List of Income-Tested Benefits Programs

with No Comments

List of Income-Tested Benefits Programs

In our latest article, “Wealth Inequality in America, Part 5“, we wrote, “Currently welfare benefits can be likened to gift cards, earmarked so they can be spent only on certain things. In Virginia, they are food stamps (SNAP), supplemental food (WIC and TEFAP), subsidized utilities (LIHEAP), health insurance (Medicaid) and subsidized housing. Only 15% of the $30,547 average annual benefit is money.”

Here is a list of expenditures for income-tested benefit programs in 2002 from gpo.gov.

LIST OF INCOME-TESTED BENEFIT PROGRAMS

Below is the list of programs providing income-tested benefits. Within each category, the programs are listed in the order of their total cost in fiscal year 2002 to Federal and State and local governments.

MEDICAL AID Total:   $282,468,000,000

  1. Medicaid $258,216,000,000
  2. Medical care for veterans without service-connected disability $8,185,000,000
  3. State Children‘s Health Insurance (S-CHIP) $5,407,000,000
  4. General assistance (medical care component) – no Federal dollars $4,956,000,000
  5. Indian health services $2,758,000,000
  6. Consolidated health centers $1,328,000,000
  7. Maternal and child health services block grant $1,279,000,000
  8. Title X family planning services $265,000,000
  9. Medical assistance to refugees, asylees, other humanitarian cases $74,000,000

CASH AID Total:   $197,817,502,000

  1. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) $38,522,000,000
  2. Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) — refundable portion only $27,830,000,000
  3. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) $13,035,000,000
  4. Foster care $8,618,000,000
  5. Child tax credit – refundable portion only $5,060,000,000
  6. General assistance (nonmedical care component)–no Federal dollars $3,251,000
  7. Pensions for needy veterans, their dependents, and survivors, $3,177,000,000
  8. Adoption assistance $2,472,000,000
  9. Dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) and $84,000,000
    death compensation for parents of veterans
  10. General assistance to Indians $66,500,000
  11. Cash assistance to refugees, asylees, other humanitarian cases $41,000,000

FOOD AID Total:   $39,306,000,000

  1. Food stamps $24,054,000,000
  2. School lunch program (free and reduced price segments) $6,064,000,000
  3. Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) $4,350,000,000
  4. Child and adult care food program, lower-income components $1,638,000,000
  5. School breakfast program (free and reduced price segments) $1,515,000,000
  6. Nutrition program for the elderly $801,000,000
  7. The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) $361,000,000
  8. Summer food service program for children $307,000,000
  9. Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) $105,000,000
  10. Food distribution program on Indian reservations $74,000,000
  11. Farmers’ market nutrition programs $36,000,000
  12. Special milk program (free segment) $1,000,000

HOUSING AID Total:   $35,565,800,000

  1. Section 8 low-income housing assistance $18,499,000,000
  2. Low-rent public housing $8,213,000,000
  3. Rural housing loans (section 502) $3,499,000,000
  4. Home investment partnerships (HOME) $2,500,000,000
  5. Housing for special populations (elderly and disabled) $895,000,000
  6. Rural rental assistance payments (section 521) $705,000,000
  7. Section 236 interest reduction payments $579,000,000
  8. Housing opportunities for people with AIDS (HOPWA) $314,000,000
  9. Rural rental housing loans (section 515) $114,000,000
  10. Rural housing repair loans and grants (section 504) $62,400,000
  11. Farm labor housing loans (section 514) and grants (section 516) $61,800,000
  12. Section 101 rent supplements $53,700,000
  13. Rural housing self-help technical assistance grants (section 523) $27,100,000
    and rural housing site loans (sections 523 and 524)
  14. Indian housing improvement grants $19,600,000
  15. Section 235 homeownership aid $10,800,000
  16. Rural housing preservation grants (section 533) $8,600,000
  17. Home ownership and opportunity for people everywhere (HOPE) $3,800,000

EDUCATION AID Total:   $19,130,864,000

  1. Federal Pell grants $11,364,000
  2. Head Start $8,172,000,000
  3. Subsidized Federal Stafford loans and Stafford/Ford loans $7,523,000,000
  4. Federal work-study program $1,000,000,000
  5. Federal Trio programs $827,000,000
  6. Supplemental educational opportunity grants $760,000,000
  7. Chapter 1 migrant education program $395,000,000
  8. Perkins loans $166,000,000
  9. Leveraging educational assistance partnerships (LEAP) $134,000,000
  10. Health professions student loans and scholarships $58,000,000
  11. Fellowships for graduate and professional study $45,000,000
  12. Migrant high school equivalency program (HEP) $23,000,000
  13. College assistance migrant program (CAMP) $15,000,000
  14. Close Up fellowships $1,500,000

OTHER SERVICES Total:   $16,074,147,000

  1. Child care and development block grant $8,589,000,000
  2. TANF services $6,147,000
  3. Social services block grant (Title XX) $2,743,000,000
  4. TANF child care $2,322,000,000
  5. Homeless assistance $1,044,000,000
  6. Community services block grant $739,000,000
  7. Legal services $329,000,000
  8. Social services for refugees, asylees, other humanitarian cases $159,000,000
  9. Emergency food and shelter program $143,000,000

JOBS AND TRAINING AID Total:   $7,807,100,000

  1. TANF work activities $2,727,000,000
  2. Job Corps $1,532,000,000
  3. Youth activities $1,000,000,000
  4. Adult activities $950,000,000
  5. Senior community service employment program $494,000,000
  6. Welfare-to-work grant program $413,000,000
  7. Food stamp employment and training $410,000,000
  8. Foster grandparents $155,000,000
  9. Senior companions $69,000,000
  10. Targeted assistance for refugees, asylees, other humanitarian cases $49,500,000
  11. Native employment works (NEW) $7,600,000

ENERGY AID Total:   $2,152,000,000

  1. Low-income home energy assistance program (LIHEAP) $1,800,000,000
  2. Weatherization assistance $352,000,000

Photo by Daniel Zedda used here under Flickr Creative Commons.

Follow David John Marotta:

President, CFP®, AIF®, AAMS®

David John Marotta is the Founder and President of Marotta Wealth Management. He played for the State Department chess team at age 11, graduated from Stanford, taught Computer and Information Science, and still loves math and strategy games. In addition to his financial writing, David is a co-author of The Haunting of Bob Cratchit.

Follow Megan Russell:

Chief Operating Officer, CFP®, APMA®

Megan Russell has worked with Marotta Wealth Management most of her life. She loves to find ways to make the complexities of financial planning accessible to everyone. She is the author of over 800 financial articles and is known for her expertise on tax planning.