Advance Health Care Decisions

Powers of Attorney

Wills, Trusts, Estates

Guardianships

Medicare, Health Insurance

Medicaid in Nursing Homes

Long Term Care Financing

Social Security

Income Assistance

Nursing Home Issues

Other Consumer Issues:

9. Other Resources

Statutes

The original Social Security Act required only a few pages. It has been amended numerous times, with twenty-one titles enacted at one time or another. The present the Act contains eighteen active Titles, the four most extensive being OASDI, SSI, Medicare and Medicaid, plus another fairly extensive Title on Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF).

OASDI. The statutory basis for Federal Old-Age. Retirement and Disability Insurance Benefits (OASDI) is 42 U.S.C. § 401 et seq., also cited to Title II of the Social Security Act. Thus the first paragraph of the Act could be cited either as 42 U.S.C. § 401(a) or as Social Security Act § 201(a).

SSI, Medicare and Medicaid. The amendments that introduced Supplemental Security Income are codified at Title XVI of the Act (42 U.S.C. § 1382); Medicare is Title XVIII of the Act (42 U.S.C. § 1395); and Medicaid is Title XIX (42 U.S.C. § 1396).

Books

Social Security laws have changed since the first two books were published. There have been a few dramatic changes and some figures change annually. These books remain good sources of general information about Social Security and other matters of interest to seniors.

Alabama Elder Law, H. Lee and J. Taylor, pub. Thomson-West Publishing, updated annually. The chapter on Social Security provides a thorough review of the program.

Elder Law in a Nutshell, by Lawrence A. Frolik and Richard L. Kaplan; pub. West Publishing Company, 2006, updated periodically. Available online and through law school bookstores and from the publisher at modest cost. Somematerial in the 2006 Social Security chapter is outdated, but it provides a good general explanation of the program in condensed form.

Web sites providing a range of views and information on Social Security:

www.aarp.org/money/social_security/ AARP, Washington
www.concordcoalition.org The Concord Coalition, Washington.
www.iwpr.org Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Washington.
www.mrrc.isr.umich.edu Michigan Retirement Research Center
www.nasi.org National Academy of Social Insurance, Washington
www.tcf.org The Century Foundation, New York

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