>A little while
>ago, somebody mentioned Clinton 'throwing people off welfare and Medicaid.'
>Spending on Medicaid is higher than ever, by any metric. The chief area of
>cuts is means-tested cash assistance, which was not large to begin with.
First, the removal of the entitlement to AFDC, and the imposition of time limits, is no minor cut. Sure the effects aren't glaring right now, with the economy relatively strong and the time limits only beginning to kick in, but let's reconsider this in a couple of years. Second, as people are kicked off welfare, they're losing food stamp and Medicaid benefits for which they may still be eligible. So even though Medicaid spending may be "higher than ever," I doubt very seriously whether the number of people covered is. Maybe someone here has the numbers on this.
Doug