Transcript File
Government Policies and Individual Welfare • The promotion of social and economic equality through government policies is controversial because it requires government to redistribute income, and thus compromises freedom in pursuit of equality. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-1 Government Policies and Individual Welfare (Cont’d) • Almost every modern nation can be characterized as a welfare statethe provider and protector of individual wellbeing through economic and social programs. • Social welfare programs are government programs that provide the minimum living standards necessary for all citizens. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-2 Government Policies and Individual Welfare (Cont’d) • In recent history, social welfare expenditures have increased steadily in order to provide minimum living standards for all citizens. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-3 Social Security • Social security is a social insurance program that provides economic assistance to persons faced with unemployment, disability, or old age. • It is financed by taxes on employers and employees. • Unemployment and distress caused by the Depression led to the Social Security Act of 1935. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-4 Social Security (Cont’d) • Revenues for old-age retirement security go into their own trust fund. • Full benefits begin at age sixty-five for people born before 1938 and age sixtyseven for those born after that date. • The solvency of the program faces challenges in the future, prompting reforms. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-5 Public Assistance • Public assistance (what is commonly meant by the term welfare) is government aid to individuals who can demonstrate a need for that aid. • It is directed toward those who lack the ability or resources to provide for themselves or their family. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-6 Public Assistance (Cont’d) • There are four types of categorical assistance programs under the Social Security Act. • These programs have become entitlements (benefits to which everyone has a legal right and the government cannot deny). Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-7 Public Assistance (Cont’d) • Four types of categorical assistance programs • • • • Old age assistance for the needy elderly Aid to the needy blind Aid to needy families with dependent children Aid to the totally and permanently disabled Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-8 Public Assistance (Cont’d) • Until 1996, the national government distributed funds to states in proportion to the number of people in each state with incomes below the federally-defined poverty level or threshold. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-9 Figure 19.2: Families on Welfare, 1950-2001 Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-10 Public Assistance (Cont’d) • The feminization of poverty refers to the growing percentage of all poor Americans that are women or the dependents of women. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-11 PCW 19.1: The Feminization of Poverty Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-12 Public Assistance (Cont’d) • In 1996 Congress passed, and President Clinton signed, a welfare reform bill known as the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Act that altered sixty-one years of national welfare policy. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-13 Health Care • The United States is the only major industrialized nation without a universal health-care system. • The U.S. system is a patchwork of programs designed to cover different segments of the population, but not all citizens. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-14 Health Care (Cont’d) • Government programs to provide health care include: • Medicare, primarily for the elderly • Medicaid, for the qualifying poor • State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), for children in needy families. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-15 Health Care (Cont’d) • When considering cost and access, roughly 15.2% of all Americans are uninsured. • Several million Americans living in rural areas are unable to receive health care because they do not have easy access to doctors or hospitals. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-16 Health Care (Cont’d) • Health care costs continue to escalate rapidly, with prescription drug costs leading the way. • Reforming health care would actually increase the current amount spent in the U.S. as well as restricting the range of procedures and providers available to patients. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-17 Health Care (Cont’d) • Medicare is a health-insurance program for all people aged sixty-five and older and a few individuals who are disabled or who suffer from end-stage renal disease. • Part A of the Medicare program pays for care in facilities. • Part B of the Medicare program pays for doctor’s services and outpatient hospital care. Participants of Part B pay a premium of twenty-five percent with the remaining costs paid for by the government. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-18 Health Care (Cont’d) • The most recent change in Medicare is the Medicare and Prescription Drug Modernization Act which created a new prescription drug coverage option. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-19 Health Care (Cont’d) • Medicaid is a need-based comprehensive medical and hospitalization program. • The State Children’s Health Insurance Program is a health-insurance program designed to provide children in families with low incomes access to medical care. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-20 Education • Americans have traditionally believed that education could help individuals attain social and economic equality. • The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 was the first time the government provided direct aid to local school districts. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-21 Education (Cont’d) • Education is linked to national security and prosperity. • Education reform is difficult, thoughparticularly on the national level—as evidenced by the passage and implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-22 Benefits and Fairness • How can the government provide benefits in a way that is fair? • The national government provides two types of benefits: means tested and non-means tested. • Some people argue that non-means-tested benefits are not fair: some people need benefits, and others do not. • Transforming some non–means-tested benefits into means-tested benefits has allure during times of budget deficits. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19-23