Ronald Reagan was very fond of simple solutions, simple answers. That was what made him such a great communicator. People understood what he was telling them. My favorite statement of his is written in beautiful calligraphy and hung in my office. Regarding the Soviet Union, he stated “My idea of American policy is simple, and some would say simplistic. It is this: We win, they lose. What do you think of that?
On the subject of simple solutions, I have one for our ridiculously bloated government benefit programs. “Time limits.”
We establish programs like food stamps (SNAP), Medicaid, SSI Disability — even regular Social Security — and we have meager checks on whether the person is worthy of still receiving the benefits or whether they are even alive. Our elected officials including many Republican members of Congress are “gutless wonders” regarding capping these programs. Let’s take it out of their hands, automatically terminate the benefits after a year or some other time limit, and have the recipient reapply.
A perfect example of how things are out of control is not even being debated in Congress. It is regarding home health care providers. The story comes from the state of New York. Someone had a fairly bright idea that there are not enough home health care workers to take care of people in need. They decided to allow family members to take care of their family members at home and be compensated. This was perceived as a “cost saving program.”
In 2015, the eligibility rule changed with the number of people being paid by the program, just in New York, changing from 20,000 to 250,000. Both Bloomberg and Newsweek addressed the issue and interviewed Governor Kathy Hochul in 2024. She stated in Bloomberg, “The problem is now you have individuals taking advantage of a pretty liberal, open-ended process for determining who qualifies.” Hochul told Bloomberg the program was being abused so much that it now makes up the majority of New York City’s job increases. “I’m telling you right now, when you look on TikTok and you see ads of young people saying, ‘Guess what, you can make $37 an hour by sitting home with your grandma.’ You know, here’s how you sign up. It has become a racket.”
The problem is that Hochul did not dig in and suggest proposals to reform the program. She dropped the issue once she declared she was running for reelection. Like members of Congress, she whiffed. Hochul supported the expenditure during the 2025 budget negotiations.
Has the situation improved? Not a bit. I ask people all the time what they think is the largest category of employees in the state of New York. They generally identified restaurant employees which would seem to be correct in today’s economy. Retail salespeople are the most in 2024 at 233,740.
That is, except for home health care workers which number 623,000. Almost three times as many people are getting paid by this program, largely funded by the federal government. The number of aides per 1,000 residents over 65 years of age is 171, which is 153% of the national average.
Let’s review. The number of paid home health care workers soared from 20,000 to 623,000 from 2015 to 2024. The number of people being paid went up 57,000 just in 2024.
If there were time limits, meaning the job automatically terminates after a year and the person has to apply again proving first the person they are caring for is still alive and second the position is valid, how many people would continue getting paid?
Someone signs on to get SNAP and they barely get reviewed. That is why the participants have soared from 17.2 million in 2000 to 42.1 million in 2023. The cost went from $28 billion in constant 2023 dollars to $113 billion in 2023.
The numbers have soared similarly for SSI. Many people have written that while jobs have become less physical overall over the years, disabilities have still soared. It does not correlate. They have had investigators going out undercover and find out there are people defrauding the system. Instead of having to investigate these people why not automatically terminate the benefits and make people reapply and prove the need? There would be an increase in staffing costs, but huge savings in inappropriately paid out benefits.
The only benefit program that does not need renewal is Medicare. The benefits are only paid when someone shows up with a proper ID at a medical facility. Even social security beneficiaries should have been required to show “proof of life” every three years or so. How many people keep a joint bank account open and receive grandma or grandpa’s SS benefits long after they have gone to heaven? That is why the DOGE people found millions of people on the database over the age of 100. No proof of life, no benefits.
Will there be a lot of whining by interest groups and negligent elected officials? You can bet on that. We must get back to the idea these benefits are not a right, they are a privilege. The same people who say blacks are not capable of presenting a photo ID to vote will talk of the hardship put upon the people receiving funds taken from hardworking Americans.
It is time we wake up to the fact we no longer can be a sweet shop handing out Hershey bars. If there are elected officials who are unwilling to implement time limits, then kick their fannies out of office. Republican or Democrat.
There is a simple answer, but it is not simplistic. Time to stop handing out money neglectfully. Time for time limits.
