Latest news with #FederalPovertyLevel
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Miami Valley Child Development marks 60 years with Head Start
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – The 60th anniversary celebration for both the Miami Valley Child Development Centers (MVCDC) and the Head Start program will be this Wednesday. The Head Start program serves nearly 3,000 kids in the Miami Valley who are experiencing poverty. It provides high-quality early learning and child care to children from 6 weeks to age 5. Simultaneously, the program offers critical support to the kids' families to help break the cycle of poverty. Little Miami Watershed Network summer events coming soon The event will be held on June 4 at the Marilyn E. Thomas Center, 2900 Shiloh Springs Rd., Trotwood, at 6:00 p.m. 2 NEWS' weekend anchor and multi-media journalist, KaJéza Hawkins, will emcee the celebration. Hawkins is a proud MVCDC graduate. Dr. Alonzo Patterson, III, a board-certified pediatrician and Dayton Children's Hospital's first Chief Medical Health Equity Officer, will speak at the event. He has practiced medicine for over 30 years and primarily focuses on children who lack access to medical care. Patterson has cared for generations of families here in Dayton, and many of his patients have been MVCDC/Head Start graduates. Dayton Children's new center to address food insecurity, poverty and more with new programs MVCDC is, spectacularly, the largest provider of Early Head Start and Head Start programs in Ohio. It ensures nearly 500,000 nutritious meals and snacks are given to children each year. There are many ways to be eligible for the program: Families earning under 100% of the Federal Poverty Level (Which is $26,650 for a family of three). Families who receive SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits are automatically eligible to enroll. Children in foster or kinship care, or who are experiencing homelessness. Children with some disabilities. For more information on the program, call Berta Velilla, MVCDC President and CEO, at 937-825-8439. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Champaign Co. program helping at-risk homes stay cool during extreme heat
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) — A program which aims to help Champaign County households keep the power on in the summer opens to applicants in a week. In a news release sent from the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission, officials said the Summer Cooling program was created because of the demand for utility assistance and exhausted funding from post-pandemic programs like Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Sholem Aquatics Center urging for swim safety as pool season begins The Summer Cooling program will support low-income households in the county that are at the greatest risk from extreme heat. It'll help an estimated 200 to 350 households maintain power in their homes. Interested applicants can apply starting June 9. Appointments will be available on a walk-in, first-come, first-served basis from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. On Wednesdays, appointments are available from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Appointments are available at the Brookens Administrative Center in Urbana, at 2009 Round Barn Road in Champaign and at the Rantoul Business Center. To be eligible for the program, officials said: Champaign board to continue proposed solar farm discussion later this summer Applicants must be Champaign County residents The household's most recent 30-day income must be at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level The household must include a senior (age 60 and above) or an individual with a medical certificate documenting a condition that requires active power in the household The household's power service is disconnected or in imminent disconnect status. The Regional Planning Commission said applications for LIHEAP will open Oct. 1 for households with anyone over 60, with a person who has a documented disability, families with children under age 6 and disconnected/disconnect notice household. All other households can apply Nov. 1. Officials encourage those not eligible for the cooling program to contact their utility company and ask about other available programs. The Summer Cooling program is funded by the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG). The amount of bill assistance per household will not exceed $1,000, according to officials. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Gulf Today
3 days ago
- Health
- Gulf Today
Congress wants Medicaid recipients to work
Michelle Baruchman, Tribune News Service Georgia could soon become the poster child for administering Medicaid with work requirements — for better or worse. As Congressional Republicans seek to pass a budget bill enacting President Donald Trump's agenda, they're looking to require able-bodied Medicaid recipients to work in order to receive their health care coverage. Georgia is presently the only state in the nation with work requirements for its Medicaid population. Here, Medicaid provides government-funded health care for some low-income people, with about 30 categories of eligibility including certain pregnant women, older widows and primary caregivers. Instead of embracing traditional Medicaid expansion, Gov. Brian Kemp sought to grow the number of insured Georgians through a conservative framework; his program provides Medicaid to people earning up to 100% of the Federal Poverty Level — about $15,000 for a single person — if they work at least 80 hours per month or meet academic or other requirements. But rather than leading to more Medicaid recipients working, Georgia's experience has led to people who could be eligible for the program unable to receive Medicaid, mostly because of bureaucratic red tape. While experts say Kemp's program, called Georgia Pathways to Coverage, has different aims, it could still provide lessons in both politics and policy. Pathways is designed to use health care as an incentive to get able-bodied individuals into the workforce on a limited basis. Eventually, the thinking goes, those part-time workers would transfer into full-time employees and become eligible for company-sponsored private health care plans, moving them off the government's rolls. According to Kemp's Office, at least 1,025 Pathways members have been referred to 'better, private health care coverage' through Georgia Access, the state's health care exchange, because their income increased. 'With this success it's no surprise that others are starting to emulate our innovative approach to health care coverage,' said Garrison Douglas, a spokesperson for Kemp. Chris Denson, the director of policy and research at the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, said Pathways is a way to increase health care coverage that is in line with the governor's vision without expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. States that expand Medicaid for people earning up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level, about $21,000 for an individual, have received additional federal funding to pay for it. About 40 states have expanded; Georgia has not. In Congress, lawmakers are looking for cuts that reduce the federal deficit, which is currently more than $1 trillion. Implementing work requirements nationwide among the existing able-bodied Medicaid population has been a Republican goal among those who believe there is waste and abuse in Medicaid. 'Medicaid has grown beyond its original intention to cover the aged, the blind, the disabled population, children, single mothers, and has grown to cover able-bodied individuals. That has long been an issue within conservative health circles,' Denson said. As part of discussions last year around easing regulations to establish new hospitals in Georgia, state Sen. Matt Brass, a Republican from Newnan, had voted for a form of Medicaid expansion. His thinking has shifted since then, and he supports work requirements and the Pathways programme. If you're going to use public money to pay for something, outside of those who are deaf, blind and disabled, you need to have some skin in the game,' he said. 'As long as you're working and a contributing member of society, then absolutely, I'm good with providing health care to help you do that.' Democrats understand that requiring Medicaid recipients to work for their benefits sounds like a good idea. A poll from the health research group KFF found that 62% of adults support work requirements. 'That actually makes sense to a lot of people. That sounds reasonable,' said state Rep. Michelle Au, a Democrat from Johns Creek. The problem, she said, is not with the work, it's with the administrative burden of reporting. 'There are people who actually are working and meet those hour eligibilities that still are not eligible for access through Pathways because of how onerous and difficult the reporting requirement is,' she said. 'It's building in a barrier to patients getting care.' KFF found that support for work requirements drops to 32% 'when those who initially support the proposal hear that most people on Medicaid are already working and many would risk losing coverage because of the burden of proving eligibility through paperwork.' Kemp's team initially expected fewer than 100,000 people to be enrolled in the program. As of earlier this year, there were about 6,500. Heather Payne is one of the patients struggling to get care. After she began having strokes a few years ago, she was no longer able to work her nursing job and has been waiting to get her disability application to be approved. She can't get Medicaid while her disability application is active, and she can't get Medicare without a disability status. Payne, 53, who lives in Dalton, recently decided to go back to school. Attending a public or private university of technical college is considered a qualifying activity for Pathways. But in addition to working clinical rotations, she's only taking nine credit hours right now, short of the 11.5 credit hours needed to be eligible for Pathways. 'I would have to take a full-time program at my school and work my clinical rotations to get the clinical experience I needed, to qualify to get Pathways,' she said. Other Georgians have said the portal to report work is a 'nightmare,' administrative support is lacking, and applicants are not given clear reasons why they are denied benefits.
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Health
- Miami Herald
Congress wants Medicaid recipients to work. Georgia provides a model
Georgia could soon become the poster child for administering Medicaid with work requirements - for better or worse. As Congressional Republicans seek to pass a budget bill enacting President Donald Trump's agenda, they're looking to require able-bodied Medicaid recipients to work in order to receive their health care coverage. Georgia is presently the only state in the nation with work requirements for its Medicaid population. Here, Medicaid provides government-funded health care for some low-income people, with about 30 categories of eligibility including certain pregnant women, older widows and primary caregivers. Instead of embracing traditional Medicaid expansion, Gov. Brian Kemp sought to grow the number of insured Georgians through a conservative framework; his program provides Medicaid to people earning up to 100% of the Federal Poverty Level - about $15,000 for a single person - if they work at least 80 hours per month or meet academic or other requirements. But rather than leading to more Medicaid recipients working, Georgia's experience hasled to people who could be eligible for the program unable to receive Medicaid, mostly because of bureaucratic red tape. While experts say Kemp's program, called Georgia Pathways to Coverage, has different aims, it could still provide lessons in both politics and policy. Health care as a carrot Pathways is designed to usehealth care as an incentive to get able-bodied individuals into the workforce on a limited basis. Eventually, the thinking goes, those part-time workers would transfer into full-time employees and become eligible for company-sponsored private health care plans, moving them off the government's rolls. According to Kemp's Office, at least 1,025 Pathways members have been referred to "better, private health care coverage" through Georgia Access, the state's health care exchange, because their income increased. "With this success it's no surprise that others are starting to emulate our innovative approach to health care coverage," said Garrison Douglas, a spokesperson for Kemp. Chris Denson, the director of policy and research at the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, said Pathways is a way to increase health care coverage that is in line with the governor's vision withoutexpanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. States that expand Medicaid for people earning up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level, about $21,000 for an individual, havereceived additional federal funding to pay for it. About 40 states have expanded; Georgia has not. In Congress, lawmakers are looking for cuts that reduce the federal deficit, which is currently more than $1 trillion. Implementing work requirements nationwide among the existing able-bodied Medicaid population has been a Republican goal among those who believe there is waste and abusein Medicaid. "Medicaid has grown beyond its original intention to cover the aged, the blind, the disabled population, children, single mothers, and has grown to cover able-bodied individuals. That has long been an issue within conservative health circles," Denson said. As part of discussions last year around easing regulations to establish new hospitals in Georgia, state Sen. Matt Brass, a Republican from Newnan, had voted for a form of Medicaid expansion. His thinking has shifted since then, and he supports work requirements and the Pathways program. "If you're going to use public money to pay for something, outside of those who are deaf, blind and disabled, you need to have some skin in the game," hesaid. "As long as you're working and a contributing member of society, then absolutely, I'm good with providing health care to help you do that." Challenges with enforcement Democrats understand that requiring Medicaid recipients to work for their benefits sounds like a good idea. A poll from the health research group KFF found that 62% of adults support work requirements. "That actually makes sense to a lot of people. That sounds reasonable," said state Rep. Michelle Au, a Democrat from Johns Creek. The problem, she said, is not with the work, it's with the administrative burden of reporting. "There are people who actually are working and meet those hour eligibilities that still are not eligible for access through Pathways because of how onerous and difficult the reporting requirement is," she said. "It's building in a barrier to patients getting care." KFF found that support for work requirements drops to 32% "when those who initially support the proposal hear that most people on Medicaid are already working and many would risk losing coverage because of the burden of proving eligibility through paperwork." Kemp's team initially expected fewer than 100,000 people to be enrolled in the program. As of earlier this year, there were about 6,500. Heather Payne is one of the patients struggling to get care. After she began having strokes a few years ago, she was no longer able to work her nursing job and has been waiting to get her disability application to be approved. She can't get Medicaid while her disability application is active, and she can't get Medicare without a disability status. Payne, 53, who lives in Dalton, recently decided to go back to school. Attending a public or private university of technical college is considered a qualifying activity for Pathways. But in addition to working clinical rotations, she's only taking nine credit hours right now, short of the 11.5 credit hours needed to be eligible for Pathways. "I would have to take a full-time program at my school and work my clinical rotations to get the clinical experience I needed, to qualify to get Pathways," she said. Other Georgians have said the portal to report work is a "nightmare," administrative support is lacking, and applicants are not given clear reasons why they are denied benefits. When Arkansas implemented work requirements for Medicaid during the first Trump administration, one study found that 18,000 people lost coverage mostly because of the reporting requirements. The state then moved to a model where it purchased private health insurance plans for low-income people, but Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders asked the federal government in January to return to implementing work requirements. When Pathways launched, Georgians were required to again prove their eligibility under the work rules every month. A Georgia commission of health policy experts recommended in a December report that Pathways align with other human services programs that conduct annual verification to "improve participant user experience." In the Pathways renewal request that Kemp's office submitted in March, the state requested to remove the monthly reporting requirement and replace it with annual reporting at their time of renewal. However, the "big, beautiful bill" the House approved would require reporting at least every six months. Laura Colbert, the executive director of Georgians for a Healthy Future, said frequent checks are difficult and expensive. There is more churn within the system because people are often falling in and out of care. Path forward Proponents of work requirements say they offer flexibility while looking for employment "If you can't find a job, there's no reason why you can't volunteer your time to help others," Brass said. But, "if you're between jobs, you want them to be applying, and interviewing and doing all these things," Au said. "How are you supposed to find another job" if you're busy volunteering? "Medicaid is not an employment program," she said. "The programmatic goal of Medicaid as a federal program is to provide health insurance coverage." Republicans want to pass a budget bill through Congress by July 4. _____ Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
38% households in Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester County struggle to make ends meet, study says
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Nearly 40% of households in the tri-county are struggling to cover the cost of basic needs, according to a new report from Trident United Way and its research partner United For ALICE. These households in Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester counties were considered to be living in poverty or are ALICE: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. ALICE households do not make enough to afford basic expenses in the county where they live, but earn more above the Federal Poverty Level. Data from Trident United Way and United For ALICE reveals that in 2023, 38% of households, 130,360 families, could not afford basic needs. 11% were living in poverty, and 27% were ALICE. The study states that thousands of households, particularly those led by single parents, are living paycheck to paycheck with incomes that fall short of covering the costs of food, transportation, healthcare, technology, and housing. According to their research, a family of four with an infant and preschooler needs $89,904 annually to meet the cost of living in the area. 'This means entire families and essential workers may be overlooked for support, left without the resources they need to stay healthy, achieve financial stability and reach their fullest potential. That's a loss not just for ALICE households, but our entire community,' said D.J. Hampton, Trident United Way President and CEO. The State of ALICE in South Carolina report also states that in 2023: South Carolina ranked 34th in financial hardship among all 50 states and D.C. Younger and older households faced the highest rates of financial strain, with 69% of the youngest and 51% of the oldest households living below the ALICE Threshold, compared to 37% of households led by someone aged 25-44. Housing costs remain a major burden: 66% of renters and 43% of homeowners living below the ALICE Threshold were housing cost-burdened, meaning they spent 30% or more of their income on housing. 'By providing a name and a way to quantify these households, we're equipping communities with the data to build solutions that offer better choices and real pathways to stability,' said Stephanie Hoopes, Ph.D., National Director at United For ALICE. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
