Social Security, Medicare and Pensions

by Joseph L. Matthews, Dorothy M. Berman, Dorothy Matthews Berman, et al.

Book Overview

Are you 55 or over? Do you know someone who is? This book shows you how to get the most retirement and pension income and get the best medical coverage. Find out what benefits are available and how to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0873372891
• ISBN13: 9780873372893
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: NOLO
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 8.4" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

Significant error in VA section

page 10/7: "E. Medical Treatment....And dependents and survisors of a veteran who has a service connected disabilities, or who receives a veterans pension, are entitled to care in VA facilities if they are unable to afford private care."I have been a VA employee for 16 years. The above is WRONG. There IS a pilot program in a handful of VA hospitals allowing dependents to use the VA hospital. Otherwise, this is NOT the case. ..."The VA can also pay for long-term care of an elderly or disabled veteran in a private nursing facility if there is no space in a VA facility."This is also not entirely correct. The operative would is CAN. However, the VA is only obligated to pay for the care of veterans who have a certain percentage of Service-Connected Disability. If they pay at all for any others, most VA's only pay for care for a VERY limited period of time.

Could reading about federal regulations be entertaining?

The authors of this comprehensive guidebook come close to achieving this feat. As they point out, many Americans are not receiving all the benefits they deserve under our current system. By explaining the various benefit programs and laws in conversational English, they hope to help readers ensure they are getting everything to which they are entitled. It's also helpful that the text is presented in a visually interesting two-column format with plenty of headings, boxes, and even the occasional illustration.Each chapter explains a different benefit program or set of laws designed to protect the rights of older Americans. Security and Medicare take up more than half the book. The discussions of Medicare claims and appeal procedures are particularly thorough, complete with samples of Medicare summary notices explaining what the sometimes confusing columns of numbers mean. There also are chapters on Medigap policies, Veterans benefits, private pensions and 401(k) plans, and federal civil service retirement benefits. However, if you're looking for in-depth information on Medicaid coverage of nursing home costs, this is not your best resource. While Medicaid's basic eligibility rules are briefly discussed, the complexities of transferring assets to qualify for Medicaid benefits are not.The authors mainly stick to the facts, but every once in a while they reveal their view of our society's tattered safety net. For example, they call our failure to enact a comprehensive, universal health care plan a "national disgrace."

Great summary of the Social Security system!

This happens to be the best all-around book concerning the difficult subject of Social Security that I have read. Understandable and very well written. The sections regarding disability are filled with just the info I needed to know.