Yeah, but that'll only go so far, because we have very different social programs, e.g. somebody with severe disabilities receives far more (and means-tested) than somebody who just doesn't want to work. That won't change with UBI, so we'll mostly just replace welfare/rent subsidies (which are, at least in Germany, handled by the same agency and are essentially the same thing, only some will only get rent subsidies but no cash). There's obviously some overhead, but it's not a lot, and it's nowhere near enough where not having to spend it would make a dent in the UBI costs; it's not like we spend 2 euros in administrative cost for every euro we pay out.

> No need to exchange food stamps for cash at 50% face value in order to by beer, just take some of the cash and buy beer. Empower individuals to live how they want.

It's been that way for quite a long time in Germany, cash is the default, vouchers are only a thing in rare cases where the cash component (~400Euros/month; rent, healthcare, utilities etc are paid directly) is reduced by more than 30% due to penalties so people can still buy food. Generally, people get cash and are free to spend it as they see fit.

A large problem with "cash only" (e.g. rent etc not paid directly) is that there's a significant number of people who are unable to handle money. I know, because I live next to some of them. If you give them 1100 euros instead of 400 in cash + 700 in rent and healthcare payments, you'll get plenty of people who spend their 1100 euros on things other than rent. And in that case, you'll either have to accept that they'll become homeless (and we won't accept that), or you have to still pay their rent directly, on top of whatever cash you give them.