Work requirements for SNAP, Medicaid and HUD benefits: a state-by-state impact

Work requirements for SNAP, Medicaid and HUD benefits: a state-by-state impact

President Donald Trump’s administration made work requirements for low-income people receiving government assistance a priority in 2025, with changes affecting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medicaid and HUD-subsidized housing. The Associated Press review described efforts by federal departments—Health and Human Services, Agriculture and Housing and Urban Development—to usher in stricter employment conditions tied to eligibility for benefits funded by the federal government.

Supporters have argued the requirements discourage people from staying out of the labor market and can improve participation. But economists and policy experts cited by AP said there is no clear evidence that the mandates deliver wider labor-market gains, and they warned that tying benefits to work could come with other costs, including disrupting existing employment and adding heavy administrative burdens.

How expanded SNAP work rules could narrow exemptions

AP said Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” in July expanded the USDA’s work requirements policy for SNAP recipients who are able-bodied adults without dependents. Previously, adults older than 54 and parents with children under 18 at home were exempt from SNAP’s 80-hours monthly work requirement. Under the expanded approach, adults up to age 64 would face the work requirement, and parents of children ages 14 to 17 would have to show they are working, volunteering or in job training if they receive SNAP for more than three months.

The policy also cuts exemptions for people who are homeless, veterans and young people who have aged out of foster care, AP reported. AP further said the changes include restrictions on state and regional waivers tied to local unemployment rates, narrowing the circumstances under which states can suspend enforcement.

The AP review cited Pew Research Center analysis using 2023 Census survey data, saying 61% of adult SNAP recipients had not been employed that year. It also said the national average SNAP benefit as of May 2025 was $188.45 per person or $350.89 per household.

Economists warn eligibility rules could clash with unstable work

Ismael Cid Martinez, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, told AP that many SNAP recipients who qualify for benefits are likely working in low-wage jobs that tend to be less stable because they are tied to the broader economy. Martinez said that when the economy weakens, it is low-wage workers whose hours can be cut and whose jobs can be eliminated—heightening their need for government support. He added that restricting benefits for people who are not working could threaten their ability to get back to work altogether.

Martinez said in remarks to AP: “These are some of the matters that tie in together to explain the economy and (how) the labor market is connected to these benefits,” and “None of us really show up into an economy on our own.”

Angela Rachidi, a researcher at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute, told AP she expected poverty to decline as a result of work requirements. She said it would not likely change the labor force much even if every nonworking SNAP adult subject to a work requirement started working, describing that outcome by email in terms that would not significantly affect the labor market.

Medicaid work requirements begin in 2027, with exemptions but risks

AP said the same summer legislation created new requirements for Medicaid that would start in 2027. Under the changes, low-income 19- to 64-year-olds enrolled in Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion—or through a waiver program—would need to complete 80 hours of work, job training, education or volunteering per month to keep coverage, AP reported.

AP said several exemptions would apply, including for people who are caregivers, have disabilities, have recently left prison or jail, or are pregnant or postpartum. The AP review also said the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted millions of people would lose health care because of the requirements.

AP reported that many people on Medicaid already work, and it described a Cornell Health Policy Center panel of experts as concluding that new national requirements would not lead to large increases in employment rates among working adults on Medicaid. The panel said many working people could still lose health care because of administrative difficulties proving they work.

Georgia’s experience: limited enrollment gains, high administrative costs

AP said Georgia is currently the only state with a Medicaid program that imposes work requirements. It described Georgia Pathways, a program Gov. Brian Kemp created instead of expanding Medicaid, and said it has come under fire for enrolling far fewer people than expected and for creating large administrative costs.

AP reported that critics say many working people struggle to enroll and log their hours online, and that some are kicked out of coverage due to administrative errors. AP also said research released recently from BMJ, a research group based in the United Kingdom, compared Georgia with other states that did not expand Medicaid and found Georgia Pathways did not increase employment during the first 15 months, nor did it improve access to Medicaid.

Kemp’s office blamed high administrative costs and startup challenges on delays tied to legal battles with former President Joe Biden’s administration. A Kemp office spokesperson told AP that 19,383 Georgians had received coverage since the program began.

HUD proposal would let housing authorities add work rules and time limits

In July, AP said HUD also proposed a rule change that would allow public housing authorities to institute work requirements and time limits. AP described a leaked draft of the rule change as laying out how housing authorities could opt in and voluntarily implement work requirements of up to 40 hours a week for people receiving rental assistance, including adult tenants in public housing and Section 8 voucher holders.

AP said HUD identified two states—Arkansas and Wisconsin—where it could trigger implementation based on existing state laws if and when the HUD rule change is approved. The proposal remains in regulatory review and would be subject to a public comment period, AP reported.

AP said HUD spokesman Matthew Maley declined to comment on the leaked documents. The review said the leaked outline defines the age of work-eligible people as up to age 61, with exemptions for people with disabilities and people in school or pregnant. AP also said primary caregivers of disabled people and children under 6 years old would be exempt, and that HUD’s proposed rule change described the policy as setting upper limits while allowing flexibility for local agencies to add additional exemptions.

Limits of work-requirement models in past housing programs

AP said HUD’s proposal also referenced prior testing of work requirements by housing authorities, and noted that researchers at New York University found few successful examples over time. AP reported that the researchers pointed to only one case with modest employment increases—Charlotte, North Carolina—and described that other regions saw work requirements changed or discontinued because they were deemed punitive or hard to administer.

The AP review, taken together, suggests the federal shift toward work-linked eligibility rules spans multiple benefit programs and could hinge not only on whether people work, but on whether they can document employment, training or volunteering in systems designed to track and verify participation.