Welfare Benefits In Texas

Welfare Benefits In Texas1welfare Benefits In Texas

Welfare fraud is leading to economic waste in Texas. This issue has increasingly attracted the attention of many researchers. Welfare is a term commonly used to refer to the provision of the minimal level of social support, as well as, well-being. Mostly, welfare and welfare benefits are provided to people who live on low or no income in order to meet their specific needs.

Within the US, welfare benefits are provided through welfare programs. These are often state regulated programs meant for those people living under the minimum accepted level means as determined by the various state governments. In his research study, Esping-Andersen (2013) determined that welfare benefits could potentially fall under a diverse range of program umbrellas, all of which necessitates a specified set of eligibility elements in order to acquire, as well as, maintain payments. Among the various programs offered include medical assistance, cash assistance, utility or energy assistance, child support program, food assistance, and child care among others. In his research study, Harvey (2011) defined each of these forms of assistance.

According to the researcher, cash assistance is provided in the shape of Temporary Assistance for needy families (Harvey, 2011). The essence of this is to deliver income into households or families in which only little or no economic gain is not experienced. Child support provides families with state regulated child care placement form of assistance whose aim is to ensure or to allow parents and their guardian time for job and work (Gainsborough, 2003). Energy and utility assistance program is usually supposed to assist the citizens that are unable to afford to pay for the primary needs and to be precise, energy needs including gas and water. Food stamps are also significant programs.

These often assist households to acquire food without having to forego financial resources. Medical assistance on its part is a program aimed at providing welfare benefits such as medical insurance to those who are not able to afford. Each state often implements these standard programs, however in a varied manner. In this paper, the focus is on the welfare benefits of the Texas State. The food stamp welfare program in Texas is administered as SNAP.

For Texas adults between the ages of 18 and 50 and who do not have children at home, the welfare benefits under SNAP are only available for only three months for every three years (Esping-Andersen, 2013). However, this period is subject to extension where an adult is placed in a job training program or is employed for a 20 hour per week job position (Gainsborough, 2003). If a subject living within Texas is pregnant or disabled, the work component is not necessarily a requirement. While this is the case, families are often entitled to the benefits offered under this program for as long as they meet the requirements with respect to eligibility. Over the past three years, membership to the program has increased tremendously.

In a study by Harvey (2011), it was evidenced that the rate of membership and claims has increased at an average rate of 4.6 percent (Kearney, 2014). At present, SNAP has about 4 million members. The program spends about $6 billion per year to dispense the benefits under SNAP to these members. (Kearney, 2014) Cash assistance is also a welfare benefit program for the Texans. It is often administered as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, TANF. It is usually available to families who have children that are eighteen years or younger and living at home with the parents.

Usually, the size of funds that a household or a family can attain usually depends on the total household size and income. Besides, the program often provides a onetime benefit. However, this is available to families that are undergoing a crisis such as loss of homes or jobs. In addition to this, there is also a one-time payment that is provided to parents who become grandparents from the age of 45 years, caring for a child or children who is already receiving the TANF benefits. Just like the case of SNAP, the level of cash assistance being disseminated has increased immensely over the past few years.

In 2012, 68 families for every 100 received TANF benefits (Kearney, 2014). However, this figure increased in 2013, with 76 families for every 100 receiving the benefits (Kearney, 2014). Another essential welfare program for the Texans is the Health Care assistance program. The health care program provided by the Texas administration often covers hospital stays, visits and prescriptions (Esping-Andersen, 2013). There are several health care program, one of the most essential being Medicaid.

Medicaid benefits are usually provided to a number of groups and these include children, women who are pregnant, the disabled, and the elderly who attain the age of 65 and above (Harvey, 2011). Usually, the level often benefits tend to increased based on the size of the household. Recent research studies have documented that there is an increasing demand for primary care providers, which has in turn provided a rationale to extend the coverage of Medicaid to millions of uninsured. In his research study, Tanner (2012) revealed that, as compared to the increase in Washington, DC, the demand for primary care in Texas will increase by two times. Presently, there are 4 million beneficiaries.

This number is constituted of 3.2 Medicaid clients below 21 years and 800.000 clients above the age of 21 years (Esping-Andersen, 2013). There are several causes for the rising demand for welfare benefits. One of the most critical is fraud and this has been confirmed by a number of studiers. For instance, in a study by Tanner (2012), it was revealed that the number of claimants who usually do not report change in their situation or circumstances is increasing day by day. Between 2012 and 2013, it was reported that the Texas welfare programs released close to $10 million to pay fraudulent claims perpetrated by people between the ages of 85 and 89 (Tanner, 2012).

There were also a series of other types of frauds that went undetected. A good example is insurance claim fraud, which is said to have cost Texas a significant $500 million (Tanner, 2012). These are just a portion of statistics about fraudulent claims to the Texas welfare benefits. Combined with the normal or genuine claims, the fraudulent welfare benefit claims usually take the demand at extremely high heights. The welfare benefit officials and claimants have also been reported as committing errors that lead to exceeding costs.

In the year 2012/2013, it was identified that about $1.4 billion was paid lout of errors. Errors usually come as a result of overpayments (Esping-Andersen, 2013). For instance, the officials may double enter claims meaning that a claimant will be paid twice. However, although such a issue tends to occur, it is rather rare. Especially when the welfare program systems are low, there are chances that a claim is accounted more than once.

While this is the case, some form of demand for welfare benefit is legal. Just like it is with the case of other states, the rate of unemployment is relatively high. There are a number of households that usually do not have the resources to access vital necessities required for survival. The case of unemployment is being pushed even further due to the increased population growth rate in Texas. As such, population is growing at a rate that evidently exceeds the rate of employment (Borjas, 2002).

This, as a result, has led to an increased membership to the welfare programs in Texas and subsequently, an increase in the demand for welfare benefits. The above context indeed portrays a huge problem to the Texas welfare programs and benefits. As a matter of fact, the programs are usually meant to do well to the vulnerable or the less disadvantaged groups within the Texas community. They intend to allow each person to achieve a meaningful life (Borjas, 2002). However, the challenges it faces tend to diminish the essence of the programs.

The most critical issue is fraud (Esping-Andersen, 2013). Within the context of the American law, fraud represents a deliberate deception to secure unlawful or even an unfair gain. It is considered as a civil wrong, as well as, a criminal wrong. Fraudulent welfare benefit claims is therefore an attempt to abuse the welfare programs. The Texas subjects should not seek to take advantage of the welfare programs.

They should not inappropriately access the benefits provided. After all, there are those Texans who desperately needs them and whose survival largely depends on them (Esping-Andersen, 2013). In the light of this, if an individual illegally or abusively uses the welfare programs and the underlying benefits, these populations are placed in an even worse situation. Therefore, welfare fraud is leading to economic waste in Texas.

References

• Borjas, G. J. (2002). Welfare reform and immigrant participation in welfare programs. International Migration Review.
• Esping-Andersen, G. (2013). The three worlds of welfare capitalism. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
• Gainsborough, J. F. (2003). To devolve or not to devolve? Welfare reform in the states. Policy Studies Journal, 31(4).
• Harvey, M. H. (2011). Welfare reform and household survival: the interaction of structure and network strength in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas. Journal of Poverty, 15(1), 43-64.
• Kearney, M. S. (2014). Is there an effect of incremental welfare benefits on fertility behavior? A look at the family cap. Journal of Human Resources, 39(2).
• Tanner, M. (2012). The American Welfare State: How We Spend Nearly $1 Trillion a Year Fighting Poverty—and Fail. Cato Institute Policy Analysis, (694).