Support healthy communities by supporting SNAP

All Kentuckians deserve access to food, shelter, education, and other basic needs.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (aka SNAP and formerly known as food stamps)is part of the Farm Bill, a piece of legislation reauthorized every five years. The bill also includes agriculture programs such as crop insurance and subsidies and rural development. The Farm Bill needs to be reauthorized by September 30, 2018.

SNAP helps families put food on the table and stay healthy. In addition to improving health outcomes, SNAP also improves education and employment outcomes. Strengthening, not cutting, SNAP is necessary for many Kentuckians to thrive.

• SNAP is good for public health and reduces health care costs. On average, low-income adults participating in SNAP incur about $1,400, or nearly 25 percent, less in medical care costs in a year than low-income adults who don’t participate in SNAP. The difference is even greater for those with hypertension (nearly $2,700 less) and coronary heart disease (over $4,100 less).
• SNAP is efficient. SNAP already does a lot with too little. Even though the food assistance SNAP provides is extremely modest—averaging only about $1.40 per person per meal—it’s a lifesaver for many Americans. Also, out of all public benefit programs, SNAP has one of the most rigorous systems to determine eligibility upfront. As a result, SNAP also has a low error rate, meaning that the vast majority of SNAP benefits are issued correctly to eligible households.

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan and other congressional leaders talk about cutting and making harmful changes to federal programs that help families afford food, housing, health care, and other basic needs – first under the banner of “welfare reform” and now with the misleading language of “workforce development.” The Trump administration advanced this agenda by allowing states to take away health coverage from Medicaid participants and create barriers that make it harder for people to work and succeed in today’s economy.

There are action steps you can take:

1. Call your Congressional leaders and ask them to support healthy communities by supporting SNAP.
2. There is a proposed time limit for SNAP participation of three months in three years for able-bodied adults without dependents who are not working. This punishes people for being unemployed by taking away food, and won’t help them find a good job.Click here for the public comment section, open now until Monday April 9.