Right now in this devastating recession that we are going through, the demand on government services is at an all time high. Just today I read a report that due to the increasing demand on Medicaid, the struggling states are trying to curtail some optional benefits out of the Medicaid which serve mainly the low income. This report also shows that since Medicaid already reimburses the health care professional far less than their costs; most of the doctors are opting out of it at a time when the need is most.
Another report a few days ago said the stigma of food stamp is slowing evaporating and more people have come to realize this as not a welfare program but the lender of the last food resort for people who were not likely to accept it when the economy was good.
But this increased demand is busting the budgets of states at the same time they are trying to raise revenue which is not easy since their residents are increasingly at the unemployment line.
All this assistance is putting a dent to the budget of states and more and more states will have to raise the taxes in order to fulfill these obligations. But the public is increasing relying on the services of the states but they are loathe to fund these same services when the time comes. Most of the funds for the services comes in the form of property taxes but in these recessionary times when the citizens are struggling and the price of the houses are going down, they are in no mood to vote for increase in their property taxes which are very high anyway in some parts of the country (primarily in New Jersey where it is the highest)
No comments:
Post a Comment