Indiana is one of 18 states approved by the USDA to test restrictions on the use of SNAP benefits to purchase unhealthy foods as part of President Donald Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again” campaign.
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Major changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, are coinciding with Medicaid turmoil.
Fish Chicken & Shrimp Market says it was denied due process before a six-month ban was imposed.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture relies on eligibility for means-tested programs like SNAP as a benchmark for the Community Eligibility Provision, which is a waiver for high-poverty school districts to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students.
Indiana enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, dropped 10.7% in one year, the study found.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — the nation’s largest anti-hunger initiative — serves more than a half-million low-income Indiana residents.
Democrats argued that new rules could push eligible Hoosiers out of coverage.
The new Indiana Council on Fraud Detection and Prevention is expected to focus on federally funded programs administered by state agencies like Medicaid, SNAP and WIC.
The changes, dubbed “Smart SNAP,” are part of the “Make Indiana Healthy Again” plan launched in April by Gov. Mike Braun’s administration.
The legal issue over the funding could be rendered moot soon if a deal advancing on Capitol Hill to end the shutdown is adopted. That measure—which has passed the Senate, with the House expected to vote as soon as Wednesday—would fund SNAP through September.
The legal wrangling could be moot if the U.S. House adopts and Trump signs legislation to quickly end the federal government shutdown.
Gov. Mike Braun’s office said Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits for November should be available on EBT, or Electronic Benefits Transfer, cards on Tuesday.
The request is the latest in a flurry of legal activity over how a program that helps buy groceries for 42 million Americans should proceed during the historic U.S. government shutdown.
The Trump administration said that based on “further calculations” it has determined it can provide recipients of low-income food assistance more than the 50% it earlier pledged.
The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration said Wednesday that it was recalculating benefit allotments to 274,000 SNAP households in the state.
SNAP regularly costs the federal government about $9 billion a month. But the federal shutdown, which has lasted more than a month, has affected the program because Congress has not appropriated new funds for it.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is expected to announce Monday morning that benefit amounts for the program, formerly known as food stamps, will rise an average of 25% above pre-pandemic levels.
A sizable number of the recipients of federal aid programs such as Medicaid and food stamps are employed by some of the biggest and more profitable companies in the United States.
The order focuses on finding ways to strengthen existing work requirements and exploring new requirements for benefits such as food stamps, cash and housing assistance programs.
Indiana lawmakers on Monday took a preliminary step that would allow people with felony drug convictions to be able to receive food and nutrition assistance—part of one lawmaker’s plan to curb the state’s opioid problem.
Much of the drop comes from an improving economy, but efforts to reduce enrollments among able-bodied adults who are capable of working are also accelerating the decline.
