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Comment by RandomInteger4 | Hacker News Reader

Again, blame the conservatives for making SNAP and similar programs near useless for getting people back on their feet. They'd rather the programs didn't exist at all than do something to fix the programs such as making the assistance scale with income rather than having a hard cut off.

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Not to mention never raising the cutoffs. The limit for savings someone on medicaid can have is $2000. That limit was last adjusted in 1989. The limit per month for making money, like getting a side job to try to get back to work, is $20, which has not changed since medicaid was started in 1969. The cost of living amount of $600, which is the amount someone can supposedly live off of, hasn't been changed since 1989 as well. It's hard taking those steps back to independence because like you said, the limits are hard, and also outdated.

> The limit per month for making money, like getting a side job to try to get back to work, is $20, which has not changed since medicaid was started in 1969.

No, it's not; income limits are set by states, vary by population, and for populations that are covered at all tend to be much greater than $20/mo. The Medicaid expansion as part of the ACA also resultted in substantial changes in many states.

[0] state limits, as a percent of the Federal Poverty Level, are available here: https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/program-information/medica...

Getting people back on their feet is good, but what if there's no ground left to stand on, so-to-speak?

I'm questioning whether entitlements really help rebuild that solid ground for rural Americans in economic hardships.

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