FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 28, 2026
CONTACT: Kirstin Snow, Communications Director, snow@pennpolicy.org
New analysis highlights risks to food assistance and health coverage as January 2027 Medicaid requirements approach
Harrisburg, PA — Approximately four out of five Pennsylvania households receiving SNAP benefits also included someone covered by Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) before the 2025 federal reconciliation law (H.R. 1), according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis highlighted by the Pennsylvania Policy Center (PPC). The findings underscore the risk that households already navigating changes to food assistance could face new barriers to health coverage when Medicaid work requirements begin January 1, 2027.
“Families cannot separate the cost of groceries from the cost of staying healthy. When a parent loses help buying food or filling a prescription, the whole household feels it,” said Felicity Williams, executive director of the Pennsylvania Policy Center. “Pennsylvanians deserve systems that recognize the realities of work, caregiving, and illness. A missed notice or an unanswered phone call should never be what stands between a family and the food and care they qualify for.”
Using data from the 2020-2024 American Community Survey five-year sample, we found that an estimated:
- 751,600 households reported receiving SNAP in the previous 12 months
- 603,400 of those households receiving SNAP (approximately 80%) had one or more members enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP
- 273,300 households with a child younger than 18 received SNAP and included someone covered by Medicaid or CHIP
Under the new law, adults covered through Medicaid expansion will be required to document at least 80 hours per month of work, education, community service, or other qualifying activities – or prove they qualify for an exemption – to maintain coverage. The reconciliation law further narrows immigration-related eligibility, taking health coverage away from even more people with lawful statuses, beginning this month. It also expanded the work requirement for food assistance, extending it to older adults up to age 65 and to parents and other caregivers of children age 14 and older.
The warning comes as Pennsylvania’s SNAP participation has already fallen after H.R.1 created new eligibility restrictions. 239,179 people in the Commonwealth have lost SNAP, a total decline of about 12%, including about 68,498 children. The law also increases financial pressure on states by shifting additional administrative costs from the federal government, with additional benefit costs scheduled to follow.This offers a preview of what could be ahead as states turn to health care and attempt to make major changes to their Medicaid programs on an extremely short timeline amid constantly changing guidance from the Administration.
Pennsylvania has just months left to prepare. Beginning in January, families participating in both SNAP and Medicaid will have to navigate multiple work-reporting requirements, frequent and burdensome eligibility renewals, documentation requests, deadlines, and exemption processes at the same time. That increases the risk that people who are looking for work, who have serious health conditions, or who struggle to keep up with the new paperwork requirements will lose benefits. While the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services has begun preparing by upgrading technology, hiring additional staff, and coordinating outreach with community organizations and health care providers, the scale and complexity of the new requirements raise serious concerns about the state’s ability to implement them without disrupting coverage for eligible residents.
Pennsylvanians could lose Medicaid coverage or SNAP benefits simply because they miss a notice, encounter a technology problem, cannot submit requested documents, or cannot reach an eligibility worker before their case closes. Losing food assistance and health care will cause hunger to rise and people with serious illnesses to forgo medical treatment. It will also threaten local economies as people skip hospital visits, give up prescriptions, and spend less at grocery stores and convenience stores.
PPC is urging Congress to enact a two-year delay in the new SNAP benefit cost shifts to states without additional SNAP cuts or higher future state costs, and to delay Medicaid work requirements.
“Congress should act before the end of the year to give states a full two-year delay in the new SNAP benefit costs, without paying for that delay through deeper cuts or higher costs later,” Williams said. “Families need help affording groceries today. A temporary reprieve that sets up another round of cuts would leave them facing the same uncertainty. Congress must also delay Medicaid work requirements before they begin in January.”
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Pennsylvania Policy Center (PPC) is a statewide, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) research, policy, and public education organization working to build a Pennsylvania where everyone has the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead. PPC combines rigorous policy analysis with public education, coalition building, and advocacy rooted in research and lived experience to advance economic, racial, and gender justice and strengthen democracy. Working with communities and partners across the Commonwealth, PPC advances policies that strengthen economic security, promote tax fairness, and expand access to health care, nutritious food, quality education, and other essential public services. Learn more at www.pennpolicy.org.