The Welfare Reform Act free essay sample

In the 90s many States in the United States used waivers to reform their aid to families also known as AFDC programs. AFDC programs provide cash grants to low income families also known as TANF this key element of the United States economic safety net to help families with children. There is negative and positive implication of the Welfare Reform Act on Medicaid. You will learn about these negative and positive throughout this paper. There are many positive and negative implications when it concerns â€Å"The Welfare Reform Act† that came about in 1996. Welfare has been many debates dealing with this issue since the 1960s, and continues to be a contentious issue for many years to come. In the late 1980s, some communities were calling for a reform of the Welfare because their concerns for the personal responsibility. Then Welfare and Opportunity Reconciliation Act also known as PRWORA came into effect. Bill Clinton signed a personal responsibility and work opportunity reconciliation in 1996. We will write a custom essay sample on The Welfare Reform Act or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The Welfare Reform Act changed the United States welfare system excessively, and the Welfare Reform Act was set to provide more guidelines to which regards to the administration of Welfare benefits. The United States changed how funding is available to help families financially and how it is administered to recipients who can be eligible for Welfare benefits. The Welfare Reform Act caused multiple groups to lose their benefits, but this created better opportunities for those living in poverty. The Welfare Reform Act successfully fulfilled its goals of creating less dependency. When the Welfare Reform Act changed its laws it caused many beneficiaries to lose their coverage’s. â€Å"Since attention focused on the ill-fated Medicaid block grant proposal, the welfare reform-related changes came as a surprise too many. While the welfare reform law does not change how Medicaid delivers health care nor alter its entitlement status, it reduces the number of people covered and lowers federal expenditures† (Leighton amp; Coughlin, 1997). The Welfare reform has also posed challenges for states in the United States such as Medicaid beneficiary education and enrollment activities. Under the current law, Medicaid beneficiaries fall into two categories and those whom federal law requires states to cover. Who is known as mandatory beneficiaries and those whom states elect to cover under federal guidelines. Mandatory beneficiaries include pregnant woman and children under the age of 6 with family with low income. The Welfare Reform Act forced some states to make changes in order to continue receiving Medicaid benefits. This Act caused existing Medicaid beneficiaries to lose necessary coverage because of the eligibility rules for several groups which include the disabled children ad immigrants. These changes did not only affect these groups, but also the economy as well. The Welfare Reform Act effective in reducing fraud and increasing personal responsibility to inform the government or state agency of any household changes such as raise or reduction of income, or household size. These household changes must be reported as soon as possible, usually within 10 days of the change. By recipients having this requirement, it helps increase the amount of responsibility for the program and the welfare reform act did good to achieve their goals. This would in fact help more families be able to provide financial stability on their own with a little to no help from the government. There have been many experiences of woman who have been charged with welfare fraud since the late 1990s, and it continues to happen. â€Å"The development of San Diego County’s Welfare Fraud Diversion Program is notable because historically public policies, and welfare policies in particular have been constructed with little consideration of how they will affect low-income women and women of color† (Abramovitz, 1998, Gatta, 2005, Neubeck, 2006). I would say that The Welfare Reform Act is effective in reducing welfare fraud and increasing personal responsibilities. In my opinion I think The Welfare Reform Act has been successful in meeting its intended goals, because they have requirements to provide the best programs for Americans. They have made it to where needy families get the help they need to help support their families. They also have programs set with in the Welfare system that helps support the responsibility of those who receives assistance with Welfare. The goals they set were to help those that have low-income, disabled, and elderly, and by doing this they have accomplished something not many countries do for their people. The welfare Reform Act is there for a stepping stone to help families get on their feet and make something of their lives.