Wisconsin makes push on free birth control, By Janet Adamy, August 18, 2010, Wall Street Journal: “Wisconsin is pushing to expand a controversial program that uses federal Medicaid funds to provide free birth-control pills, vasectomies and other forms of contraception to low-income people, an effort made possible by the federal health-care overhaul. It and 26 other states already provide free contraception and other reproductive-health services through a Medicaid pilot project to lower-earning women who otherwise wouldn’t qualify. Among other things, the women get access to prescription birth control, Pap smears, testing for sexually transmitted diseases and, in some states, infertility treatments. Women qualify for Wisconsin’s program if they make up to $21,600 a year for single people-twice the federal poverty level…”
Day: August 25, 2010
Food Stamp Program Enrollment – Montana
Food stamp stampede, By Alana Listoe, August 22, 2010, Helena Independent Record: “Halfway through the month, Scott Crooks had $8.94 left in food stamps, and after a trip to the grocery store on Thursday to buy some ground beef, just $3.33 remained. It wasn’t a difficult decision to buy beef. The 24-year-old AmeriCorps Vista had ingredients at home to make tacos and spaghetti, thus making it possible to split the meat and use it for both meals, stretching his food a few more days. Crooks isn’t alone. More Montana citizens receive federal assistance to pay for their groceries than ever before. Some use the help to feed their children. Many are on a fixed income due to a disability. Others, like Crooks, work but don’t earn enough to buy basic necessities, so they use food stamps to bridge the gap. The number of recipients has climbed steadily every month for the past two years, with 12 percent of the state population receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. That’s about 3 percent higher than it was two years ago at this same time…”
Costs of Chronic Homelessness
The high cost of our homeless, By Jenel Few, August 22, 2010, Savannah Morning News: “For the past 12 years, Samuel Wayne Anderson has spent most nights in a shelter, a cheap motel, a makeshift campsite or a cell at the Chatham County jail. The 72-year-old veteran with a long, white beard and penchant for liquor spends most of his days hanging out in downtown Savannah. He’s a regular at the Inner City Night Shelter and the free health clinics downtown. Many know him as the man who totes an open 32-ounce bottle of King Cobra, asks tourists for change and makes it hard for them to enjoy the scenic squares in the Historic District. Anderson is chronically homeless. He has family in Ellabell that love him. His son Stephen Anderson is currently serving with the military in Iraq. But for whatever reason, the old man’s preference for alcohol and a solitary life has drawn him to the street for most of his adult life…”