More poverty by any measure, By Christine Vestal, July 8, 2010, Stateline.org: “More than 15 million Americans are unemployed, homelessness has increased by 50 percent in some cities, and 38 million people are receiving food stamps, more than at any time in the program’s almost 50-year history. Evidence of rising economic hardship is ample. There’s one commonly used standard for measuring it: the U.S. Census Bureau’s poverty rate. It guides much of federal and state spending aimed at helping those unable to make a decent living. But a number of states have become convinced that the federal figures actually understate poverty, and have begun using different criteria in operating state-based social programs. At the same time, conservative economists are warning that a change in the formula to a threshold that counts more people as poor could lead to an unacceptable increase in the cost of federal and state social service programs. When Census publishes new numbers for 2009 in September, experts predict they’ll show a steep rise in the poverty rate. One independent researcher estimates the data will show the biggest year-to-year increase in recorded history…”
Day: July 8, 2010
States and Medicaid Services
Some states say they’re not receiving the Medicaid services they’re paying for, By Alec MacGillis, July 8, 2010, Washington Post: “The day after the House passed the landmark health-care bill in March, St. Louis-based insurer Centene saw its stock jump 11 percent. That was perhaps the first signal that the major changes ahead would be a boon to one subset of the health-care industry: companies that manage Medicaid for the states. Now businesses are rushing to get a foothold in states that outsource Medicaid, knowing the law could add 16 million people to the federal-state program for the poor and the disabled. In Texas, where Medicaid rolls are expected to grow by 1.8 million people, Centene is scrambling to win additional contracts, having laid the groundwork by contributing $250,000 to state legislators’ campaigns since 2008. ‘We . . . believe we are extremely well-positioned to benefit in this new era,’ Centene chief executive Michael Neidorff told market analysts during a recent conference call. But the experience in some states suggests pitfalls ahead. A recent report found that 2.7 million children on Medicaid in nine states, most of them states that outsource Medicaid, are not receiving required screenings and immunizations…”
Food Stamp Enrollment – Idaho
When it isn’t enough: Idaho leads national increase in food stamp use, By Amy Huddleston, Twin Falls Times-News: “Kelly Malmstrom lost her job as a large-animal veterinarian after suffering a badly broken arm in 2006. Over the last four years she’s undergone more than four surgeries while watching her once-comfortable life spiral into poverty. Emily Flores is a single mother of four children all under the age of 6. She makes $7.50 an hour at her full-time housekeeping job. Dawn Rollins has been sober 14 months after struggling with methamphetamine addiction for 22 years. She said she’s been looking for work everywhere. The faces and stories are different, but the need is the same. Today one in eight Idahoans receives federal assistance to fill the basic need of keeping food on the table. They are next-door neighbors, co-workers, parents gathering their children from day care. And they need help, now more than ever. From March 2009 to March 2010, Idahoans’ participation in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – commonly called the food stamp program – increased by 42.5 percent, according to the most recent U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service statistics. That’s more than double the nationwide increase of 21.1 percent during the same span…”