Money & budgets
means-tested
A benefit available only to people below an income or asset threshold. Social Security and Medicare are not means-tested; Medicaid and food assistance are.
In full
Means-testing concentrates money on those with the least, and it introduces application burdens, verification costs, and benefit cliffs where earning slightly more costs more in lost benefits than it gains in wages. Universal programs avoid those problems and cost more. The tradeoff is one of the oldest arguments in social policy.
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.