Medicare

ITEM Coalition
www.itemcoalition.org

The ITEM Coalition (Independence Through Enhancement of Medicare and Medicaid) is devoted to raising awareness and building support for policies that will enhance access to assistive devices, technologies and related services for people with disabilities and chronic conditions. The Coalition is consumer-led and has over seventy member organizations-including a diverse set of disability organizations, aging organizations, other consumer groups, labor organizations, voluntary health associations, and non-profit provider associations. The American Foundation for the Blind is a member of the ITEM Coalition.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
www.cms.hhs.gov

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is the Federal agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with responsibility for Medicare programs. To learn more about CMS, visit About CMS.

Medicare Home Page
www.medicare.gov

Information on Enrolling in Medicare
www.medicare.gov/Basics/Socialsecurity.asp

Medicare Mailing Lists
www.medicare.gov/campaigns/caregiver/caregiver-newsletters.html

Subscribe to any of 12 Medicare mailing lists.

Medicaid

Information on Medicaid
www.cms.hhs.gov/home/medicaid.asp

Links to information on the Medicaid program.

For information on your state's Medicaid program, type "Medicaid [name of your state] into an Internet search engine.

Social Security

Social Security Home Page
www.ssa.gov

What You Can Do Online
www.ssa.gov/onlineservices/

Benefits For People With Disabilities
www.ssa.gov/disability/

Substantial Gainful Activity
www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/SGA.html

Information on the amount of monthly earnings for individuals who are blind. An announcement of the increase in the amount of monthly earnings is usually published in the Federal Register in October of each year.

Disability Starter Kits
www.ssa.gov/disability/disability_starter_kits.htm

The Disability Starter Kit will help you get ready for your disability interview or online application. Kits are available for adults and for children under age 18.

The starter kits provide information about the specific documents and the information that we will request from you. We will ask for more details during your interview or when you complete the online Disability Report. The kits also provide general information about the disability programs and our decision-making process that can help take some of the mystery out of applying for disability benefits.

Social Security Benefit Publications
www.ssa.gov/pubs/englist.html

How to Find the Top 10 Most Requested Services from Social Security Online
www.ssa.gov/top10.html

Answers to Your Questions
http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/ssa.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php

Social Security has more than 600 questions and answers listed on their site. If you cannot find one that answers your question, you can submit your own and get an E-mail response. Got a question? Get an answer!

National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives (NOSSCR)
www.nosscr.org/

Established in 1979, the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives is an association of over 3,300 attorneys and paralegals who represent Social Security and Supplemental Security Income claimants.

March 2007