Greene County staff warns federal SNAP, HEAP and Medicaid changes will raise local costs and workload

A county services staff member told the Greene County committee on Monday, Aug. 11, that recent federal and state changes to food, heating and health benefit rules will increase local costs and require additional staffing and budget adjustments.

The staff member said the federal government’s change to SNAP administrative funding means Greene County will pay a larger share of administrative costs: “The new change is adding an additional 55%, so we'll be paying 75%.” That shift, the staff member said, raises the county’s annual administrative cost by more than $245,000 and will increase next year’s budgeted county share by about $61,000.

The county services staff framed the changes as a federal-to-state-to-county pass-through. “No. From the feds to the state, and the state passed it on to the county,” the staff member said when asked about who set the requirement.

The staff member said the federal work requirement definition for able-bodied adults without dependents was expanded in age range and other exemptions were removed, meaning more recipients could face work or participation requirements. “They changed the definition of the able-bodied adults without dependents. What it currently was was 18 to 54. They put it from 18 to 64,” the staff member said. The staff member added that some program exemptions—such as for people who are homeless or certain veterans—were removed in the new definition.

On heating assistance, the staff member said the federal HEAP (heating) program faced possible elimination at the presidential level but that a recent Senate action would provide $4,000,000,000 nationwide for fiscal 2026 pending House action. The staff member said the county issued 4,364 HEAP benefits last year, more than 1,000 of them for emergencies, and that the county would face at least $402,000 in emergency requests if HEAP funding were cut. “If we don't get any HEAP at all, we're still gonna have to fill emergency requests for people who are eligible. I'm anticipating that to be over $402,000,” the staff member said.

Child care services also face budget pressure. The staff member said Greene County must guarantee child care to eligible families for 12 months regardless of whether state or federal funds cover all costs. The county’s newly received allocation was $531,000 for the year starting in October, while current spending was about $115,000 per month; the staff member said current funding will only cover four to five months and that the county would stop some recertifications and close non-guaranteed cases starting the next day.

The staff member described changes tied to the end of COVID-era waivers and to Medicaid renewal processing. The state Medicaid director’s letter to local districts, the staff member said, reiterates local obligations to enroll members, maintain plans of care and perform timely reassessments, and warned that failure to comply could trigger withholding of the district’s monthly Medicaid administrative claim reimbursement. “If the district fails to meet any of the obligations and is determined as failing to adhere to state laws and items, Department of Health will take an immediate action to withhold the district's monthly Medicaid administrative claim reimbursement,” the staff member said, noting some counties have already faced withholding.

The staff member gave local caseload figures: 3,749 SNAP recipients were counted in a recent review (after correcting an earlier undercount of retirees), the county is carrying 3,307 Medicaid cases for the local program while the exchange covers 12,211 cases, and the staff member said retroactive Medicaid coverage windows will be shortened, increasing churn and more frequent eligibility terminations.

County officials asked practical questions about program operations, including vendor payments for fuel deliveries and whether emergency funds can be secured with liens. The staff member said fuel vendors are drawn from a state vendor list and the state handles most prompt payments; regarding liens the staff member noted Medicaid can place liens in certain circumstances.

The staff member said they had requested an additional social welfare examiner position in the budget to handle the anticipated extra work on SNAP and other eligibility tasks.

The committee did not take formal votes on the program updates; the staff member said additional guidance and federal/state rules are still pending and that some deadlines—such as the federal requirement to review cases by Dec. 31—are driving local workload decisions.

The county services portion of the meeting closed after questions.