State official calls Trump cuts to Medicaid, SNAP 'catastrophic'

HARTFORD -- Federal cuts to health and nutrition programs may be "catastrophic" to Connecticut's low-income populations, who soon will have to navigate complicated federal application requirements that could result in some losing their health insurance.

That was the picture presented to providers and advocates by state Social Services Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves on Thursday during a health equity solutions forum sponsored by the state Commission on Racial Equity in Public Health.

"This changes day by day, often hour by hour," Reeves told about 150 social service professionals, detailing how at least 300,000 low-income adults in the Husky D health-care program, plus their families and nonprofit service providers, will be adversely impacted by the legislation that President Donald Trump calls the "Big Beautiful Bill."

The forum at the Legislative Office Building came as state lawmakers work behind the scenes to possibly add more state funding if Congress fails to adjust the legislation before the federal budget year starts on Oct. 1.

In particular, the new federal budget is designed to push families off SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps, Reeves said. Both SNAP and Medicaid recipients will be required to complete 80 hours per month of work or community volunteer service, but there is little guidance on how to report the those hours and income compliance, she said. Medicaid clients will have to reapply every six months to assure eligibility.

"There's a 90% federal match," Reeves said of the loss of funds for the 300,000 Husky D population. "If you no longer have to pay 90% of the cost for a state to cover 300,000, we just do our basic fourth grade math and you can see what saves across the nation." The Associated Press recently reported that the Medicaid and SNAP cuts total about $1.2 trillion nationally.

"Some of these things are happening right away, but because we don't have any federal guidance, we've not told anyone that your Medicaid is going to stop or your SNAP benefits are going to stop right now because we don't know what that really means," Reeves said. "We could be implementing it in a way that's inappropriate and improper according to our federal partners, and we're absolutely certain that there will be penalties associated with that. There may be penalties associated with not doing it right now."

About six types of low-income residents are served by SNAP or Medicaid, Reeves said: seasonal and part-time workers; people evicted from their homes; low-wage full-time workers; single mothers; and the older unemployed. Many state residentsdo not realize they are on Medicaid, she said, because it's called HUSKY in Connecticut.

It's crucial that recipients understand the deadlines for applications for both programs, she said.

"If you somehow don't meet those 80-hour requirements and those work requirements and you fall off of Medicaid because of that, there is no other place for you to go," she said. "You are then deemed ineligible to go to our Obamacare exchange to get any health care. So the only thing available to you is emergency care. Falling off is not just a matter of resubmitting your application. It really can be catastrophic for you."

The reductions in SNAP benefits will cost Connecticut about $40 million a year, she estimated, as the former 50-50 administrative cost sharing with the federal government shifts to a 75% state requirement. There is an additional shift on SNAP benefits that had been entirely paid by Washington will move to a 15% state commitment.

Peter Handler, deputy DSS commissioner, estimated the changes could cost the state $40 million to $120 million more annually. The agency estimates 40,000 previously exempt SNAP recipients may have to find employment or volunteer opportunities.

State Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, co-chairman of the legislative Human Services Committee who attended the equity event, said lawmakers have been meeting to discuss possible legislation for an anticipated special session of the General Assembly in October to help fill the funding needs. Earlier in the week, he said, Colorado lawmakers approved legislation aimed at raising $100 million to head off massive increases in premiums there.

"A lot of bad things are coming down the pike," Lesser said in an interview. "We haven't gotten much guidance from the feds. What the Trump Administration has shown is they haven't been quick to the rescue. My inclination is to over-prepare. The state needs to put resources into Department of Social Services and Access Health CT. Expiring subsidies under the Affordable Care Act could total $370 million a year to cover more than 142,000 people, if the state were to assume the cost.

"Addressing it in a special legislative session is happening right now," Lesser said. "It's absolutely something we need to talk about."