Dear John,
In case you missed it...this week the Voices for Human Needs blog details new findings that the number of Americans who can't pay their home heating and cooling bills has spiked. And we share America's latest horror story -- Medicaid cutoffs. Finally, we discuss the need for a safety net at a time when proposals in Congress would slash critical human needs programs. Please share!
.png)
This week on the blog..
High energy bills force Americans to choose between paying utilities, rent, or even food
April 21
More Americans are behind on their utility bills than at any point since the 2009 Great Recession, a new report has found. Fueled by dramatic spikes in the cost of energy and by the expiration of pandemic aid programs, Americans owed $17.8 billion on their utility bills as of the end of January 2023. That’s up from $15.9 billion in January 2022, according to the report, released this week by the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association (NEADA). READ MORE »
Medicaid cutoffs: An American horror story
April 21
The biggest threat to Americans today isn’t from a foreign power. It’s from a long-running war on the poor by out of touch politicians and their Wall Street backers. The latest attack on working Americans even has a name: “The Unwinding.” If that sounds like the title of a horror movie to you, you’re not far off. Starting this April, state governments and welfare offices began cutting off Medicaid coverage from some 15 million people. READ MORE »
Don't shred the safety net -- expand it
April 7
Most of us rely on some cash assistance to get by at some point, whether we realize it or not. For wealthy people, that might include a family trust or any number of elaborate tax breaks. For middle-income people, it might come in the form of a mortgage interest deduction on their taxes, an inheritance, or a grandparent’s contribution to a college fund. But for many working people, that kind of help can only come from public programs — the kind that are now under threat from conservatives in Congress. READ MORE »
Coalition on Human Needs
www.chn.org
Connect with us!
