Policies for an Aging Society

Stuart H. Altman is Sol C. Chaikin Professor of National Health Policy at Brandeis University. David I. Shactman is a senior research associate at Brandeis University.

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsContributorsPart I: Introduction Chapter 1. Overview: Issues and Options for an Aging PopulationChapter 2. An International Perspective on Policies for an Aging SocietyPart II: The Economic FrameworkChapter 3. Budget Estimates: What We Know, What We Can't Know, and Why It MattersChapter 4. Long-Run Budget Projections and Their Implications For Funding Elderly EntitlementsChapter 5. Increased Public Spending on the Elderly: Can We Afford It?Chapter 6. The Economic Consequences of Funding Growing Elderly EntitlementsChapter 7. The Entitlements Crisis That Never Existed Part III: Policy AlternativesChapter 8. The Case for Universal Social InsuranceChapter 9. The Moral Imperative of Limiting Elderly Health EntitlementsChapter 10. The Merits of Changing to Defined Contribution ProgramsChapter 11. The Case for Retaining Defined Benefit Programs Chapter 12. Private Accounts, Prefunding, and Equity Investment Under Social Security Chapter 13. Changing Retirement Trends and Their Impact on Elderly Entitlement ProgramsChapter 14. Aligning Incentives For a National Retirement PolicyPart IV: Political Realities Chapter 15. Enacting Reform: What Can We Expect in the Current Political Context?Chapter 16. The Politics of Enacting ReformChapter 17. The Financial Problems of the Elderly: A Holistic ViewIndex

Presents a comprehensive array of writings about the economic, social, and policy issues facing the United States in maintaining a social insurance program for the elderly into the 21st century. The book covers aging policy broadly and in depth, and the text provides good explanations for the technical concepts discussed in the book. -- Peggy A. Gallup Inquiry The authors and editors have created a timely, readable, and thought provoking text. The reader is drawn into the debate and leaves hoping that our leaders use such an approach to find long-term solutions for the healthcare and retirement needs of our increasingly aging population. -- Anna Maio, M.D. Doody's Rating This important book is distinguished by its careful attention to all three major programs affording retirement security to the elderly (Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid), by its admirable insistence on the need to bring both historical and international perspectives to bear on contemporary American welfare state topics, and by its balanced treatment of the political and economic dimensions of critical policy issues. -- Eric M. Patashnik Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law