Understanding the Social Security Act The Foundation of Social Welfare for America in the Twenty-First Century

by Dobelstein, Andrew

• ISBN13: 9780195366891
• ISBN10: 0195366891
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-04-08
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The future of the United States' social welfare commitments, including retirement and disability payments, unemployment insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, and the State Child Health Insurance Program, poses urgent questions as social and demographic change in the country accelerates. Yet even many social welfare policy experts fail to grasp the sheer size and intricacy of the Social Security Act, which governs those commitments, and the resulting complexity of any reform efforts. In this outstanding guide to the Act's programs and policies, along with the context that shaped them, Andrew Dobelstein takes readers step by step through their maze, providing the kind of comprehensive view of the U.S. social welfare system that is essential for any would-be reformers to master. Since being signed into law in 1935, the Social Security Act has institutionalized the country's social welfare undertakings into a massive package administered by a sprawling federal agency and state-level organizations that must implement its programs. Dobelstein provides the first complete guide to every entitlement authorized by the Social Security Act, drawing on his 38 years of research, teaching, and community service to explain in accessible, straightforward writing the origins, development, and ins and outs of their practical administration. By showing how the United States' unique social welfare philosophy is reflected by the Social Security Act, this book provides a foundation for examining how its social welfare programs are bonded into a major social welfare enterprise. A fresh appraisal of the U.S. social welfare system's evolution and current situation is necessary if the country is going to use efficiently its social welfare resources going forward. Students and scholars of policy and government, as well as public servants, whose work involves the real-life implications of the Social Security Act, will find this sweeping yet detailed overview an indispensable aid.

Author Biography

Andrew W. Dobelstein, Ph.D, is a Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Table of Contents

Overview of the Social Security Act	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
Conclusion	p. 10
The Social Security Act in Perspective	p. 13
Introduction	p. 13
The General Structure of the Social Security Act	p. 14
The Program and Policy Structure of the Social Security Act	p. 15
The Program Structure of the Act	p. 15
The Policy Structure of the Act	p. 18
Summary of Programs and Policies	p. 23
The Dilemma of Insurance and Assistance Implementation Policies	p. 23
The Social Security Act in the American Political and Ideological Context	p. 27
Conclusion: Shifting Politics and the Social Security Act	p. 37
The Social Insurances	p. 43
Introduction	p. 43
Title II: The Program Structure of Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance	p. 47
Introduction	p. 47
The Social Security Program Structure	p. 48
Related Retirement Instruments	p. 63
Conclusion	p. 66
Title II: The Policy Structure of Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance	p. 71
Introduction	p. 71
Financing Title II Social Security in Its Larger Economic Context	p. 75
Financing Summary	p. 90
Policy Issues Confronting Social Security Programs	p. 91
Conclusion	p. 98
Title III: Unemployment Insurance	p. 101
Introduction	p. 101
Unemployed and Unemployment Characteristics	p. 108
Unemployment Insurance Program Framework	p. 112
Title III Unemployment Insurance Policy Issues	p. 119
Summary of Title III Policy Issues That Call for Attention	p. 125
Challenges Facing Unemployment Insurance for Future Consideration	p. 126
Conclusion	p. 128
Introduction to the Assistance Programs	p. 131
The Legacy of the Social Security Act's Assistance Programs	p. 131
Welfare Assistance and the Social Obligation	p. 133
The Social Obligation in the American System	p. 134
Conclusion	p. 140
Title XVI: Supplemental Security Income	p. 143
Prologue	p. 143
Prologue Summary	p. 154
The Program Structure of Supplemental Security Income (SSI)	p. 155
The Policy Structure of Supplemental Security Income	p. 158
Conclusion	p. 168
Who's Taking Care of the Children? Title IV: Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and Related Programs for Children and Families	p. 173
Introduction	p. 173
Program Structure of Title IV	p. 179
Policy Structure of Title IV of the Social Security Act	p. 194
Conclusion	p. 204
Health: Insurance and Assistance	p. 211
Introduction	p. 211
Conclusion	p. 219
Title XVII: Medicare Health Insurance for the Aged	p. 221
Medicare in Its Social Welfare Context	p. 221
Medicare's Programs	p. 228
Medicare Policy Issues	p. 237
Obstacles to Reforming Medicare and Health Care	p. 245
Conclusions	p. 248
Titles XIX and XXI: Medicaid and the State Child Health Insurance Program	p. 255
Introduction	p. 255
The Political and Economic Context for Medicaid/State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)	p. 256
The Context of Providing Medical Care	p. 258
The Program Structure of Medicaid/State Child Health Insurance Program	p. 260
The Policy Structure of Medicaid and SCHIP	p. 270
Conclusion	p. 278
Title XX: Social Services and the Social Security Act	p. 283
An Introduction to Title XX of the Social Security Act	p. 283
Title XX: Social Services	p. 287
Introduction	p. 287
Context for Title XX Development	p. 288
The Program Structure of Title XX	p. 297
The Social Service Program under Title XX	p. 298
Title XX/SSBG Policy Structure	p. 305
Conclusion	p. 309
The Social Security Act for America's Twenty-First Century	p. 315
Introduction	p. 315
The Social Security Act in Today's Environment	p. 317
The Theory of Social Welfare Imbedded in the Social Security Act	p. 319
Expanding Welfare Theory through the Social Security Act	p. 323
Reforming the Social Security Act	p. 328
Concluding Thoughts	p. 338
Index	p. 341
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