Welfare reform and health care for the poor: Implications for social marketing

This paper examines consumer survival on welfare within the context of a history of modem welfare policy that demonstrates its cyclical nature. An analysis of poor families' consumer needs is delineated with special attention paid to health as it is impacted by the largest government program in this area, Medicaid. We close with consumer-based policy implications designed to meet the requirements of financially-disadvantaged families. The reader is directed to Hill and Macan (1996) for a more extensive discussion of this topic.