American healthcare system can be extremely expensive if the patients do not have health insurance. However; private insurance companies are not feasible for lower-income families so the federal government introduced Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP so that medical care would become affordable for everyone. The plans offered by these three insurance companies are established either as a block grant or an entitlement.
Block grants are given by the federal government to all the states with a guideline on spending the grant. The advantage of this grant is that the spending can be flexible with minimum restrictions, however; the disadvantage of this grant is that sometimes the funds are not spent effectively. The entitlement program is provided to anyone who meets the requirement for it which means that eligible people can avail it without any delay. Another advantage of these entitlement programs is that people not only get health insurance but also receive other benefits like food stamps, unemployment aid, etc. However; this adds to a disadvantage for the government as many people do not look for jobs as they have the entitlement programs that provide them better benefits than any job would (CNBC, 2014). The economic repercussion of entitlement programs is high as the people enrolled in this program become lazy and do not want to get a job. This program is seen as a waste of taxpayers’ money. The benefit of this program pales in comparison to the disadvantages (Institute, 2011). The block grants restrict the funds which means that people who are receiving them do not become fully dependent on it and avail jobs to finance their needs. My answer to these questions depends on who is paying for the program and if these questions are asked to any taxpayer they will voice their frustration as their hard-earned money is not going towards making lives better for the taxpayers but being used without accountability. Policy makers also think that these programs are going to prevent the government’s ability to respond to economic downturns.
References
CNBC. (2014, May 27). Pros & cons of entitlement programs. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/video/2014/05/27/pros-cons-of-entitlement-programs.html
Institute, K. H. (2011, May 2). Block grant pros and cons. Kansas Health Institute. https://www.khi.org/news/article/block-grant-pros-and-cons
