Staying single to collect welfare benefits

[luvsJack]

That is what a lot of people seem to think. It's "not fair" that they have more money, so lets take it away and give it to those who choose not to work for a living seems to be the going theory for a lot of people these days. Don't get me wrong, I have no porblem with public assistance for the eldery, disabled, those who are temporarily out of work and need a helping hand, but collecting welfare is not a career, and the govenment should not facilitate people making it their source of permanent income. It amounts to forcing me to support someone who chooses not to work, and that is what is "not fair". Why sohuld my getting up and going to work every day fund someone who chooses to stay home, not because they cannot work, but because they would rather be supported and do nothing? How is that fair or right?

There are many receiving assistance that do work. A single mother working in a low paying job or a married couple that both have low paying jobs need assistance. Actually there are more working recipients that people choose to see.

And, additionally, there are many that see themselves as stuck in the system and hate it just as much as any of us do. If you have two children looking at you for all their needs and your receive $600 a month in benefits but working will bring in $300 a month and reduce your benefits to $100 a month--what choice do you have? (and I am just pulling numbers out of the air, no real amounts here)

 

[blanq]

We need health care reform not socialized medicine. Who should pay for all these hospitalization costs? The rich?

Well, many other countries have found a way to do this, including countries with very low per capita incomes, like Chile. France has the best health care outcomes in the world and they have a single payer system. I think everyone should help contribute to the cost of a single payer health care system, not just the rich. I think it is sad that we are such a weathly country and we have not found the will or the way to do what many countries less fortunate than us have done. We pay for the uninsured anyway. Those of us with insurance pay approximately $1000 more per year in increased premiums to offset the costs of those who don't have insurance. What we have now is a system where private business makes a profit off of sick people, and which I personally think is morally reprehensible. Making a buck off of someone dying from cancer, or off a premature child is sick (pun intended) if you ask me.

 

[bunny]

I agree that there needs to be something done about these outrageous charges- some of which could be corrected if we had tort reform. But the thing I fear is allowing the government to run our health care. Our government doesn't have the greatest track record. A single payer system may work for these other countries but keep in mind they are much smaller than we are.

 

[Purseval]

If they are living together, they have to report his income on all those forms. Marital status doesn't matter - household income is what counts. If his income would disqualify them, turn them in for fraud.

Eventually they will require the father put the child on his insurance, even if he chooses not to marry the mother (she'll likely lose her coverage at 2 months post-partum; few states provide medical assistance to non-pregnant adults). It is part of the child support aspect of welfare reform. He'll also have to pay support unless they are reporting themselves as a family household.

I guess you didn't read the entire post and missed the part where I said it was their 2nd child. He's not in jail, she is still being supported by the state. This is reality check for the schoolbook lawyers out there.

For those of you who still don't get it, this isn't about preemies or babies at all. This thread is about people who make welfare a lifestyle choice in order to save money and pass their costs on to you and I.

 

[Jynohn]

I know of a situation where a woman is engaged to a police officer. They actually bragged about TRYING to get pregnant before the wedding because she is on Mass Health, and they wanted the state to pay for the birth of the baby so he wouldn't have to pay for a family plan through his work. This same woman has been living in subsidized housing for years, but she only chooses to work part-time. She is not disabled or in any way incapable of working a full time job, and her son is in high school so child care is not an issue. In fact, she just quit her part-time job because they made her work an extra shift.

It's situations like this that make hard-working Americans resentful and angry. Help should be there for people who need it, not for those who choose to make laziness and lack of ambition a way of life.

 

[Colleen27]

We need health care reform not socialized medicine. Who should pay for all these hospitalization costs? The rich?

Single payer doesn't necessarily have to be purely socialized. We're America - can't we reasonably expect to do better than simply copying what has been used elsewhere?

My "perfect world" solution would be a universal, catastrophic/high-deductible plan that covers all Americans, funded by a payroll tax similar to the current Medicare system. Rather than being administered and run by the govt, it would be a true insurance plan with a "group" consisting of the entire US population over which to spread risk.

A single payer administrative set-up, contracted out to a non-profit insurer like Blue Cross or Kaiser that already has much of the infrastructure in place, would streamline the costs of billing and compliance, and as a universal plan, it could take the place of both Medicare and Medicaid (with a much smaller-scale assistance system to offset the deductible for those who cannot afford their OOP share). With that type of plan, you have savings at multiple levels - first and foremost, on the insurance tier, where a single non-profit rather than multiple, competing for-profit companies provides coverage, but also for doctors and hospitals who can reduce their costs for billing specialists and other insurance-related support staff. You also eliminate the $600b or so that the govt currently spends on Medicare and Medicaid annually, which would go a long way towards paying for such a plan.

Just food for thought - as part of no group and with no employer offsetting our costs, we pay just shy of $6K/year for a plan with a 5K deductible for our family. Using that for a very rough estimate of cost, it would scale up to about $450b to buy similar coverage for every one of the 300 million US residents. Even allowing for administrative costs, subsidies to the poor who cannot afford the deductible, and the higher costs for some people (though ours do take into account a high risk group member, since DH is a smoker in a dangerous profession), we should be able to do better for the $600b and rising that we're already spending to cover only a small segment of the population.

 

[torinsmom]

There are many receiving assistance that do work. A single mother working in a low paying job or a married couple that both have low paying jobs need assistance. Actually there are more working recipients that people choose to see.

And, additionally, there are many that see themselves as stuck in the system and hate it just as much as any of us do. If you have two children looking at you for all their needs and your receive $600 a month in benefits but working will bring in $300 a month and reduce your benefits to $100 a month--what choice do you have? (and I am just pulling numbers out of the air, no real amounts here)

This is true. When my ex left DS and me and I had to take him to court to get child support, I was not making enough working my two jobs to support us. I went to Social Services to see if I could qualify for something until I was getting support; I thought we might get food stamps or utility assistance. I made about $100 too much per month to get any help. The person I spoke with there told me I would "make" more if I just quit my jobs and then applied. I told her my parents raised me better than that. My dad ended up paying "child support" for the 6 months it took to get my ex to pay.

Marsha

 

[mommycrawford]

What I would like to know is how illegals get food stamps ect? It makes me angry also to be behind someone in the checkout line who has food stamps and then follow them to a brand new SUV. It makes me sick actually. My husband works for a large retailer and says that the the money goes in to peoples accounts who have a debit card for food stamps at midnight. His company needs extra staff on duty to handle all the people who are lined up to check out at midnight. They have multiple carts and most families have around $1000 on that card. He thinks most are probably illegals also and they all bring their kids with them-obviously no bedtime! Anyway, I just have never agreed with the whole concept of giving our aid to illegals when its hard for citizens to make ends meet.

Maybe I missed something, but how has this thread become the illegals bashing thread? I believe the OP is referring to Americans

That said, I am in NYC...a great city that would not be what it is without the hard work of immigrants...many probably not legal. Without knowing the circumstances people come from, it is not fair to attack someone for wanting a better life for their children! Are there abuses, of course? But isn't there someone at your job that hangs around the water cooler a little longer, or drinks the coffee, but never brings any in?...

There are many stories, historical events, etc. that make me less than proud to be American, but the idea that our government would we assist those who would otherwise be abused or endangered, especially children, then I am very proud! Perhaps if their parents had had the education illegals children will have access to,they would not have had such limited resources and would have been able to be fiscally responsible!....

 

[ceecee]

We have so many "career" welfare people around our area. 3rd generation welfare, they know no other way of life. They use the system that was meant to help people for a while NOT a lifetime. We have patients at our practice on insurance who also have medicaid! A guy who delivered for W.I.C. back when they delivered to the door (his second job so he could support his family) was delivering free food to teens who lived in 500,000 homes and it really made him mad at the system. I worked in a dental practice for a very short time that took welfare and so many people were living together and even using different addresses, they bragged about using the system. Even when you tried to report welfare fraud, they didn't seem too concerned. One girl was on her third Associate Degree because she was being paid to go to college! She also had 3 kids and was planning another so she could get extra payments. Most of these people had top of the line cell phones as well!

 

[ceecee]

That is what a lot of people seem to think. It's "not fair" that they have more money, so lets take it away and give it to those who choose not to work for a living seems to be the going theory for a lot of people these days. Don't get me wrong, I have no porblem with public assistance for the eldery, disabled, those who are temporarily out of work and need a helping hand, but collecting welfare is not a career, and the govenment should not facilitate people making it their source of permanent income. It amounts to forcing me to support someone who chooses not to work, and that is what is "not fair". Why sohuld my getting up and going to work every day fund someone who chooses to stay home, not because they cannot work, but because they would rather be supported and do nothing? How is that fair or right?

I agree 100% with this!

 

[torinsmom]

Maybe I missed something, but how has this thread become the illegals bashing thread? I believe the OP is referring to Americans

That said, I am in NYC...a great city that would not be what it is without the hard work of immigrants...many probably not legal. Without knowing the circumstances people come from, it is not fair to attack someone for wanting a better life for their children! Are there abuses, of course? But isn't there someone at your job that hangs around the water cooler a little longer, or drinks the coffee, but never brings any in?...

There are many stories, historical events, etc. that make me less than proud to be American, but the idea that our government would we assist those who would otherwise be abused or endangered, especially children, then I am very proud! Perhaps if their parents had had the education illegals children will have access to,they would not have had such limited resources and would have been able to be fiscally responsible!....

ITA! The illegals I know(I am a teacher) work much harder than most of the Americans around here. They work 10-12 hour days for almost no money. They will do jobs noone else will do and do them well. They come to parent conferences and will even bring an interpreter when they don't speak English well, so they can find out what to do to help their kids.

If you know someone (recently) who came to this country legally, ask them about the hoops they had to jump through. A former co-worker from Sri Lanka told me that they had to pay $10,000 each for visas, both parents had to secure jobs in the US before coming, and they had to have a "sponsor" here, who could show that they could support their family for a full year. This is to get green cards, not to obtain citizenship--that is even more hoops. Even living in the US, and having a college degree, I would never be able to move to another country if I had to accomplish all that!

I don't blame people for coming here illegally to give their families a better life. I think we should leave those families alone, give them their green cards so they can pay taxes and all that. Ship the deadbeats and drug sellers back and send our deadbeats and drug sellers with them.

Marsha

 

[JamesMom]

Sooooo... only married people should have premies?

**Flamesuit on**

How about not having sex until you are married....And only getting married when you can support yourself without parental or goverment support as a general rule and having children when you can afford them with exceptions of course such as being disabled, laid off while actively looking forwork, etc. However laziness is not a disability orregardless of what my own brother might believe.

Wow, that would solve a whole slew of problems...

*deep breath*
Ok, I'm ready

 

[princessmom29]

There are many receiving assistance that do work. A single mother working in a low paying job or a married couple that both have low paying jobs need assistance. Actually there are more working recipients that people choose to see.

And, additionally, there are many that see themselves as stuck in the system and hate it just as much as any of us do. If you have two children looking at you for all their needs and your receive $600 a month in benefits but working will bring in $300 a month and reduce your benefits to $100 a month--what choice do you have? (and I am just pulling numbers out of the air, no real amounts here)

I have no problem with working people that need extra help, but they are a minority in the welfare system, I have looked at the numbers. The system is failing misreably when it is more porfitable to be on the public dole than to go out and work and that needs to be changed.

Well, many other countries have found a way to do this, including countries with very low per capita incomes, like Chile. France has the best health care outcomes in the world and they have a single payer system. I think everyone should help contribute to the cost of a single payer health care system, not just the rich. I think it is sad that we are such a weathly country and we have not found the will or the way to do what many countries less fortunate than us have done. We pay for the uninsured anyway. Those of us with insurance pay approximately $1000 more per year in increased premiums to offset the costs of those who don't have insurance. What we have now is a system where private business makes a profit off of sick people, and which I personally think is morally reprehensible. Making a buck off of someone dying from cancer, or off a premature child is sick (pun intended) if you ask me.

France DOES NOT have the best medical outcomes in the world. They would not be coming here to recieve their cancer treatment if that were the case. Cancer centers all over the US treat patients from countries with socialized medicine because they do not have the same level of care in thier country. Most that are seriuosly ill in countries with socialized medicine come to the US for treatment if they have the means because the standard of care is higher. If there is not profit to be mande in being an oncologist, why inthe world would anyone put themselves through 12 plus years of training to do so? What socialized medicine has brough over ond over to countries that adopt it is an atrophy in the number of doctors, particularly specialists practicing, and an overall decrease in standard of and access to care. Taht is NOT what I want for the American health care system. I am not happy with the idea of wating months for a needed operation because the specialist's schedule is full. That is the reality in Great Britian and France, among others. Yes, everyone gets treated, eventually, but how long are you willing to wait for care???

 

[PatMcDuck]

My understanding in NJ is that they ask for the DAD to be identified. If he has income and/or benefits, he must pay or add the kids to his insurance policy. Are we forgetting that these guys are making babies and not paying for them? It is not just the woman here at "fault"......... But for women where the Dad has disappeared, or passed away, or is in jail, or is just a deadbeat, those kids need help....

 

[luvmy3jewels]

Does anyone know what happened to the legislation that was passed during the Clinton era that was supposed to end welfare careers? (I think it was called Welfare to Work or something like that). I thought they were supposed to limit the amount of time a person could collect welfare and require that recipients prove they were looking for a job. Has that idea totally been abandoned?

 

[luvsJack]

I have no problem with working people that need extra help, but they are a minority in the welfare system, I have looked at the numbers. The system is failing misreably when it is more porfitable to be on the public dole than to go out and work and that needs to be changed.

I agree that the system needs to be fixed, but we cannot blame the ones stuck in the system. Many are just doing the best they can. You can't throw the baby out with the bath water, you just need to clean the bath water.

As for changes in health care; what we have is not working. Too many people are going without any kind of care and/or treatment.

 

[PrincessTeresa]

You know, all of these things that everyone is complaining about in this thread would go "poof" if we simply had a single payer system for health care in our country. People would not need to steal and cheat to get medical coverage if it were simply available to all.

Who will pay for the medical coverage for all?

 

[pweyl36]

So, by not being married and qualifying for benefits, that means she doesn't NEED the benefits?

Yea,if the babies father has a job and the job offers health ins. then yes she should not qualify for medicaid. Also in the end the goverment will want there money back and will track the dad down and make him pay.

 

[pweyl36]

Simple Solution.

No job, on state benefits - the more children you have (while on state benefits) the less benefits you get. Sorry!

p.s. - this would not apply to no job as a result of layoff, workforce reduction, closed plant, death of spouse or disability or other similar unforeseen circumstances.

Tim/Hawk

I have always say the same thing.

 

[pweyl36]

If the system is broken, as stated repeatedly here in this thread, then focus on fixing or amending the system and not bashing those who are being supported by the system.

If the current way of doing things in the many states is not something supported by the majority of the people in that state, then elect people who will make the changes the majority want.

Focus on doing something with the outrage instead of just bashing others, which serves only to make those doing the bashing look ignorant and uniformed.

living with your boyfriend?