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Most states that provide General Assistance also provide medical assistance for GA
recipients, although medical benefits are usually less extensive than Medicaid.
In 5 of the 35 state GA programs, all GA recipients are eligible for medical assistance
under that state's Medicaid program or Medicaid waiver program. Of the remaining 30 state
programs, 26 provide medical assistance to some or all GA recipients, either through a formal
state or county GA medical program, or by providing benefits to cover certain medical expenses.
The medical benefits of such programs vary widely in the types of services covered, but most
provide more limited benefits than Medicaid.
General Assistance caseloads are small compared with the caseloads of the major federal
assistance programs.
Most of the states with General Assistance programs provide GA benefits to less than 15
percent of the number of persons served by TANF assistance in their state. In New York, which
has the most extensive GA program, about 8 percent of those living in poverty receive General
Assistance--approximately 232,000 recipients per month. This is less than one-quarter of the
number of TANF recipients in New York and about one-third of the number of SSI recipients in
New York.
Many states made changes to their GA programs within the past two years, many of which
continued the trend of tightening nonfinancial eligibility requirements.
Connecticut eliminated eligibility for a category of employable persons without children,
although it did create an additional category for persons with an impairment that interrupts