View the interactive map.
Congressional changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, that went into effect Nov. 1 reduced food stamp benefits to approximately 48 million Americans enrolled in the program.
The Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts, is conducting a health impact assessment to examine the effects of changes to SNAP’s eligibility and benefit levels. The Health Impact Project released a white paper in March examining the health implications and health-related costs of the proposed changes.
Members of the Health Impact Project team will present their findings at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting Nov. 2 - 6, 2013 in Boston.
The comprehensive, nonpartisan analysis details how changes to SNAP (previously known as food stamps) could affect the U.S. poverty rate, disease rates—including diabetes—and associated medical costs, among other things. The goal of the project is to ensure that potential health effects and related costs are a part of the policy discussion.
How will a reduction in supplemental nutrition assistance affect your state? View the interactive map of state-by-state data on the number of enrollees in the program and cuts to the program.
- Stateline interactive: “Food Stamp Cuts, State by State”
- Pew Research Center: The Politics and Demographics of Food Stamp Recipients
- New York Times: “House Plan on Food Stamps Would Cut 5 Million From Program”
- Stateline: “How Food Stamp Cuts Affect Your State.”
- NewPublicHealth: Assessing Health Impacts of Changes to SNAP: A Q&A With Aaron Wernham of the Health Impact Project.
- Kentucky Herald-Leader: House GOP Ups Nutrition Cuts
- Chicago Sun-Times: Americans Struggling with Hunger Can’t Afford Big Cuts to Food Stamp Program
- Bloomberg: Food Stamp Cut Backed by Republicans With Voters on Rolls
* Note: The research addressed potential health impacts of the proposed changes to SNAP in the Senate-approved bill and H.R. 1947.
- Date added:
- Nov 5, 2013
- Health Impact Project
The Health Impact Project announced seven grants to help bring health considerations into public policy decisions on transportation, education, housing, and other sectors of the economy and U.S. society.More info
Based on $2 billion of annual cuts, about 5 million people would be eliminated from the program, according to a study by the Washington-based Health Impact Project, a collaborative effort between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts. The study also said the cuts would increase poverty and illnesses including heart disease and diabetes.More info
A study by the Health Impact Project found that the proposed $20 billion cut would eliminate 5 million people from the program, increase poverty, contribute to food insecurity for millions of children and cost billions in preventable health care expenses.More info
In a report last month, the Health Impact Project, a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts, said a reduction in food stamps would lead to less nutrition for Americans and an increase in health problems.More info
Nearly half a million people who receive food stamps but still do not get enough to eat would lose their eligibility for the program under proposed cuts that are expected to be taken up again by Congress. An additional 160,000 to 305,000 recipients who do get enough to eat would also lose their eligibility and the ability to adequately feed themselves.More info
Aaron Wernham, director of the Health Impact Project discusses the benefits of health impact assessments in this edition of Governing.More info
The Health Impact Project announced eight new grant recipients that will receive funding to conduct health impact assessments, or HIAs. The projects will bring health considerations into upcoming decisions on topics including education, sanitation infrastructure, and energy. The grantees were selected based on their response to a national call for proposals.More info
The city of Greenville, South Carolina recently completed a yearlong health impact assessment with support from Pew's Health Impact Project.More info
The Health Impact Project announces a request for proposals (RFP) that will fund three grants of up to $100,000 each to identify and address potential health impacts of an upcoming decision in each of their communities or state through the use of health impact assessments (HIA).More info
The New York Times interviews Aaron Wernham, project director for the Health Impact Project, about the growing field of health impact assessments.More info