Medicaid Enrollment Soars in California While Food Stamp Use Lags
Californians Embrace Medicaid but Shun Food Stamps—Here’s Why
California’s participation rate in the food stamp program is one of the lowest in the nation, despite millions of low-income Californians being eligible for the benefit. The reasons for California’s low rate of participation in the food assistance program, known as CalFresh, remain a “persistent puzzle,” – yet, Kim McCoy Wade, CalFresh branch chief from DSS, and others, suggest it may be due to the less-than-optimal quality of customer service and a bulky bureaucracy.
