this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2024
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The sad thing is when you can get actual numbers on what the costs of things are to the state and federal governments to keep things the way they currently are it's really bonkers that policy is setup the way it's setup.
The United States spends on average about $72,500 per year per incarcerated individual, which given the number of people who are in prison due to circumstances of poverty is a lot more than it would cost to simply have the funds available to individuals to intervene before they make the choices that land them in prison. For context the median individual income in the US is $37,585
Medicaid has an median cost per enrollee of $9,108 which is about the same unsubsidized cost of private health insurance, except Medicaid has no deductible, no copays (I believe some medications do have pretty low copays but that's all that I've seen during periods where we did qualify or for my special needs child who's on a special Medicare plan for children with disabilities) and generally means you simply receive the care you need without paying a dime to the medical facility. In other words, Americans could feasibly collectively pay the government exactly what they already pay private insurance companies in premiums and receive better coverage for less cost than under the current system.
The average cost per homeless person (this is primarily a cost in extra social services to support their existence) is $35,500 per year in the US. The average annual cost of rent in US is $20,400. The US could simply pay to rent every homeless person an average apartment in the country and save $15,000/year per person in social services, and that's before even considering more creative options such as public housing, or providing subsidies/incentives to house the housing insecure in lower cost regions of their respective states (which might well save small town America, given most small towns are consistently shrinking in population)
The unavoidable conclusion is that American politicians simply choose to burn unthinkable billions of dollars every year to perpetuate human suffering
Thank you for digging up those numbers.
I have been struck for years at how out system isn't intentionally built. It just happened due to millions of decisions.
it is intentionally built. it's purpose is to do what it does. the system is intentionally built to make people suffer.