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3 guides

Seniors

Guides for older adults: Social Security and SSI payment dates and the cost-of-living increase, senior housing, and applying for a voucher at 62 or older.
Check what you may qualify for
Lyndon Johnson hands Harry Truman a signing pen
Johnson hands Truman the first signing pen, 1965

Many benefits treat older adults differently, usually in your favor. Housing programs give seniors extra deductions when working out rent, and some buildings are built only for people 62 and older. Our guides cover three things seniors ask about most.

For income, see Social Security payment dates, amounts and the cost-of-living increase, including what to do if a payment is late or missing. If you receive Social Security or SSI, those amounts count when housing agencies work out whether you qualify and what you pay.

For housing, Section 202 is a program for older adults with very low income, where you apply directly with the building. If you would rather use a voucher, seniors applying for Section 8 explains how Social Security, medical costs and assets are counted for people 62 and older.

For health, our Medicaid guides cover help paying for care, including care at home. To see what else you may qualify for, answer a few questions in the benefit finder. Only the agency that runs each program can decide whether you qualify.

Guides

Everything on Seniors

From the archive

Where these programs began

Public-domain photographs from the history of these programs.
President Lyndon Johnson signs the 1965 Medicare and Medicaid bill beside Harry Truman
Medicare and Medicaid are signed into law, July 30, 1965
First page of Public Law 89-97, the 1965 act creating Medicare and Medicaid
Public Law 89-97, page one
Lyndon Johnson hands Harry Truman a signing pen
Johnson hands Truman the first signing pen, 1965
A 1940s poster reading Hold On to Your Social Security Card
Social Security Board poster, 1940s