Medina County officials warn federal and state budget proposals could shift SNAP, Medicaid costs to counties

Debbie Heilig, Job and Family Services, told the Board of Medina County Commissioners on Tuesday that recent federal and state budget proposals could shift substantial costs and administrative burdens to counties if enacted.

Heilig said the federal budget package under discussion in Congress, referred to in committee as H.R. 1, would require states to begin covering 5% of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefit costs beginning in federal fiscal year 2028 and would increase states' share of administrative costs to 75% from the current roughly 50% share. "If it's 5%, this would begin in federal year 2028. It would be approximately a $160,000,000 in state costs that they haven't expended before," Heilig said.

She told commissioners the proposals also include new error-rate penalties and broader work requirements. Under some House proposals described by Heilig, error-rate penalties could range up to 25% of benefits and even small calculation mistakes could count toward a state's error rate. "If the amount of that error is less than $56 the error is still cited, but it doesn't count towards the state's error rate. There is a proposal in the house that says 0 tolerance," Heilig said.

Heilig said the proposals would expand SNAP work requirements beyond the current targeted population and could add thousands of additional cases counties must assess and track. "We have about close to 10,000 recipients on SNAP. Even if I take half of 9,000 ... we have now 4,500 more people that we need to assess for work competency, find an appropriate activity for them, and then track that," she said.

Heilig also described parallel federal and state proposals affecting Medicaid, including possible work requirements for MAGI (modified adjusted gross income) expansion populations and changes to provider-tax caps the state uses to draw matching funds. She said a proposed reduction in Ohio's provider-tax cap for expansion states would reduce state revenue used to support Medicaid and could make expansion programs more expensive for the state to maintain.

On child-protective services, Heilig said the governor's executive budget included funding that was subsequently reduced in the Senate version and that language proposing regional child-wellness campuses was removed. "They were gonna give $30,000,000 towards creating facilities throughout the state ... That was the hope for this but now that is gone," she said.

Commissioners discussed the uncertainty and the likely need for contingency planning. Commissioner Hambley asked whether counties would have the personnel to implement and enforce expanded work requirements; Heilig replied implementation would require staff and administrative resources that are not currently funded. Commissioner Sweatick noted the county and statewide associations are monitoring the proposals and advocating for changes.

Heilig said county directors have drafted letters and are coordinating with associations to urge legislative changes and simplification of rules to reduce error rates. She provided commissioners with summaries prepared by the National Association of County Human Services directors and by the public children services association.

The discussion was framed as a briefing and planning conversation; no formal county policy changes or votes were taken during the presentation.

Ending

Heilig told commissioners she is tracking developments and preparing contingency plans. Commissioners said they will continue monitoring the proposals and expect to factor potential new costs into next year’s county budget discussions.