The Food Stamp Program and Medicaid are federally funded programs that aim to address healthcare issues for specific populations in the U.S. The Food Stamp program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is dispensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to address the issue of malnutrition, while Medicaid is managed by the Department of Health to address the issue of health insurance coverage.
Both programs target low-income individuals who do not have sufficient resources to buy food and access quality healthcare, respectively. SNAP has succeeded in reducing hunger and poverty prevention, although minimally. Nevertheless, the limitation of SNAP is that it cannot be used to purchase hot or prepared food; thus, it can be ineffective to the homeless who might be unable to have a means of cooking it.
On the other hand, Medicaid has increased accessibility to healthcare for low-income individuals, hence has grown to be a vital pillar of the U.S. healthcare system. However, Medicaid failed to cover one specific vulnerable population, which is the undocumented immigrant population. Undocumented immigrants are still faced with issues with the accessibility of quality care in the U.S. today. Overall, the two social welfare policies are working well as they have both been created in the early 1900s; thus, they have undergone several reforms to strengthen them and make them suitable for today’s society.
My initial thoughts on federal welfare programs were that they were relatively insufficient and averagely able to attend to the needs of the specific population that they were formulated for. This was significantly influenced by the media (Shaw, 2009). However, after reading this week’s reading assignments, my perception has changed. I have become aware that the SNAP and Medicaid programs have adequately met the needs of low-income individuals, and the improved healthcare outcomes have mirrored this.
Reference
Shaw, M.G. (2009). Changes in public opinion and the American welfare state. Political Science Quarterly, 124(4), 627-653. Web.