Americans with Disabilities Act
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm

This U.S. Department of Justice site includes information and numerous links relating to the Americans with Disabilities Act and enforcement. The Department's technical assistance manuals are available on-line along with information on new and pending regulations.

Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA)-The Medicare & Medicaid Agency

www.hcfa.gov

This is a very large site with lots of general as well as technical information regarding HCFA and its two major programs, Medicare and Medicaid. There are direct links to Medicare and Medicaid law and regulations, HCFA rulings and official advisory opinions, HCFA letters to state Medicaid directors, consumer and professional/technical on-line publications, listings of state and regional HCFA staff, and extensive statistical data. HCFA publications and memorandum, including all 22 Medicaid and Medicare manuals, are available for downloading. There is an internal search mechanism to aid in locating information on this vast site.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
www.irs.ustreas.gov

The IRS site is extremely large and includes a link to IRS forms and publications that can be downloaded and printed using Adobe Acrobat. Quite often the on-line forms are more up-to-date than the printed forms available. Elder Law attorneys frequently need quick access of IRS forms in order to obtain tax identification numbers for trusts, to obtain IRS power of attorney forms, or to file tax returns.

Medicare Information

www.medicare.gov

This Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) site is dedicated to Medicare. Features include directories of contacts for each state and downloadable publications on Medicare, nursing home selection and advance directives. The national nursing home database contains detailed survey and certification data noting deficiencies and corrective action ordered by state agencies. This data can be helpful in advising clients on nursing home selection. There is similar comparative information on all Medicare managed care organizations.

Office of Disability, Aging and Long-Term Care Policy
http://aspe.hhs.gov/daltcp/home.htm

DALTCP is the component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services charged with research, analysis and policy development. This site is rich with surveys, studies and analysis on health care, Medicare, Medicaid, and managed care.

Social Security Administration
www.ssa.gov

This is the official site of the Social Security Administration. In addition to providing basic information, it contains many publications dealing with Social Security in English and Spanish, the entire Social Security Act (including Medicare and Medicaid), recent legislation, the Social Security Handbook, links to federal regulations, and information on legal employment with the Administration. Users can learn about applying for Social Security, how benefits are calculated, and how to estimate benefit levels, and can request a Personal Earnings and Benefit Statement.

Source: National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, NAELA.org