Long-term poor no longer make up bulk of those collecting food stamps on Treasure Coast, By Eric Pfahler, February 18, 2012, Vero Beach Press-Journal: “Skyrocketing need has put a strain on programs designed to feed the hungry, but technology and charitable giving have prevented the state’s safety net from bursting on the Treasure Coast. As of November, a record 3 million Floridians, including more than 85,000 Treasure Coast residents, receive food stamps through the state-run, federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The numbers are about triple the number on food stamps five years ago, according to state data. About 15 percent of both Treasure Coast and Florida residents are on food stamps. The increase has forced Florida Department of Children and Families employees to handle more calls, process more paperwork ensuring eligibility and create more partnerships to make sure people are getting aid. Local food pantries, meanwhile, are working to get more food to help people when food stamps do not provide enough food…”
In Missouri, murderers can get food stamps, but those with drug convictions can’t, By Jason Hancock, March 1, 2012, Kansas City Star: “Get out of prison for murder, child molestation or just about any other felony in Missouri and you can still get food stamps. But if you have a felony drug conviction, forget it. You’re banned for life. To Johnny Waller, who had a drug conviction in his past, that just doesn’t seem fair. And that’s why the 34-year-old Kansas City resident traveled this week, as he has for years, to the state Capitol to speak out for legislation lifting the lifetime ban. ‘I just believe everyone should get a second chance,’ he said. Missouri is one of only nine states where a felony drug conviction means a lifetime ban from ever qualifying for food stamps. Congress allows states to opt out of the ban, which was imposed in 1996 as part of welfare reform legislation. To date, 41 states and the District of Columbia have lifted or modified the ban, including Kansas in 2006…”
Michigan Senate approves bill preventing lottery winners from getting public food assistance, By Dave Murray, March 1, 2012, Saginaw News: “People winning a lot of money in the lottery would be prevented from receiving public food assistance under a bill that cleared the state Senate on Thursday. The legislation, sponsored by state Sen. John Moolenaar, R-Midland, was prompted by a Bay County man, Leroy Fick, who last year was reportedly still using food stamps about a year after collecting a $2 million prize. The lottery winner said in news reports that he was using the food stamps after state employees told him to continue using the public assistance…”
Medicaid change delayed, By Dale Wetzel (AP), September 16, 2011, Jamestown Sun: “A chronically delayed new computer software system to handle North Dakota’s Medicaid bills, which was to be finished in nine months, will not be working until mid-2013, an executive told state legislators Thursday. The project was originally scheduled to be finished two years ago. Last summer, a vice president for the software’s developer, Affiliated Computer Services Inc., promised it would be functioning by June 2012. ACS is a unit of Xerox Corp…”
Utah explores extending Medicaid to inmates, By Kirsten Stewart, September 15, 2011, Salt Lake Tribune: “Utah health officials are exploring expanding the state’s Medicaid program to cover inmates’ hospital stays and doctors’ office visits. Inmates have traditionally been barred from the state-federal health insurance program, which caters to the poor and disabled. Currently, the Department of Corrections contracts directly with the University of Utah’s hospital and clinics for procedures that cannot be handled at the prison infirmary, and the state picks up the tab. Moving inmates onto Medicaid would shift most of the funding burden onto the federal government, explained state Medicaid director Michael Hales on Thursday at an advisory board meeting. In the past, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has been loathe to shoulder what has long been a state obligation, said Hales. But the agency has recently signaled a willingness to bend the rules…”
Calif. Medicaid expansion: A lifeline for ex-convicts, By Sarah Varney, September 13, 2011, National Public Radio: “California has embarked on an ambitious expansion of its Medicaid program, three years ahead of the federal expansion that the health law requires in 2014. At least half a million people are expected to gain coverage – mostly poor adults who never qualified under the old rules because they didn’t have kids at home. Among those who stand to benefit right now are ex-offenders. Inmates often leave California prisons with no consistent place to get medical care. But that’s changing…”
