Ford Bell on Welfare & Poverty

Don't trade Medicare benefits for food stamps

In May this year, we found out that the low-income elderly who sign up for the new Medicare drug benefit may lose some of their food stamps. A monthly food stamp allotment of $27 will be reduced to $10 per month if a person signs up for the benefit. The administration helpfully points out that these people will come out ahead, in the end because they still have a bit more cash in their pockets (about $25 per month). The big question here is: why decrease the food stamp allotment at all? Source: Campaign website, www.FordBell.com, "Issues" Dec 25, 2005

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