though they didn't mention them onstage, several GOP candidates have previously proposed ideas for Medicare reform. That's a good thing. The program's Part A hospital insurance trust fund is set to run out of money in 2031. Absent major changes, the program will only continue hurtling toward insolvency.

The problem is that Medicare wasn't designed to account for the nation's changing demographic trends. The population is aging, meaning seniors make up a greater share of citizens than young workers paying payroll taxes that finance Part A. The result is a mismatch of money coming in and going out.

Luckily, a handful of presidential candidates have floated sensible ideas that would ensure Medicare remains solvent for seniors in years to come.

Some, such as former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, have coalesced around ideas to raise Medicare's eligibility age. Right now, it sits at 65. However, research from the Congressional Budget Office shows that starting in 2023, slowly raising the eligibility age by three months annually until it reaches 67 would reduce program deficits by $22 billion over the next five years.

The proposal only makes sense. Thanks to medical advances, most people live long past 70 — the life expectancy when Medicare was enacted in 1965. And many continue to work full time past 65 and stay on their employer-based insurance. Raising the Medicare eligibility age would simply align the program's design with that reality.

Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley has proposed  expanding Medicare Advantage, the privately administered alternative to Medicare coverage. Doing so would increase competition between original Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans, driving down costs in the process.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), meanwhile, has said he wants to cut Medicare costs by improving efficiency and changing the way the program reimburses doctors.

The candidates should continue exploring each of these proposals as next year's election comes into view. Future seniors will be glad they did.

Sally C. Pipes is president, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith fellow in healthcare policy at the Pacific Research Institute. Her latest book is  False Premise, False Promise: The Disastrous Reality of Medicare for All  (Encounter 2020). Follow her on Twitter @sallypipes .