About people on welfare or medicaid . . . . what do you think?

Question

I work in a pharmacy and see a lot people on welfare and medicaid. A few days ago I filled prescription for a man who is on medicaid, welfare, probably food stamps, doesn't work, and lives in the trailer park next door to the store. It was for an anxiety drug and it hit me: how much anxiety and depression can a person have when everything is paid for by the government and you don't have to work? It's bull, I think. It made me wonder if I was the only one thinking this, so I'd like to know: what do you think about welfare, medicaid, and government assistance?

Serious answers only, please and thank you.

Um, wow, I didn't expect responses so fast. Maybe I am being a little judgmental, sorry. That wasn't really what I was going for. Just wanting people's thoughts really. I understand I don't know the whole situation. Thanks.

Answer 1

Rest assured, you're not the only one who's upset by their scam.
I for one am tired of paying for any frivolous medical problem for welfare recipients when I work and can barely afford to go to the doctor myself.

I think you'd find that anyone working in a position where they deal with this segment of the population is resentful. I'm a nurse. I've seen old records of some of our 'frequent fliers' in which they took an ambulance to the hospital for a yeast infection. I've had to care for these abusers of the system, as they ordered extra trays of food at each meal for multiple family members, treat the nurses like servants,create havoc for the staff and disregard hospital rules. Nothing is ever good enough, and they're getting it free!
It's disgusting.

Answer 2

Thank you for asking about that.
It upsets me when I hear people making judgments like that because they don't understand.
So many people use the terms like depression when they are talking about having the blues. You must understand that the medications are only for diagnosed, clinical illness.

Real Anxiety and Depression are serious mental illnesses. It can be incapacitating. It happened to me. The doctors these days know an awful lot about it and can usually tell if someone is faking just to not have to work. (I think they have to be sick to want to do that, personally) It is something that is hard to pretend that you have it. There are strict criteria for diagnosing and the symptoms have to be over a period of time and continuous etc...

I was a happy working person with a house and a car and a good life, not totaly fine,but doing allright. Then I began struggling. My first symptoms were physical, then came the rest. You know the body and mind operate together, so it is often hard to seperate them . You may think Depression is just in the mind or emotions, but it affects every part of your body. It can knock you flat.

I went through the system. It is a humiliating and tough thing with some of the places you have to go and the people you have to deal with. Did you Know you have to be disabled for a whole year before you can get Social Security? ( I think it was 2yrs for me) That is when you have to survive on food stamps, and any money you have is going to doctor appointments.

I wasn't thinking clearly and made the mistake of paying off my hospital bill with a credit card so I would stop getting those letters. Thus I got into Debt.

The amount of Social Security Dissability payment you get per month is based on how much you earned before you became dissabled. Luckily I didn't get that ill until I was in my late 20's.
Many of the common mental illnesses often start in late teens and early 20's. Those people never have a chance to build up anything. They have to struggle with having a terrible illness and with trying to get by from month to month.

I think you may be getting the idea, I hope. You can not see what is going on inside a person by looking at them picking up their medication. I have had many a time where I just couldn't do it, and had to try the next day or the next after that. It would take me all day to be able to get myself there and that would be the only thing that I could do for that one day. Just about any one can manage a smile and look ok. Everyone else has no idea....

Answer 3

I am the first one to agree with you that welfare and medicaid are abused. I live in Louisiana and the number of people on food stamps and welfare are unbelievable. I think that after so many babies,the government should not pay. Kids are expensive and if you can't afford them, don't take the chance of getting pregnant and forcing other freebies like food stamps to feed the child and government housing because you have to have somewhere to live. Like a domino effect. How many people do you think really try to better themselves if they have everything handed to them. By the time they have a few babies and things get overwhelming it is easier to let some other foot the bill. Not to say that some people do better themselves because after a while it should get old. As far as your customer, I don't know if his anxiety medicine was for. he could have been going through something tragic and was at a low point in his life. We have all been there. I am with you though, he was more than like there for no good reason. It is a shame that us with jobs and the full price of living in these expense days have to watch someone have it so easy and not even appreciate the help that they receive.

Answer 4

There are GOOD people on government assistance .I know that we don't see it that often but many of the peole on assistance are generally needy.Our older family members who worked all their life and still have a hard time paying bills and filling prescriptions.There's the disabled who would be lost without it and all these young new mom's who don't know how to care for the children they have much less work and support themselves.Should we punish these people b/c SOME don't see the need.Get out of your Bougie Life and have a look at the real world.It's just the luck of the draw that your not on assistance now.All it would take is an injury or fire or lay-off from work.The whole world's just a paycheck away from assistance.I'll gladly pay my taxes to help those who need it.

Answer 5

Sure, the government is paying for stuff, but you don't know the circumstances.

For example, my brother just turned 46. 13 years ago, he was diagnosed with a serious heart condition and is now disabled. It really bothers him that he needs to rely on government assistance, but his heart is only functioning at 22% of what it should be, so he doesn't have a lot of choice in the matter. He DOES however, have plenty of reasons to feel depressed and anxious.

I get what you're saying though - there are plenty of people that abuse the system. You need to remember though, that there are also plenty that don't.

Answer 6

I think there are people who abuse the welfare system, but I know of others who used it as a stepping stone when they needed it. Many times people lose jobs by way of lay offs, etc, or maybe they become seriously ill and cannot work. In this transition stage of finding another job or recovering from their illness, the children of these adults still need to eat, have a place to live, and are entitled to quality medical care. I'm not sure if the man you are referring to is one of the abusers, or not, but you shouldn't be so quick to make assumptions until you know for sure what his situation is.

Answer 7

It really isn't any of your business . You have made a quick judgement without knowing the circumstances. There are some people on medicaid who are actually not able to work and for the record, there are many types of anxiety. Not all of them are easy to treat. It has nothing to do with the anxiety that comes from life. And as far as the welfare goes, I believe that there are also people who have to have it to survive, but as with all things, dishonesty is a possibility too. My husband is disabled and would very much resent being called a bum. He worked all of his life priop to his disability and I just love it that people like you have to pay taxes to help support him.

Answer 8

I am currently on SSDI (disability), I get medicaid and $10 a month in food stamps and rent assistance. I need it for a temporary basis. I am looking for work right now parttime. There are people that truly need help but I think the govt should put a time limit on it. If you truly can't work because of physical things then assistance is helpful but there are many handicapped people that work. Being on assistance because you are depressed is not right. Maybe assistance for a few months wihle getting counseling and education. But I think being out of work would make one depressed. I hate using my foodstamps. People stare. I am a clean, well dressed person with a car (crappy one tho) and I have all my necessities in life. But I had to stop working for a time and had no money to live on.

There are also too many people that abuse the system. Our govt should help but only people that truly need it. Drunks should be forced to stop before getting help, druggies should be stopped before getting help. People with limited knowledge should get financial aid to go back to school and get their GED or a diploma. The system has been abused for too long and our govt just lets it happen.

Answer 9

Anxiety can be an extremely dibilitating condition. For all we know, this man may have so much anxiety BECAUSE he can't support himself or his family and has no choice but to depend on welfare.

Depression can also be extremely dibilitating. Again, the man could be suffering depression because he's down on his luck and can't take care of himself or his family.

Not everyone on welfare is just looking for a permanent free ride.

I never gave it much thought that someone in the pharmacy might be so judgemental regarding a person's medications and why or how they're getting them. I think it's sad, really, that-- instead of taking comfort and pride in knowing you were helping someone in need--that you had to question and judge this man's life.

Answer 10

well, obviously you have never had depression....since you obviously havent.....it would be very hard to explain..if it was an older man, you dont know his story...he could have been in a war or something...one of my great cousins or something like that was in a war....lol (cant remember which one) and he has serious mental problems...so first before you judge someone...make sure you know the facts first. secondly..i just got on medicaid and food stamps...no i dont plan to be on the forever...i am pregnant..my so called significant other, dropped me...and i needed help....before i knew i was pregnant...i moved into a new city, so therefore i dont have a job....and yes i live in a nice apartment...but the point is...i am going to get a job...i agree with your point that sometimes people seem to milk the system..but for those of us who actually need help getting on our feet...it is good to use as a crutch. Please dont take this the wrong way...but dont judge people...before you have all the facts...cuz sometimes people have more going on behind their eyes than you could ever imagine.