Pretty much. The negative anecdotes stick with folks even when they're the exception rather than the rule and don't reflect the experiences of the vast majority of people.
Some of the eligibility requirements for these programs are so damn arbitrary. It's incredibly frustrating. Just to throw out another anecdote related to my state's unemployment comp program, I'm aware of a woman in her late 50s who developed breast cancer and was denied benefits because the treatment made her too physically weak to perform the phsyical requirements of her job. She was a nursing assistant and needed to be able to push, pull and lift up to 15 pounds. So here we have a state program that's willing to pay a 25+ year old white, suburban college dude $15 an hour to do nothing for six months because he's technically physically capable of working (and simply chooses not to), but isn't willing to pay a 55+ year old black woman suffering from cancer jack shit because she's no longer physically "able and available" to do the work . . . even though she's still willing to show up to the job to do what she can. I like to think there was something else for her out there outside of unemployment comp, but the fucking inequity of it all reminds me that its not enough for us to simply create these programs. We have to do our best to make sure that they function as intended, and that the people who REALLY need them actually have access to them.
