SNAP Benefits Could Help Cut Health Care Costs, According to New Research
States might be more interested in making SNAP participation as easy as possible if they thought of the program as not just a tool to combat hunger, but also as a strategy to offset Medicaid budgets.
As many as 1 in 7 Americans are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The program is designed to alleviate food insecurity, but new research suggests that SNAP may have another compelling benefit—one that may be of particular interest to state governments.
According to a study released in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Monday, the program could help cut overall health care costs for its participants.
Researchers analyzed the health expenditures for 4,447 people over the course of two years, 1,889 of whom were SNAP enrollees. Controlling for health disparities that might influence spending, the authors of the study found that the annual health costs for SNAP participants were roughly $1,400 lower than for low-income people who aren’t enrolled in the program.
As for what the relationship might be between food access and general health, the study’s authors have a few ideas. Perhaps, for example, resolving food insecurity helps ameliorate the toll of diet-responsive ailments like diabetes, obesity and coronary heart disease.
But whatever the reason for the connection, this study should make state budget directors’ ears perk up.
SNAP, as an entitlement program, is funding exclusively by the federal government. Medicaid on the other hand, is jointly funded by states and the federal government. If low-income SNAP participants see health cost reduction, that could come out to an overall reduction in Medicaid spending, an attractive proposition for those trying to keep state health spending from overtaking other fiscal needs, like education and infrastructure.
As the paper points out, while SNAP eligibility requirements are set at the federal level, enrollment policies that make it easier or harder to participate vary from state to state. These State-level decisions have the power to subtly discourage or encourage enrollment.
Six states do not have an online application process for the program. Only 22 states make their online applications available in both English and Spanish. Thirty-three states provide eligibility screening tools on the web, the rest do not.
States might be more interested in reforming SNAP policies with the aim of making participation as easy as possible if they thought of the program as not just a tool to combat hunger, but also as a health cost-reduction strategy.
Quinn Libson is a Staff Correspondent for Government Executive’s Route Fifty.
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