States can create their own benefit packages, but must cover childhood immunizations and pre-pregnancy family planning services. Growth in Medicaid spending, which covers 36 million low-income children, adults, elderly and disabled people, is cut from 10 percent to 5.2 percent. Adults on welfare must work after two years. No family can stay on the rolls more than five years, or shorter at state option. Half of all welfare families are required to work by 2002.
States can deny cash benefits to unwed teen mothers.
Those who keep benefits have to live at home and attend school. Woman on welfare can't get a larger check by having more babies but states can opt out of this restriction by passing their own legislation. Only 35 percent of the 900,000 disabled children keep drawing full Supplemental Security Income benefits and 15 percent would be cut entirely. Addicts and alcoholics are dropped, although some can requalify if they have cirrhosis. In a major break from the past, payments aren't tied to crop prices or production.