Free Argumentative Essay About Privacy And Welfare Services

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Introduction
The United States have many support programs for the poor and marginalized sectors of its society. Among the most common and institutionalized services are Medicaid, Food Stamps and Financial Aid. While these programs aim to provide economic assistance, in general, these programs have also been criticized because of its privacy implications. Critics believe that these programs are employed by the government to invade an individual’s privacy since it legitimizes the collecting of personal information before one is enrolled in these programs. So the question is, is the government justified in collecting information for recipients of Medicaid, Food Stamps and Financial aids?

Privacy in the United States

Privacy is an important aspect in the lives of most Americans. In fact, privacy is so important in America that people would sometimes choose to compromise their safety for the sake of their privacy. Government surveillance, for example, has been highly criticized despite its security implications. Despite the fact that people in the United States are very particular with their privacy, the United States constitution does not provide any explicit definition or rule of law regarding privacy. However, despite the gaps in privacy legislations in the U.S., by ethical standards, it is understood that privacy is a desirable thing and that it should be part of an unalienable right of a human being. However, there are certain situations wherein the demand for privacy goes in conflict with the interest of the general public; such as the case of Medicaid, Food Stamp and Financial Aids.

Privacy Issue in Medicaid, Food Stamps and Financial Aids

Medicaid, Food Stamps and Financial Aids are government funded services that aims to mitigate the needs of the poorer segment of the American society. Medicaid, for example, has been created to cover the expenses that could not be covered by Medicare especially for low-income elderly. On the other hand, food stamps and financial aids are welfare programs, which have been initiated to help the poor as well. According to surveys, as of July 2014, there are at least 12.8 million Americans that are under welfare, which comprises about 4.1% of the U.S. population. Evidently, these programs being government financed get their provisions from the taxes of the general public. In order to avail for these programs, one has to undergo several formalities, which includes divulging personal information. In order to become a recipient, these programs have minimum requirements; one of which is for the individual to prove that he is financially incapable. It should be noted that in order to ensure that public funds goes to those who truly deserve the service, it is necessary for policy makers and those people who implement these programs to investigate personal information as part of a general background check. Logically, a background check would not be possible without collecting information from applicants.

Conclusion

Welfare programs such as Medicaid, Food Stamps and Financial Assistance are funded by the people through their taxes. For the same reason, these programs must be carefully implemented by making sure that the funds go to those who truly deserve the service. The practice of collecting personal information is therefore, justified since it is necessary for the purposes of legitimacy requirements. It should be noted that welfare programs are not meant to make people lives easier to elicit dependency; rather, it is a temporary relief. These privacy issues associated with enrolment to these programs has an underlying advantage since it discourages people to become dependent on welfare while making sure that recipients indeed deserve the service.

Works Cited

Exploring Constitutional Conflicts. "The Right of Privacy ." n.d. http://law2.umkc.edu/. November 2013 <http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/rightofprivacy.html>.
Rowland, D., & Lyons, B. Medicare, Medicaid, and the Elderly Poor. 1996. February 2015 <http://www.ssa.gov/history/pdf/RowlandandLyons.pdf>.
Welfare Statistics. 2014. November 2014 <http://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics/>.