FRAC Chat

Recently released national and state-by-state estimates of the degree to which the Supplemental Assistance Program (SNAP) is reaching residents with lower incomes are a helpful tool for assessing the program’s reach and gaps. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) SNAP Program Access Index (PAI) for 2021[i] indicates that on a national level SNAP is reaching over three in four (77 percent) residents who have incomes at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty line (FPL), an improvement over the 2019 PAI of 70 percent.[ii]

Although it seems like 2023 has just begun, the Maryland legislative session for this year has already concluded. With only 90 days in the session, Maryland state legislators and advocates had to move quickly to introduce, negotiate, and pass key policies to avoid the risk of having to wait until the next legislative session. Maryland Hunger Solutions (MDHS) worked closely with our colleagues in the Maryland General Assembly and our advocacy partners on several anti-hunger- and anti-poverty-related bills this year, including legislation related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the School Breakfast and National School Lunch programs.We are excited about the passage of three key anti-hunger bills this session.

For the past few years, states were allowed to temporarily stop eligibility reviews for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). This kept people from losing their health coverage during a public health crisis. With the ending of the Medicaid Continuous Enrollment Condition on March 31, 2023, states are returning to normal operations. As a result, these eligibility reviews are starting, and families need support to navigate anticipated state timelines for initiating unwinding-related renewals. and information on how to maintain coverage.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) changes that worsen time limits on food benefits for certain unemployed and underemployed adults were attached to the debt limit package (H.R. 2811) that cleared the House on April 26.

As the Senate takes up debt limit legislation, and Members of Congress continue working toward a 2023 Farm Bill, we need to set the record straight on the current SNAP time limit rules, how they were enacted and implemented, and why, instead of worsening them, Congress should pass legislation, the Improving Access to Nutrition Act of 2023 (H.R. 1510), to end SNAP time limits entirely.

The American Society on Aging’s annual conference drew thousands of attendees to Atlanta, Georgia, last month to participate in sessions on topics ranging from how to be anti-ageist to developing age-friendly and climate-smart communities.

I presented a poster session on how the pandemic only worsened food insecurity and the health of millions of older adults. Black, Latinx, and Native American older adults disproportionately faced struggles putting food on the table due to underlying structural discrimination and other inequities.
During the conference, I had the chance to meet with aging experts from across the country and learn more about how their organizational work intersects with efforts to address hunger among older adults.