It's not been an issue in the "last few decades" but I read somewhere that it was an issue when Medicare/Medicaid was originally being discussed. Think pre-60's.
It was also an issue in Colonial America at the state level. State judges spend a lot of their time forcing communities to carry their fair share of the indigent care. I read that researching the history of poor laws in America.
I really would like original sources for such claims. Did you get this from some leftist documentation?
Again, please provide original sources to the claim, "a lot of their time forcing communities." I will make it a point to seek and verify those sources.
What goes for welfare programs/spending today could hardly be imagined for colonial times through to the late 1880s.
Governments at ALL levels are consuming our hard-earned wealth propelling our Republic into a socialist nightmare. Yet, you spend most of your time justifying activist government. Not at all very conservative if you ask me.
The bottom line of the reality we face is the the government is in the process of destroying our Republic and our way of life -- not very charitable if you ask me.