Gov't Assistance: WIC, food stamps

[goldfinch]

Sometimes people hear a story, which often isn't verified, of someone who seems to not deserve public assistance but gets it anyone. They then may hear another story. And before you know it they have a generalized belief that there is something really wrong with the system and the system is full of loopholes and full of cheaters. As a result pushes are made to make it more difficult to get assistance and those who really need it end up without it. I want substantiated evidence before we make public policy decisions. I don't trust the anecdotes.

There are huge gaps in our safety net in the US. For example, if you are not disabled or do not have children there may very well be nothing for you at all, depending where you live. No medical assistance. Certainly no cash assistance. Maybe, just maybe, foodstamps. It is not enough to be poor and without assets to be eligible for most forms of assistance.

And even if you have children there are all sorts of restrictions on assistance, especially cash assistance. It is limited as to time and you must do things to get yourself employed. People get cut off after five years and no one keeps track of what happens to them.

Far too many fall through the cracks, in part because we are so worried someone might get something they do not deserve.

I retired early and have sufficient assets to live on. I and my spouse have enough health issues that we are not insurable. The only place we can get insurance is through our state's risk pool. Not every state has a risk pool. In many states we simply could not buy insurance at any price or the insurance would be totally inadequate and outrageously priced. We reside in a state with about the best risk pool around, Minnesota. Our premiums for health insurance total about $1000 a month. We each have a $5000 deductible. My husband just bought insulin and test strips, he paid $760. There is no generic insulin. Can you imagine being less than upper middleclass and be without health insurance? We pay often in excess of $20,000 a year on health care.

And people yell and scream about how horrible a national health care system would be.

I worry far less about cheats than I do about the raw deal the poor and the lower and middle class Americans have in our country right now.