---
type: source
title: "OBBBA SNAP Cuts: $186 Billion Reduction Through 2034, 1M+ at Risk in 2026"
author: "FRAC / Penn LDI / Urban Institute / Pew Charitable Trusts"
url: https://frac.org/blog/snap-cuts-in-obbba-h-r-1-billionaires-win-working-families-lose
date: 2026-01-01
domain: health
secondary_domains: []
format: report
status: processed
processed_by: vida
processed_date: 2026-04-08
priority: high
tags: [SNAP, OBBBA, food-insecurity, food-assistance, work-requirements, health-outcomes, Medicaid, policy]
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
---

## Content

OBBBA (One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025) SNAP provisions:

**Scale of cuts:**
- $186 billion SNAP cut through 2034 — largest cut to food assistance in US history
- Adjustments to Thrifty Food Plan formula (basis for benefit calculations) as food costs already outpace increases
- State cost-shifting: states' collective SNAP costs projected to rise $15 billion annually once phased in

**Impact on participation:**
- 2.4 million could lose SNAP benefits by 2034
- More than 1 million older adults ages 55-64 at risk from work requirement expansions
- 1 million+ facing short-term risk of benefit loss in 2026 from work rules alone
- Urban Institute: nearly 3 million young adults vulnerable to losing nutrition assistance
- SNAP work requirements beginning implementation in some states December 1, 2025

**Health consequences (from research cited):**
- SNAP participation associated with 25% reduction in annual healthcare costs
- Food insecurity linked to higher risks of heart disease and diabetes
- Food insecurity among older adults: poorer diet quality, declining physical health, cognitive impairment risk, harder chronic disease management

**Medicaid interaction:**
- OBBBA Medicaid work requirements: all states must implement by December 31, 2026
- CMS interim final rule required by June 1, 2026
- 7 states with pending waivers (Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah)
- Nebraska pursuing state plan amendment (no waiver required)
- Work requirements: 80+ hours/month for ages 19-64; parents of dependent children under 13 exempt

**State-level cascades:**
- States facing dual cost pressure: new SNAP state share + new Medicaid administrative requirements
- Pew analysis: states may be forced to cut additional benefits as federal shift increases state costs to $15B annually
- Penn LDI: even when SNAP payments resume, more cuts will affect millions

## Agent Notes

**Why this matters:** The SNAP cuts are the largest food assistance reduction in US history, implemented simultaneously with evidence that (a) food insecurity → 41% higher incident CVD (Session 17, CARDIA study) and (b) food assistance removal reverses health gains. The Penn LDI projection (93,000 deaths through 2039 for 3.2 million losing coverage) from Session 17 was from Medicaid cuts — the SNAP cuts are an additive mortality burden. The system is removing two parallel continuous-support interventions (Medicaid + SNAP) at the same time that the continuous-treatment model evidence is documenting why continuous support is required.

**What surprised me:** Implementation began December 1, 2025 in some states — earlier than I had tracked. The $15 billion annual state cost-shifting is a mechanism I hadn't fully appreciated: states that comply with federal SNAP work requirements take on new administrative costs, which may force state-level reductions in other health programs. The fiscal cascade is bidirectional.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Specific data on GLP-1 + SNAP interaction — are food-insecure individuals on Medicaid-covered GLP-1 now losing both the drug coverage (Medicaid cuts) and the food support (SNAP cuts) simultaneously? This double-jeopardy population hasn't been specifically sized, but it likely exists in the 138-250% FPL range.

**KB connections:** Directly extends: Session 17 food-as-medicine reversion finding; SNAP→CVD mortality CARDIA data; OBBBA Medicaid cuts from Sessions 8 and 13. Connects to the continuous-treatment model pattern — removing SNAP is removing the food-based continuous support, and the evidence shows gains revert when support is removed.

**Extraction hints:** Two potential claims: (1) OBBBA SNAP cuts represent the largest food assistance reduction in US history ($186B through 2034), projected to produce 1M+ benefit losses in 2026 alone; (2) The simultaneous reduction of SNAP and Medicaid GLP-1 coverage creates a compounding access gap for food-insecure individuals — the two continuous-support mechanisms proven to reduce CVD risk are being removed in the same legislation.

**Context:** Multiple sources (FRAC, Penn LDI, Urban Institute, Pew) independently projecting consistent impact ranges. CBO-scored $186B figure is authoritative. State implementation starting December 2025 means effects are already materializing.

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)

PRIMARY CONNECTION: SDOH interventions strong ROI but adoption stalls (SNAP→CVD mortality); VBC transitions stall at payment boundary
WHY ARCHIVED: OBBBA SNAP cuts are the largest food assistance reversal in US history, with documented health outcome implications and now-live implementation timeline. Essential for the Belief 1 "systematically failing" claim.
EXTRACTION HINT: Link explicitly to CARDIA food insecurity → CVD mortality data (Session 17). The claim should argue that SNAP removal is not just economic — it's a structural health intervention reversal with mortality implications that dwarf the GLP-1 individual benefit story.
