On July 4, President Donald Trump signed into law a massive budget reconciliation bill, which includes deep spending cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Widely known as “food stamps,” SNAP currently serves about 42 million people per month, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees the program.

H.R. 1, referred to as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” by the White House, is projected to result in almost one million current participants losing eligibility for the program. It is also expected to make it harder for people to become and stay eligible, hurt grocery and farm businesses–both of which operate on thin margins and rely on SNAP customers–and also create more, and potentially overwhelming, demand food banks’ resources, which are already struggling to serve their communities. Overall, the bill expands the SNAP program’s work requirements and provides fewer exemptions from them, imposes first-ever state cost-sharing, and presents more barriers for older adults to receive SNAP benefits.

SNAP Eligibility Changes

Previously, able-bodied people between the ages of 18 and 54 completed a work requirement of 80 hours per month in order to remain eligible for SNAP. The new law increases the age of people who must comply with work requirements to 64. The age cut-off is inconsistent with other federal programs, including Social Security and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly, where benefits for older adults begin at age 62.  The new law also eliminates exemptions to work requirements for people experiencing homelessness, veterans, and people aging out of the foster care system. The USDA warns that SNAP recipients who are unable to complete the work requirement will lose access to SNAP after three months.

Beneficiaries who complete their work requirements will have to get authorization from the state, a process that could present more delays to Americans seeking help. Additional delays will occur while states take time to adjust to the new work requirements. If employers and SNAP administrators lack experience in tracking and verifying a person’s hours efficiently and accurately, people will experience longer waits to receive their food stamps.

Research has shown that anytime SNAP work requirements have been implemented or expanded, labor force participation has not increased. Instead, more people lose access to nutritional support. For example, the Hamilton Project, an economic policy initiative at the Brookings Institution, shares that there may not be enough jobs available in areas with high numbers of SNAP recipients, and even then, workers may not receive enough hours to fulfill the requirement. Similarly, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that some Americans may meet criteria for work exemptions, but have difficulty navigating the system, completing the necessary paperwork, and meeting with the correct people. Such hurdles to become eligible and stay eligible for SNAP only decrease the number of people receiving benefits, not the number of people who need them.

Federal Funding Cuts for SNAP

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the new law cuts $186 billion of federal funding for SNAP through 2034. This is the deepest cut in the program’s history and shifts a significant portion of the expenses onto the states. Originally, SNAP was entirely federally funded, but the new law requires states with error payment rates above 6% to cover 5% to 15% of the cost to continue supporting their SNAP recipients.

According to the USDA, SNAP payment error rates measure the accuracy of a state’s eligibility and benefit determinations. Forty-two states and the District of Columbia have error rates above 6%. No states are prepared to support the cost of SNAP. Calculations from the Center on Budget and Policy priorities show that at its worst, states such as Florida, Texas, California, and New York will have to contribute close to or more than $1 billion per year to continue providing SNAP at their current rates. Extreme cost burdens could push states to offer fewer benefits or opt out of SNAP entirely.

Not only do states lack the budgets to subsidize SNAP, but they also lack the tools and experience to implement the new work requirements. If states cannot sufficiently cover the SNAP pay gap, eligible citizens will likely miss out on necessary food assistance.

Food banks in states with an error rate above 6% will also be negatively impacted by federal cuts to funding. The organization Feeding America estimates that for every meal a food bank provides, SNAP provides nine. When states begin to take on the burden of subsidizing SNAP and implementing work requirements, people will lose their benefits and have to rely on food banks and similar services. These non-profits do not have the resources to assist the significant number of people and families who will no longer be able to rely on SNAP and who turn to food banks for help.

Another group experiencing the negative consequences of these cuts will be older adults eligible for SNAP. According to the Urban Institute, about 4.8 million adults aged 60 and older currently participate in SNAP, but hundreds of thousands are at risk of being pushed out of the program due to the new work requirement age. Current law provides an exemption from SNAP work requirements for adults who are older than 54; under the new law, effective no later than July 1, 2026, adults up to 65 will no longer be exempt from the work requirement and will have to file additional paperwork, which can be inaccessible, confusing, and time-consuming. For example, if a participant requires extra proof of their inability to work due to disabilities, they will have to endure a secondary process to ensure their disability is valid under SSI rules. As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has pointed out, this will be a barrier if the person seeking benefits lacks medical documentation or has been improperly screened by state eligibility workers.

Implementation of SNAP Changes

States must begin subsidizing SNAP based on their error rate by 2028, but SNAP changes could occur as soon as September 1, 2025. SNAP beneficiaries up to age 65 can expect to be subject to work requirements by January 1. 2027 at the latest. This timeline mirrors the work requirements facing Medicaid recipients, inevitably doubling the paperwork and other burden for older adults eligible for SNAP and Medicaid.

Once implemented, this bill will render millions of qualifying people, including older adults, ineligible for food assistance. According to the National Council on Aging, about 60% of qualified older adults are not enrolled. Increased barriers to SNAP ensure that qualified, yet unenrolled, Americans remain off the program despite meeting its requirements. These changes will prevent eligible older adults from both applying for benefits and receiving the help they need from their government.

Additionally, older adults tend to need higher rates of medical care. Food assistance helps them focus their financial attention on their medical and other needs. If adults under 65 who fail to prove their inability to work lose their SNAP benefits, they will have to decide between spending money on food or healthcare. Separate cuts to Medicare and Medicaid will likely generate additional obstacles for this demographic. Similar work requirements imposed for the first time by the new law for Medicaid recipients necessitate even more documentation that will make care less attainable, leaving older adults without the ability to afford basic food, medical treatment, and other life necessities.

LeadingAge is deeply concerned by the new work requirements and cost shifts for nutrition assistance. We will continue to monitor the impacts on SNAP access among older adults as states move forward with implementation.