Who Should Receive Entitlements?As part of American ideals, the government has aresponsibility to take a role in maintaining the financialsecurity of it’s citizens who are in need.
Benefits aregiven to help those who are unable to provide forthemselves, and those who they are responsible forothers whoneed help. Although some people become dependent on thesegrants, the majority of those who receive them truly needthem. Support offered by the government needs to be strictlysupervised to help provide that these public help program’sare not being taken advantage of. Medicare, which came into effect in 1966, is thepopular name for the Federal Health Insurance Program.
Ithelps people 65 years of age and over. This programs goal isto ensure the medical care of the aging citizens. Medicare is designed to help out with the payment ofmedical bills. There are two aspects of this program, Part A,which covers doctor’s visits and Part B which covershospital charges. The bills for Part A are paid for by taxescollected from both workers and employers.
Part B’s billsare payed differently than Part A. One fourth of the bill ispaid by the patient, and the other three fourths come from aCongressional layout. (Cayton, 873)One problem with Medicare, is that the fastest growingsegmaent of the population is those over 65 years of age. This is the group needs the most medical care. As thisgeneration ages, more and more money will need to be spenton their health care.
As a result, the money availbe to payfor these claims may run out. Another entitlement given to the citizens of the UnitedStates comes in the form of Social Security. Social Securitywas formed in 1936 to help the generation of the GreatDepression pay for living expenses as they aged and stoppedworking. As a citizen works throughout his or her life,deductions are made from pay checks to pay Social Securitytaxes.
Which in theory these taxes will be returned to themwhen they retire. The cost of benefits given to retired citizens haveincreased over the life of this program. In the 1930’s themaximum amount that a worker would have to pay for SocialSecurity taxes was $3,000. In 1966, the amount had grown to$6,600 per year.
Since 1966 the maximum yearly tax bill pertax payer has steadily grown along with the cost of livingfor retirees. (Shlaes, 3)Social Security faces some of the same problems asMedicare. The age group that Social Security was intendedfor is becoming very large. The increase in the cost ofliving and the large groups of eligible recipients hascaused doubt with many of the younger citizens. A studyconducted in 1994 showed that Americans born after 1964 aremore likely to believe in the existents of UFO’s thanbelieve that Social Security will be availible when they areeligible for it. (Shlaes 1)Welfare is a common name for programs that helps payfor living cost of citizens that cannot support themselves.
Many people feel that welfare is only free money for thosewho are to lazy to work for themselves. Welfare benefits arefor those who are in need, but some tax payers do not thinkit is their responsibility to help fund it. Misuse of welfare is common under programs now inaffect. The money given to these needy people can cause themto become dependent and not have the ability to supportthemselves. Recipients find it hard to get off welfare.
63%of welfare receivers will receive assistance for 9years. (Cayton 873)Many enticements are now availible for individuals whoare on welfare to make it easier for these people to supportthemselves. In 1996, money was given to children on welfarefor schooling, hoping that schooling would help thesechildren off welfare when they became older. To discourageteen pregnancy and young mothers with families on welfare,women with children were forced to live at home or insupervised housing in order to receive assistants. Housing and transportation are made accessible for those who couldmaintain a job.
(Zuckerman 2)A huge indication that welfare does not work is thatsome citizens after getting off welfare still facedifficulties paying for thier bills. One third of the womenwho get off welfare are forced to cut meal sizes, or evenskip meals entirely to make ends meet. Also 38% of womenrecently off welfare say that they have, at least once, notbeen able to pay rent, mortgage or utility bills. (Zuckerman7)The entitlements that the United State Government givesto its citizens are meant to help the lives of those whoreceive them.
Although the Government has a responsibilityto it needy citizens, it also has a responsibility to spendtax money in a way that will benefit all people. Theseentitlements cannot continue to benefit those who need themunless the money to fund them can be found in the budget. Since most Americans can support themselves, the majority ofthe country’s budget should be used to benefit the majorityof the tax payers. There must be a balance between spendingmoney on the majority and spending money on the those thatneed help.
