Older Adults and Veterans Just Lost Their Food-Stamp Work Exemption. Four Million Have Dropped Off.

Veterans, former foster youth and healthy older adults who were once shielded from SNAP work rules now must prove their hours to keep food assistance, and more than four million people have already dropped off the rolls.

What You Should Know

Last year’s federal reconciliation law raised the age ceiling for SNAP work requirements from 54 to 64 and ended the automatic exemption for veterans, former foster youth and homeless individuals, PBS NewsHour reported. Affected adults must now show 80 hours a month of work, training or volunteering to keep benefits. SNAP participation fell by more than 4 million people between July 2025 and March 2026, a 10 percent drop in eight months, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), even as unemployment held flat.

The Pressure Point

Sara Naomi Bleich, a Harvard public health professor formerly with USDA, told PBS the drop is not a sign of a stronger economy: “eligible people are leaving the program because it’s become too difficult to document and to maintain their eligibility.” A SNAP recipient with a chronic illness told PBS his benefits fell from about $200 a month to nothing for three months before he was recertified at $50. Bleich noted that intentional fraud has historically been estimated at about 1.6 percent of cases, a figure separate from the program’s broader payment-error rate.

The Receipts

CBPP’s analysis of USDA data found that 79 percent of SNAP households losing benefits include a child, a senior or a person with a disability. Starting in October 2027, most states must also pay 5 percent to 15 percent of benefit costs for the first time, a shift CBPP estimates could total roughly $9 billion, with nearly half of states owing $100 million or more. Some states have said the added cost puts their continued participation at risk.

What Happens Next

Federal funding for SNAP administrative costs is cut in half on October 1, 2026, and the new benefit cost-shift phases in the following fiscal year, according to CBPP. Until then, eligible veterans, older adults and low-wage workers who fall behind on paperwork risk losing benefits at their next monthly recertification.

References: PBS NewsHour | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities