Abstract: Public policy areas that affect the aging in complex ways are examined and assessed for policy analysts and decision makers. The relevant issues caused by shifts in federal and state government roles are considered. The tension between means and incomes for current and future programs affecting the aging, the special problems of older women, the hospice movement, safer environments, the aging as consumers, and the consequences of inflation are all analyzed. Specific topics include policy making factors, social security, employment, retirement and pension policies, health and long-term care policies, including medicaid and medicare, social services, and housing policies. The effects of policies of the 1980s and the future on the US aging population are discussed. Major programs affecting the aging are extensively analyzed and alternatives are considered. A glossary and bibliography are appended. (wz). (Google)