WATCH: Rep. Schiff Joins ABC7 Bay Area to Discuss Innovative GAIN Act, Improving Health Outcomes Through Guaranteed Income
Washington, D.C.— Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) recently joined ABC7 Bay Area’s Stephanie Sierra to discuss his first-of-its-kind Guaranteed Income for Families in Need (GAIN) Act, which would provide low income families with regular cash payments and improve adverse health outcomes associated with income volatility.
Watch the full video of the interview HERE.
Key Excerpts:
On guaranteed income saving the government money on healthcare costs:
[...] If you provide a small amount of monthly income to help stabilize families that are on the edge of poverty, it can really improve outcomes. They can improve their full-time work. It can improve their health outcomes, their mental health, their physical health. It can essentially save the government money on health care and other costs.
So this is a pilot project. It would authorize the HHS to provide ten grants to states or local governments to try whether $500-a-month payments over a period of time will improve health outcomes and essentially save taxpayers by getting better results for people at lower cost.
You can imagine when you've got a child who is battling cancer, transportation costs to and from the hospital. The added financial worries and stress on the family. Time away from work. All of those things can can actually affect health outcomes. And providing this additional support may be a very cost effective answer.
On recipients using the money for essentials, to improve their wellbeing:
[...] It's used for… necessities of life. Like transportation costs. Like buying diapers. Like buying things that are really necessary for families.
And the other worry people have is, well, will this discourage work? But in fact, the studies that have already been done demonstrate it doesn't discourage work. In fact, it makes work more likely because many people, if their car breaks down, can't afford to fix their car. If they need childcare and have an emergency, they can't afford childcare.
It keeps them out of the workplace not to have this basic financial security. So it is our experience has so far told us these funds are not used, you know, for buying drugs or these other things. And they do actually increase employment, not decrease it.
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