Number of Americans Accepting Government Aid Soars

One in six Americans are relying on government anti-poverty programs to help them weather the lingering recession, and that number is growing, USA Today reported Monday.

A survey of data by the newspaper found that more than 50 million are on Medicaid, the federal-state health program aimed at low-income Americans. That's up 17 percent since the economic downturn began three years ago.

"Virtually every Medicaid director in the country would say that their current enrollment is the highest on record," analyst Vernon Smith of Health Management Associates told USA Today.

The federal food stamps program has ballooned by about half since the recession hit to more than 40 million people. And more than 4.4 million Americans are on welfare, a jump of about 18 percent since late 2007.

Unemployment insurance caseloads peaked at nearly 12 million in January, the highest number on record, according to Christine Riordan of the National Employment Law Project, which advocates for low-wage workers. On average this year, about 10 million people collected unemployment -- four times as many as three years ago.

As caseloads for all the programs have skyrocketed, so have costs, USA Today reported:

The federal price tag for Medicaid has jumped 36% in two years, to $273 billion. Jobless benefits have soared from $43 billion to $160 billion. The food stamps program has risen 80%, to $70 billion. Welfare is up 24%, to $22 billion. Taken together, they cost more than Medicare.