Republican efforts to make it harder for low-income Americans to qualify for government social programs could jeopardize the food supply of more than 4 million children and seniors, and potentially leave 22 million people without health insurance, according to a report released Monday by the Brookings Institution.
Researchers at the Washington, DC, think tank studied the potential impact of new work requirements that Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration have proposed for Americans who use food stamps (a.k.a. SNAP benefits) and Medicaid, government programs that subsidize groceries and health insurance for low-income Americans, respectively.
The idea behind the work rules is to shrink government anti-poverty programs by making participants work more if they can — and denying benefits to those who don't want to work.
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