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> Welfare reform was always bullshit. ... This pushed the costs off the states’ books and the federal budget, and made the costs a problem for social security.
by speedplane 7y ago
> Welfare reform was always bullshit. ... This pushed the costs off the states’ books and the federal budget, and made the costs a problem for social security. It backfired as it created a permanent underclass and drove up Medicaid utilization and costs.
I'm not entirely sure this is a bad result. Driving down welfare costs may indeed drive up medicaid costs, but this seems like a decent trade. Rather than giving people a check, give them health insurance and support for them to get their own job.
Give people the minimum necessary to keep their dignity (basic housing, public education, foodstamps, basic healthcare), and if they want more give them opportunities to grab it.
- Spooky23 7y agoI was unclear. A local administrative law judge makes a determination that you are "disabled", you are placed on SSDI and cannot work without losing it.
- speedplane 7y ago> A local administrative law judge makes a determination that you are "disabled", you are placed on SSDI and cannot work without losing it. It's not easy to get SSDI, it requires many requests, hearings before judges, and lots of forms. However, I agree that once you get it, you're basically trapped within it. There's definitely room for improvement (e.g., if you have SSDI and a job, some progressively increasing percentage of your income is subtracted from your SSDI benefits).