Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Food Stamp Benefits Get Biggest Bump In Program's History
The New York Times: Biden Administration Prompts Largest Permanent Increase In Food Stamps
The Biden administration has revised the nutrition standards of the food stamp program and prompted the largest permanent increase to benefits in the program’s history, a move that will give poor people more power to fill their grocery carts but add billions of dollars to the cost of a program that feeds one in eight Americans. Under rules to be announced on Monday and put in place in October, average benefits will rise more than 25 percent from prepandemic levels. All 42 million people in the program will receive additional aid. The move does not require congressional approval, and unlike the large pandemic-era expansions, which are starting to expire, the changes are intended to last. (DeParle, 8/15)
AP: USDA To Permanently Boost Food Stamp Benefits By 25 Percent
The Biden administration has approved a significant and permanent increase in the levels of food stamp assistance available to needy families — the largest single increase in the program’s history. Starting in October, average benefits for food stamps — officially known as the SNAP program — will rise more than 25 percent above pre-pandemic levels. The increased assistance will be available indefinitely to all 42 million SNAP beneficiaries. (Khalil and Boak, 8/16)
Politico: Biden Administration Makes Record Increase To Food Stamp Benefits
On Monday, USDA will outline exactly how it concluded that benefits should increase. One important change: The formula will take into account convenience foods like chopped frozen vegetables, bagged salads and canned beans, which are much more common now than when the plan was last updated in 2006. (Evich, 8/15)
Reuters: Biden Administration Confirms It Will Boost Food Stamps By Record Amount
Under the new rules, average monthly benefits, $121 per person before the pandemic, will rise by $36 starting in October, the newspaper reported, adding that all 42 million people in the program would receive additional aid. At the same time, a temporary 15% increase in benefits as part of pandemic relief is set to expire Sept. 30. The $3.5 billion boost approved earlier this year provides about $27 more per person, per month, or over $100 more a month for a household of four, in additional food stamp benefits. (Shepardson, 8/15)
The Washington Post: Biden Administration Approves Largest Increase To SNAP Food Assistance Benefits In Program’s History
“Plain and simple, this is totally a game-changing moment,” said Jamie Bussel a senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropy focused on health. “The changes have enormous potential to reduce, and potentially eliminate, child hunger and poverty in this country. This will reflect much more accurately what food actually costs in communities.” ... Anti-hunger experts have long argued the Thrifty Food Plan’s metrics are out of date with the economic realities most struggling households face. They say the plan, formulated in the 1960s, was designed when many American families still had only one working parent, allowing the other parent more time for labor-intensive, but cheap, cooking from scratch. (Reiley, 8/15)
