BEYOND THE NUMBERS
In Case You Missed It…
This week at CBPP we focused on health, food assistance, housing, the federal budget and taxes, Social Security, and the economy.
- On health, Judith Solomon and Aviva Aron-Dine showed how proposals to take Medicaid coverage away from poor parents if they don't meet work requirements would create a no-win situation for low-income parents in states that haven't expanded Medicaid. Solomon, Anna Bailey, Peggy Bailey, and Hannah Katch found that while some Medicaid provisions in a House opioid package would advance access to treatment, one provision raises serious concerns. Jennifer Wagner detailed how Arkansas' online-only approach to implementing its Medicaid waiver will cause more enrollees to lose coverage. We also updated our timeline tracking the Trump Administration's efforts to sabotage the Affordable Care Act.
- On food assistance, Ed Bolen, Stacy Dean, Dorothy Rosenbaum, and Elizabeth Wolkomir described how the Senate farm bill represents an important bipartisan effort to improve SNAP's program integrity and operations. We also updated a report detailing how the House Agriculture Committee's farm bill would increase food insecurity and hardship.
- On housing, Peggy Bailey noted that a House bill intended to support people with substance use disorders would divert necessary housing support for low-income families, seniors, and others experiencing homelessness. Douglas Rice found that a Senate bill funding the Department of Housing and Urban Development improves on a House version.
- On the federal budget and taxes, Chye-Ching Huang summarized a recent paper that sets out the legal and policy cases against indexing capital gains to inflation by regulation. Arloc Sherman underscored a conclusion from the Census Bureau's chief scientist that adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census would reduce its accuracy and raise costs.
- On Social Security, Kathleen Romig explained that the cash-strapped Social Security Administration needs more funds to improve customer service.
- On the economy, we updated our backgrounder showing how many weeks of unemployment compensation are available.
Chart of the Week: In Many Non-Expansion States, Both Meeting and Not Meeting Medicaid Work Requirements Would Likely Mean Losing Coverage
A variety of news outlets featured CBPP's work and experts recently. Here are some highlights:
90 percent of commenters oppose Alabama Medicaid work plan
AL.com
June 13, 2018
Minimum Wages Can't Pay for a 2-Bedroom Apartment Anywhere
City Lab
June 13,2018
Republicans say race isn’t a factor in the food stamp debate. Research suggests otherwise.
Vox
June 13, 2018
Medicaid Work Requirement Could Jeopardize Coverage Even For People Who Comply
KBIA
June 12, 2018
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