Record number in government anti-poverty
programs
WASHINGTON — Government anti-poverty programs that
have grown to meet the needs of recession victims now serve a record one
in six Americans and are continuing to expand.
More than 50 million Americans are on Medicaid, the
federal-state program aimed principally at the poor, a survey of state
data by USA TODAY shows. That's up at least 17% since the recession began
in December 2007.
"Virtually every Medicaid director in the country
would say that their current enrollment is the highest on record," says Vernon
Smith of Health Management Associates, which surveys states for Kaiser
Family Foundation.
The program has grown even before the new health care
law adds about 16 million people, beginning in 2014. That has strained
doctors. "Private physicians are already indicating that they're at their
limit," says Dan
Hawkins of the National Association of Community Health Centers.
More than 40 million people get food stamps, an
increase of nearly 50% during the economic downturn, according to
government data through May. The program has grown steadily for three
years.
Caseloads have risen as more people become eligible.
The economic stimulus law signed by President Obama last year also boosted
benefits.
"This program has proven to be incredibly responsive
and effective," says Ellin Vollinger of the Food Research and Action
Center.
Close to 10 million receive unemployment insurance,
nearly four times the number from 2007. Benefits have been extended by
Congress eight times beyond the basic 26-week program, enabling the
long-term unemployed to get up to 99 weeks of benefits. Caseloads peaked
at nearly 12 million in January — "the highest numbers on record," says
Christine Riordan of the National Employment Law Project, which advocates
for low-wage workers.
More than 4.4 million people are on welfare, an 18%
increase during the recession. The program has grown slower than others,
causing Brookings
Institution expert Ron Haskins to question its effectiveness in the
recession.
As caseloads for all the programs have soared, so
have costs. The federal price tag for Medicaid has jumped 36% in two
years, to $273 billion. Jobless benefits have soared from $43 billion to
$160 billion. The food stamps program has risen 80%, to $70 billion.
Welfare is up 24%, to $22 billion. Taken together, they cost more than
Medicare.
The steady climb in safety-net program caseloads and
costs has come as a result of two factors: The recession has boosted the
number who qualify under existing rules. And the White House, Congress and
states have expanded eligibility and benefits.
Conservatives
fear expanded safety-net programs won't contract after the economy
recovers. "They're much harder to unwind in the long term," says Michael
Tanner of the Cato
Institute, a libertarian think tank.
Other anti-poverty experts say the record caseloads
are a necessary response to economic hardship. "We should be there to
support people when the economy can't," says LaDonna Pavetti of the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal-leaning think tank.