Welfare reform proposal

[aphar]

The biggest fiscal danger the US is facing is the skyrocketing cost of health care and welfare.
Proposal:

Health Care:

• Replace medicaid and medicare with a single payer system, available to all legal residents.


• Commercial entities can provide secondary insurance.


• Only palliative methods are paid for when the remaining life expectancy is low (most medicare costs are incurred during the last year of life, when the invasive methods no longer extend the life of the patient anyway).

Welfare:

• UBI is given to all adult (21+yo) citizens(green card is not enough).


• All other programs (SSI, food stamps, rent control, public housing) are discontinued. Current recipients who prefer it over UBI, can refuse UBI and stay on their current programs for up to 3 years.


• UBI is used to pay child support when a parent does not do so on their own

UBI should encourage recipients to seek employment.
It is not supposed to ensure "care-free" existence.
A child is a luxury, not an income source.

Comments

[ymarkov]

Are you sure that invasive methods is what's causing the bulk of expense, and not nursing home care and simple life maintenance in the hospital?

"UBI should encourage recipients to seek employment" – how do you suppose it will do that? Cash handouts tend to do the opposite.

UBI is not a bad idea, provided it not only replaces all current welfare spending (and abolishes the agencies dispensing it), but ensures the latter can never grow back. I don't see how that can be done short of a constitutional amendment.

[aphar]

"UBI should encourage recipients to seek employment" –
how do you suppose it will do that? Cash handouts tend to do the opposite.

This was more of a reason why UBI should be "small" (less than $1k as opposed to $2k).

UBI is not a bad idea, provided it not only replaces all current welfare spending (and abolishes the agencies dispensing it), but ensures the latter can never grow back.
Indeed, service creep is an issue, and I don't think there is a way to stop it in its tracks short of an amendment.

[aphar]

Are you sure that invasive methods is what's causing the bulk of expense, and not nursing home care and simple life maintenance in the hospital?

ISTR that the last year treatment costs about as much as the previous life.
I don't think nursing homes can be included - this is not medical.
(rehabs might be).