Issue explainer

Safety net programs: SNAP, Medicaid and housing aid

Programs like SNAP (food stamps) and Medicaid help people with low incomes afford food and health care. A 2025 federal law added stricter work rules and will make states with high SNAP error rates pay part of benefit costs. Texas has also added its own limits on what SNAP can buy.

The basics

The safety net is a group of programs for people with low incomes. The largest include SNAP, which helps families buy groceries, and Medicaid, which pays for health care. Washington pays for most of the cost, while states run the programs and make key choices about them.

The 2025 tax and spending law (Public Law 119-21) made big changes to SNAP¹. Work requirements for adults without dependents now reach people ages 55 through 64 and parents whose youngest child is 14 or older¹. The law also ended special exemptions for veterans, people who are homeless and young adults who aged out of foster care¹. Covered adults who do not meet the requirement are limited to 3 months of benefits in 3 years¹.

Starting in fiscal year 2028, states with SNAP payment error rates of 6% or higher will have to pay up to 15% of SNAP benefit costs¹.

For Medicaid, the law requires adults covered through the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion to work, volunteer or be in training at least 80 hours a month, starting January 1, 2027, though states can ask for more time, up to the end of 2028². Parents of children 13 and under, people who are medically frail and pregnant or postpartum people are among those exempt². KFF reports that an earlier CBO analysis found the requirement would add 4.8 million people to the uninsured by 2034².

Supporters of these changes say they encourage work and focus help on those who need it most. Critics say many eligible people will lose help because of paperwork and reporting rules.

Key terms

SNAP: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, often called food stamps. It gives monthly grocery benefits on a card to households with low incomes.
Work requirement: A rule that some adults must work, volunteer or be in training for a set number of hours to keep benefits. Medicaid's new rule, starting in 2027, is 80 hours a month².
Payment error rate: The share of SNAP dollars paid in the wrong amount, too much or too little, or to an ineligible household. Texas's rate was 9.34% in fiscal year 2025, compared with 10.62% nationally¹.
Medicaid expansion: The Affordable Care Act option for states to cover nearly all adults with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level. 41 states, counting DC, have adopted it³.
Guaranteed income: Regular cash payments with no rules on how they are spent. So far it has mostly been tried in small local pilot programs.

In Texas

Texas runs SNAP through its Health and Human Services Commission, and about 3.3 million Texans receive it⁴. Under Senate Bill 379, passed in 2025, SNAP benefits in Texas can no longer buy candy or drinks with 5 or more grams of added sugar or any artificial sweetener, starting April 1, 2026⁴. In June 2026 a federal judge ruled that USDA could not approve similar limits in five other states, but that case did not cover Texas⁷.

Texas has not expanded Medicaid, so the new federal Medicaid work requirement, which applies to expansion adults, largely does not reach Texas²⁵. Texas Medicaid covers few adults: a parent in a family of three loses eligibility at about $4,098 a year in income, the lowest limit in the country⁵.

Texas's SNAP payment error rate was 9.34% in fiscal year 2025, above the 6% line in the new federal formula¹. At that rate Texas would pay 10% of SNAP benefit costs starting in fiscal year 2028, and it will owe a share unless its rate falls below 6%¹. On guaranteed income, the Texas Supreme Court in April 2024 put Harris County's pilot program on hold after the Texas Attorney General argued it violated the state constitution⁶.

How people see it

The strongest case for each view, in terms its supporters would recognize. We don't pick a side.

Cut them back; families, churches and charities should lead

Supporters say government aid can discourage work and crowd out the families, churches and charities that know people personally. They would shrink federal programs, give states and communities more control, and trust local groups to help neighbors in need.

Keep them, but add work requirements

Supporters say help should be a bridge back to work, not a permanent way of life. Asking able-bodied adults without young children to work, train or volunteer part time respects taxpayers and helps people build skills, while still protecting children, seniors and people with disabilities.

Keep them about as they are

Supporters say these programs already do a reasonable job of keeping families fed and insured, and big changes risk leaving eligible people without help. They would fight fraud and errors without cutting benefits or adding new hurdles.

Expand help for childcare, housing and paid leave

Supporters say working families struggle most with costs like child care and rent, and that paid family leave keeps parents connected to their jobs. Helping with these basics, they argue, supports work and pays off in healthier kids and steadier families.

Move toward guaranteed income or much broader programs

Supporters say regular cash with no strings is simpler and more respectful than many separate programs with complicated rules. They argue people know best what they need, and that a basic income floor would reduce poverty and the red tape that keeps eligible people from getting help.

Who decides

U.S. Congress: Sets funding and federal rules for SNAP and Medicaid, including work requirements and the new state cost share.
USDA and HHS: Federal agencies that write program rules and approve state requests, such as Texas's SNAP limits on candy and sugary drinks.
Texas Legislature and Governor: Decide Medicaid eligibility, whether to expand Medicaid, how Texas runs SNAP, and how to pay the state's share of costs.
Texas Health and Human Services Commission: Runs SNAP and Medicaid in Texas day to day.

Questions to ask a candidate

Texas may soon have to pay part of SNAP benefit costs. Would you fund that share, cut benefits, or change who qualifies?
Do you support work requirements for SNAP and Medicaid? Who should be exempt?
Should Texas expand Medicaid to cover more low-income working adults? Why or why not?
What role should churches and charities play compared with government programs?

Last reviewed 2026-09-26. Spotted something wrong? Every claim links to its source so you can check it yourself.