Millions of children lose SNAP benefits as Medicaid changes loom

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Amanda Castro

By Amanda Castro

Associate News Editor

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Millions of Americans, including an estimated 2 million children, have dropped from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program since President Donald Trump signed sweeping changes to the food-assistance program into law in July 2025.

The steep decline is drawing concern as states prepare to implement new Medicaid work requirements in January, raising questions about whether families already losing food assistance could also face disruptions to health coverage.

Children are not themselves subject to the tougher SNAP work requirements, but changes affecting parents and caregivers can affect benefits across a household, while connections between SNAP and Medicaid eligibility systems could create additional consequences for low-income families.

Why Are Children Losing SNAP Benefits?

The decline accelerated after the 2025 reconciliation law changed SNAP eligibility, work-related rules and program administration. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities argues the losses cannot primarily be explained by the labor market, noting unemployment remained around 4 percent nationally from July 2025 to July 2026 while SNAP participation fell in every state except Alaska.

Gina Plata-Nino, director of SNAP Policy and Advocacy at the Food Research & Action Center, told Newsweek, "Since it became law, 5.5 million people, many of whom are children, have lost access to SNAP. Many families with children over 14 who are now required to meet burdensome reporting requirements to maintain SNAP may lose the food assistance they rely on to make ends meet."

Plata-Nino said the consequences can reach beyond SNAP because participation can help children gain access to other nutrition programs, and that losing SNAP can also jeopardize children's access to school meals, putting their "nutrition, health, and learning at risk."

The Trump administration disputed attributing the decline in SNAP participation to any single policy. A USDA spokesperson told Newsweek that SNAP remains an appropriated entitlement and said eligible households continue to receive benefits.

“Let the record show funding for SNAP has not been decreased because SNAP is an appropriated entitlement, meaning if a family is eligible, they receive the benefit. If not, no benefit,” the spokesperson said.

USDA said participation can fluctuate for a variety of reasons and pointed to declines in some states that began before H.R. 1 became law.

“The number of individuals receiving benefits is constantly changing and is not representative of any one policy; to further the point, multiple States saw declines far before the enactment of H.R. 1,” the spokesperson said.

Dr. Lee Bowes, CEO of America Works, told Newsweek that requiring people to report work hours is different from helping them find and retain employment. She pointed to barriers including childcare, transportation, caregiving responsibilities and jobs with inconsistent hours.

"A parent may already be employed but have little control over how many hours an employer schedules each week," Bowes said. "We should not confuse those circumstances with an unwillingness to work."

Bowes pointed to one woman America Works had assisted who had a low-paying job providing patient care. When the woman's client was hospitalized for a week, Bowes said, she lost the hours she otherwise would have worked and subsequently lost her food assistance after failing to meet the required hours.

“She had a job and was willing to work, but a disruption outside her control left her without both wages and food support,” Bowes said. “Taking away food assistance does not create additional shifts, raise wages, or resolve a caregiving conflict.”

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities similarly found that children account for a substantial portion of the decline. Its September analysis found 1.2 million fewer children participating in SNAP across 25 states with available figures since July 2025, representing about a 13 percent decline in those states. Children accounted for close to half of the overall participation loss.

SNAP Enrollment Is Falling Faster Than Medicaid and CHIP

The divergence between food and health assistance is particularly stark when the same states and time period are compared.

Across 26 states with comparable data, about 1.6 million fewer children received SNAP in May 2026 than in January 2025, a 15.7 percent decline, according to Georgetown. Medicaid and CHIP enrollment among children fell by about 1.5 million, or 6.3 percent, meaning SNAP participation declined at roughly 2.5 times the rate.

The gap widened after the reconciliation law's July 2025 enactment. Arizona recorded one of the most dramatic differences: child SNAP participation fell by about half between January 2025 and May 2026, compared with a 12.2 percent decline in Medicaid and CHIP.

One important difference is that children in Medicaid and CHIP have a temporary buffer against coverage loss. Since January 2024, states have been required to provide children under 19 with 12 months of continuous Medicaid or CHIP eligibility after they qualify. SNAP does not carry an equivalent universal 12-month protection, leaving households more exposed to interruptions tied to renewals and other eligibility processes.

What Losing SNAP Means for a Family's Finances

For families already living on narrow margins, losing food assistance can force spending away from other necessities.

"A bill can wait a week. Dinner can't, right? So when SNAP drops, the grocery money gets pulled from whatever bill has the most give. Usually the electric bill, the car payment or gas," financial educator Michael Ryan told Newsweek, adding that families may delay utility or car payments, reduce transportation spending or incur costs trying to resolve eligibility problems.

Ryan said those trade-offs can compound.

"That's where 1 problem becomes 3. A skipped electric payment turns into a late fee. Skimping on gas can mean fewer shifts. And a smaller paycheck makes next month harder than this one."

He also pointed to an expense that does not appear on a grocery receipt: the time and money required to resolve an eligibility problem.

"Then there's the cost nobody budgets for... paperwork. Some families lose SNAP over a missed form, not a higher income. Fixing a closed case means phone calls, office visits & unpaid time off work. Even when benefits come back, the fees & lost wages don't unfortunately."

Food Banks Face Pressure as SNAP Participation Falls

For Triada Stampas, president and CEO of Fulfill, a New Jersey hunger-relief organization, the consequences become visible when families turn to charitable food providers.

Stampas told Newsweek that parents may cut grocery spending or seek help from food pantries, and some try to protect their children by eating less themselves. But she said that defense has limits when a household faces prolonged scarcity.

She said Fulfill saw the effect of SNAP disruption during the federal government shutdown in November, when families who had not previously needed charitable food assistance sought help. "For every meal a food bank provides, SNAP provides nine," she said. "You can't food bank your way out of the gap that a loss of SNAP creates."

Fulfill's network of food pantries across Monmouth and Ocean counties is now serving more than 150,000 people per month, according to Stampas, up 34 percent from last year and nearly three times pre-pandemic levels.

More than 40,000 New Jersey residents have come off SNAP since last summer, Stampas said. She added that Fulfill's staff has encountered people struggling to understand work requirements or document exemptions and warned that paperwork problems can result in families losing benefits even when their need remains.

Stampas said losing SNAP eligibility can also sever automatic access to school meals for some children, leaving families to navigate a separate application process.

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Map Shows States With SNAP Benefit Restrictions as More Rules Come In

States Face New SNAP Costs

Beginning October 1, 2027, most states will become responsible for part of SNAP benefit costs, with their shares tied to payment error rates. CBPP estimates the arrangement could collectively cost states about $9 billion based on 2025 error rates and benefit projections.

The organization argues that the future costs are already influencing state behavior as governments seek to improve their payment accuracy. In 2026, lawmakers introduced roughly 100 bills across 35 states responding to the SNAP changes, including proposals that the group says could create additional barriers for eligible households.

Federal funding for state SNAP administrative costs has also been reduced. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says that change adds to the financial pressure on states while they simultaneously implement the law's eligibility and administrative changes.

Bowes also raised concerns about states administering more complex requirements while facing increased costs, arguing that agencies need sufficient staffing to explain the rules, determine exemptions and help recipients document qualifying activities.

“You cannot expect agencies to provide that level of support without adequate personnel and funding,” she said.

Medicaid Work Requirements Take Effect in 2027

Starting January 1, 2027, states generally must apply new Medicaid work requirements to certain adults covered through Medicaid expansion and specified waiver programs. Affected adults generally must demonstrate 80 hours per month of employment, education, work programs, community service or qualifying combinations of those activities.

The Trump administration argues the policy will promote employment and economic independence. When CMS announced its implementation framework in June, CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said the changes were intended to help participants build skills and independence through work, education, training or community service.

Children themselves are not the population targeted by those requirements. But the overlap between public-benefit programs has prompted concern about indirect effects on families. KFF notes that many people receive both SNAP and Medicaid and that some states use shared or integrated eligibility systems.

It estimates, citing the Congressional Budget Office, that Medicaid work requirements will increase the number of uninsured people by 5.3 million over 10 years, while changes to SNAP work rules will reduce average monthly participation by about 2.4 million over the 2025-2034 period.

The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families argues that the current trajectory of SNAP should therefore be viewed as a warning as states move toward Medicaid implementation. The group says children's Medicaid coverage can be affected when their parents lose coverage, even when the children themselves remain eligible. Meanwhile, current child enrollment has already declined: 2.56 million fewer children were enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP nationally in August 2026 than in January 2025.

For families receiving both forms of assistance, 2027 could show whether the enrollment declines now affecting SNAP extend more deeply into Medicaid as the new requirements take effect.

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Gray R. Thomas

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