Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation is Associated with Lower Health Care Spending among Working Age Adults without Dependents

Prior evidence suggests an association among food insecurity, poor health, and increased health care spending. In this study, we are using a natural experiment to confirm if longer participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is associated with reduced Medicaid spending among a highly impoverished group of adults. In 2013, the mandatory work requirements associated with SNAP benefits were lifted for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs). Using 2013 to 2015 Medicaid and SNAP data of 24,181 Minnesotans aged 18–49, we examined if changes in SNAP enrollment duration affect health care expenditures. In fully adjusted within-participant regression models, for each additional month of SNAP, average annual health care spending was $98.8 lower (95% CI: –131.7, –66.0; p<.001) per person. Our data suggests that allowing ABAWDs to receive SNAP even in months they are not working may be critical to their health as well as cost-effective.