Poverty and Health Care

Who?
Those who are struggling to make ends meet are least likely to obtain medical insurance and preventative care. In fact, Hispanics and African Americans make up a majority of the uninsured in the United States.  Children under 18 and in poverty are also least likely to have health insurance. Not only are Hispanics leading in the uninsured sector, but there is also a direct correlation between legal citizenship and health insurance. If one is a legal U.S. citizen they are more likely to have health insurance compared to a non-citizen. The finances of an impoverished individual are already stretched thin and adding yet another bill to the existing mountain of debt seems like suicide. I imagine that if i were an impoverished individual i wouldn't even consider buying health insurance, simply because of the "more important things" that i would need to pay for. Not only are the impoverished getting the short end of the stick, but even if one is a part-time worker, he/she is still less likely to have health insurance than, say, a full-time worker.
Why?
The theory of poverty appears to be a never-ending domino effect. First you're barely making ends meet, then you're unable to pay to get your transmission fixed. You end up losing your job and you don't have a way to make money because you don't have transportation. You live in the suburbs and there isn't any public transportation and, on top of that, you have to have to move into the worst neighborhood in the county to get subsidized housing. You chose not to pay your health insurance provider anymore because it is too costly, but soon after you become violently ill because of inadequate sanitation at your apartment complex. You go to the emergency room, but because you don't have health insurance you get stuck with a huge bill. You have no way to pay the bills you have already yet you're expected to come up with the money somehow. Unfortunately, this person will not be making it out of poverty any time soon if this cycle continues.
What is being done?
For the past few months there has been tons of buzz about President Obama's health care reform bill. The bill is a huge revision of the health care system in effect today. Some of the notable changes to health care would be: everyone will be required to purchase health insurance by 2014 (there are some exceptions), Medicaid will be expanded to include childless adults, uninsured and the self-employed will be able to purchase insurance through state-based exchanges with subsidies available to individuals and families with incomes between 133 percent and 400 percent of poverty level, those within 100-400% of the federal poverty level who want to purchase their own insurance will be given subsidies to do so, and insurance companies will no longer be able to deny individuals coverage because of preexisting conditions.
I think the health care reform bill is a very important thing that needs to happen. It would make a huge impact on the lives of many who aren't able to receive the needed health care because they don't have health insurance. I know there are fears that the United States' health care system will get even worse, but how much worse can our health care system actually get?? I think most Americans believe that since we pay more for health care our system is so  much better than that of, say Canada. The fact of the matter is that we are not number one in the world for "Best Health Care"; we're like in the 20s for life expectancy! I refuse to mention what number we are in overall health care (*cough* 37 *cough*)!! Anyways, I believe the health care bill would do more good than bad in the long run. Obama care is the way to go!

Policy Responses and the Effects on Poverty

Food Coupons

Why??
As stated in previous blog posts there are many reasons as to why people find themselves suffering with poverty; noting that one person's reason may be totally different from the next person's reason. After reading through this week's required readings I was stunned to realize how much damage the welfare reform did to the lives of many poverty stricken individuals. Let me first state that I had no previous knowledge of the requirements needed to apply for TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) before going to the NCCP website. It is my understanding that immediately after the welfare reform bill was passed in 1996, hundreds of thousands of poverty stricken individuals were thrown off the rolls of welfare and forced to find low-paying jobs. During the first few years the initial leavers were thought of as a successful bunch because many had found jobs and there was less dependency on welfare. After the year 2000, many welfare leavers found difficulties in finding jobs and suffered more than they were prior to leaving, or  rather, being forced off of welfare. It is quite interesting to think that a welfare reform bill that was designed to help the poor has, in turn, done more bad than good. For instance, a woman named Angela Jobe was featured in a book titled American Dream by Jason DeParle, which tells of the lives of three women and their children during transition from welfare to work. While on welfare, Ms. Jobe's income was approximately 21k/year. After she found a low-paying job as a nurse's aide and was no longer receiving welfare her income skyrocketed to 25k/year (sarcasm). In a video segment, Angela Jobe was asked if she was more in debt now (after welfare) than she was before (on welfare) and she replied 'yes'. That simple 'yes' spoke volumes to me because I can imagine that, although making 4k more per year, her overhead has probably increased too. The goal of welfare reform was to reduce dependency and lift people out of poverty, but the opposite has occurred. It seems, to me, that if there was a genuine concern to lift our neighbors out of poverty the government would focus more on individual needs of the people rather than the general consensus that welfare dependency should be reduced. I think we could all agree that welfare is abused by some, but I think we could also agree that it's helped millions of people during hardships.
What is being done??
The welfare reform replaced old forms of welfare with TANF. The goals of TANF are to assist needy families, reduce dependency (by promoting job preparation, work, marriage), reduce out of wedlock pregnancies, and encourage two parent households. The first few years after the welfare reform law was in place the results seemed promising, but as the early 2000s came and went the results were far less promising than originally thought. Besides TANF, the EITC (earned income tax credit) is also in place and seems to be more beneficial to needy families than TANF. Food stamps are also a way for the federal government to subsidize needy families.
What should be done??
Although a portion of this section is addressed in the why, I will further address the issue here. After reading through former president Bill Clinton's proposals for the welfare reform law, I think his bill would have done a much better job at successfully pulling people out of poverty as well as KEEPING them there. His proposal definitely catered to the fact that everybody's situation is different and not everyone is going to be able to get certain things done in a specified amount of time. I would like to see another welfare reform law be passed that will incorporate the customization of welfare-to-work plans so that they better fit the needs of each and every individual.