Doctors say cutting food stamps could backfire

[meow2u3]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Doctors are warning that if Congress cuts food stamps, the federal government could be socked with bigger health bills. Maybe not immediately, they say, but over time if the poor wind up in doctors' offices or hospitals as a result.
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Among the health risks of hunger are spiked rates of diabetes and developmental problems for young children down the road.

The doctors' lobbying effort comes as Congress is working on a compromise farm bill that's certain to include food stamp cuts. Republicans want heftier reductions than do Democrats in yet another partisan battle over the government's role in helping poor Americans.

Food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, feed 1 in 7 Americans and cost almost $80 billion a year, twice what it cost five years ago. Conservatives say the program spiraled out of control as the economy struggled and the costs are not sustainable. They say the neediest people will not go hungry.

http://news.yahoo.com/doctors-cutting-food-stamps-could-backfire-192904431--finance.html

[tazkcmo]

1. And a spike in crime

I've always asserted that a parent will do anything they need to in order to feed the children and that includes stealing. I've done it and know others that have. Not something I'm proud of but my kids ate that night. Isn't it better to provide a safety net?

[okaawhatever]

2. More proof that the Republicans spend more money than the Demorats. Their "saving" the government

during the shutdown only cost 24 Billion and now their "saving" on food stamps will cost how much in medical bills?

[democratisphere]

3. This makes sense with the focus on good nutrition and the 'war on obesity'.

Congress is no longer about making good long term decisions; it's all about this month and this quarter, much like wall street.

[Squinch]

4. Gosh, docs, ya think?

[jberryhill]

5. Can a doctor diagnose "hunger" and prescribe "food"?

[jwirr]

6. Went to my regular diabetes doctors appointment. He asked what was happening with me in 2014.

I answered that I was poorer. He wanted to know more. The cuts have made it harder to buy the kind of food I am supposed to have. He also asked about medications. Fortunately I have both Medicare and Medicaid.

I did not tell him the full story. Because I live in a 3 generation household that has been effected by the cuts - my food money is often shared with the children. Buying them things we could not afford otherwise.

And since I am from MN I thought I would answer Bachmann's statement that poverty is caused by the family falling to pieces. How does she propose to explain my family. All of us have two parent families where both parents work. She is so off base it is not even funny.

[Skittles]

7. worthy of its own thread

it is easy to get caught up in statistics and ideology but it is heartbreaking to hear the real life stories of the people affected by these insane decisions