Inside the Historic Boost for SNAP Food Assistance

<p>This week, the Biden administration updated its Thrifty Food Plan, which is used to calculate Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.</p><p>The analysis <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/news-item/usda-0179.21">led to an increase in the average SNAP benefit</a> which is set to increase in October 2022.</p><p>The cost adjustment, according to the Biden administration, is the first update since the plan was first introduced in 1975.</p><p>Food insecurity is a big issue, especially as the social determinants of health increasingly are in health policy discussion. For example, one <em>Health Affairs </em>research article found that<a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0645"> food-insecure children are at least twice as likely to report being in fair or poor health</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2018.05265">SNAP reduces the prevalence of food security</a>. Listen to <em>Health Affairs'</em> Editors Jessica Bylander and Leslie Erdelack discuss the Biden administration's latest move on SNAP, and what it means for health care. </p><p><strong>Related Links:</strong></p><ul> <li> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/15/us/politics/biden-food-stamps.html">Biden Administration Prompts Largest Permanent Increase in Food Stamps </a>(<em>The New York Times</em>)</li> <li> <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/news-item/usda-0179.21">USDA Modernizes the Thrifty Food Plan, Updates SNAP Benefits</a><strong> </strong>(U.S. Department of Agriculture)</li> <li> <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2018.05265">Loss Of SNAP Is Associated With Food Insecurity And Poor Health In Working Families With Young Children</a> (<em>Health Affairs</em>)</li> <li> <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00405">The Effect Of The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program On Mortality</a> (<em>Health Affairs</em>)</li> <li> <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hp20210805.209202/full/">Podcast: The