preview

Welfare Programs Essay

Decent Essays

President Lyndon Baines Johnson declared a war on poverty, with the stated goal of not just reducing poverty, but eradicating it. Decades and trillions of dollars later, poverty continues to plague our society. Despite the fact that the Federal and State governments have vastly expanded the welfare safety net, the US poverty rate has remained at around 15% for the past three years. As US social programs expand, providing ever more benefits, the chance of dependency increases. Thereby trapping welfare recipients in the very system designed to assist them. The US welfare system should be changed so as to assist and motivate recipients into weaning off of the welfare system and not becoming dependent on the welfare programs. This paper will discuss two welfare programs that may be making the poverty situation worse rather than better and an idea that may be critical …show more content…

Part of the problem may lie in some of the welfare programs themselves. Medical insurance costs are one driving factor to dependency. Authorized by title XIX of the Social Security Act, the Medicaid program is available for those persons enrolled in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Medicaid provides health care benefits for the aged, disabled, and families with dependent children, pregnant women and children meeting certain requirements (Moffitt 616). Those persons can continue to receive Medicaid coverage provided that those recipients remain on the AFDC program. If affordable private medical insurance was provided at all jobs and as comprehensive as Medicaid, it would surely provide greater motivation to those on welfare to gain employment. Why obtain employment and lose the AFDC benefits, where medical insurance, if provided, would be more expensive? A cost versus benefits analysis, would likely show it is better for the recipient to remain on

Get Access