History

• Collectively known as Eldercare laws, regulations governing the welfare of older American citizens began in 1920 with the Civil Service Retirement Act, designed to provide a small retirement fund for government employees. In 1935, Congress adopted the Social Security Act, and by 1985 more than 20 bills were in place to protect the vulnerability of older citizens and provide them with the means to live with dignity.
  
  

Benefits

• Senior citizens today benefit from legislation protecting them from nursing home abuse and programs designed to help family members care for their elderly relatives in the home. Medicare, a branch of the Social Security Act, provides health insurance for older Americans and Medicaid offers low-income seniors a way to receive medical care. As a result of extensive Eldercare laws and programs, the overall health and longevity of the average American citizen is increasing.
  
  

Significance

• The predicted onslaught of retirees belonging to the Baby Boom generation impact new Eldercare laws, and the trend is toward encouraging seniors to remain at home as long as possible by providing home-health services, funding for family caregivers and assisting community-based support services in providing needed care for the most vulnerable seniors.
  
  

Misconceptions

• Eldercare laws recognize the responsibility of the senior to contribute financially to his own assisted care by requiring the individual to expend his own financial assets before government funding steps in. For this reason, when a senior enters a nursing-home facility, his possessions may be liquidated and the proceeds used to pay for his care. While this rule often upsets family members, the law feels justified in using assets accumulated by the senior during his lifetime before spending government funds.
  
  

Theories/Speculation

• Continuing efforts in Eldercare regulation focus on increased community support and the promotion of alternatives to premature admission into nursing homes. Increases in both the tax rate to provide services to the elderly and the age at which a citizen may retire and collect Social Security will provide a larger tax base for supporting the influx of aging Americans.