Poor economy hasn’t bumped up welfare rolls, By Maureen Groppe, July 16, 2010, Muncie Star Press: “One in 10 Hoosier workers is unemployed. More residents are living in poverty. The number of Hoosiers on food stamps and Medicaid is the highest it’s been in years. But one safety-net program isn’t bulging: welfare. In fact, the number of people getting welfare checks through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program has declined. Indiana is one of only three states that haven’t qualified for extra TANF funding during the recession because the number of families receiving cash assistance hasn’t increased and neither has spending for short-term emergency assistance or for subsidized employment programs. The two other states that haven’t gotten extra funding, Wyoming and Nebraska, have much lower unemployment rates than Indiana’s 10 percent. Wyoming’s unemployment rate is 7 percent, and Nebraska’s is 4.9 percent. More Hoosiers aren’t getting cash assistance, despite the poor economy, because Indiana’s eligibility rules are among the toughest in the country, according to Jim Dunn, policy manager for Indiana’s TANF program…”
Day: July 16, 2010
Economic Stimulus and Jobs Programs
- Programs meet growing teen jobless needs, By Mark Curnutte, July 9, 2010, Cincinnati Enquirer: “The ailing economy has left many of the region and nation’s youngest workers with little to do over the summer. The unemployment rate nationally for teens 16-19 in June was 29 percent, roughly the same as Ohio and Kentucky, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s twice the rate from June 2000. Yet some summer youth jobs programs have found new ways to keep teens productive and have evolved to include long-term career training and emphasis on education. One of Greater Cincinnati’s largest, Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency’s Summer Youth Employment Program, expanded from 375 slots in 2009 to 990 this year. Applications increased from about 1,200 last year to 2,500 in 2010…”
- A jobs program that works, By Bob Herbert, July 2, 2010, New York Times: “Is it possible that there is a federal stimulus program that is putting many thousands of struggling individuals to work and is getting rave reviews not only from Democrats but from officials in conservative states like South Carolina and Mississippi? It may be hard to believe, but it’s true. The program, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, allows states to use federal dollars to temporarily subsidize the salaries of individuals placed in private- and public-sector jobs. More than 30 states are participating. The program, though small, appears to be working exceptionally well. States expect to have placed more than 200,000 individuals by this coming autumn. Some of those workers would otherwise have landed on welfare. The catch – there is always a catch – is that the program will expire at the end of September if Congress does not act to extend it…”
Hospitals and Medicaid Costs – Ohio
Feds OK plan to let hospitals recoup Medicaid expense, By Catherine Candisky, July 15, 2010, Columbus Dispatch: “Federal regulators have approved a state plan to pay hospitals an additional $87 million this year for the care they provide to low-income Ohioans on Medicaid. The funds will be disbursed to hospitals by the end of this month. The bulk payment and a 5 percent increase in Medicaid reimbursement fees effective in October were included in last year’s state budget to let hospitals recoup some of the money they were losing through a new state franchise fee. The fee is projected to cost hospitals statewide $718 million over the two-year budget ending June 30, 2011. The two provisions aimed at offsetting that expense will let hospitals recoup $569 million, said Tiffany Himmelreich, spokeswoman for the Ohio Hospital Association…”