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County social‑services director warns proposed federal budget would add Medicaid and SNAP work requirements and cost shifts
Summary
San Juan County social‑services staff briefed commissioners on the federal budget bill under consideration in Congress, warning it would impose work requirements, more frequent eligibility redeterminations for Medicaid and substantial cost shifts to states for SNAP benefits, and the county plans to draft a letter to federal lawmakers.
San Juan County social‑services staff told the county board on June 11 that proposed federal budget language — passed by the U.S. House and under consideration in the Senate — would significantly change Medicaid and SNAP program rules and likely increase administrative costs for counties.
Staff summarized the principal provisions under discussion in Washington: new work requirements for certain Medicaid adult recipients; eligibility redeterminations every six months for some beneficiaries; and a change that would require states to contribute a share of SNAP benefit costs (the county cited proposals that would scale state shares up to 20–25 percent in some scenarios). Staff said those changes would increase state and county administrative workloads and could shift large sums of recurring benefit costs to state budgets.
The county’s social‑services staff provided local context: about 194 San Juan County residents were enrolled in Medicaid as of the last available county data, and roughly 90–100 residents would fall into the age/income groups most directly affected by the proposed work‑requirement changes. Staff described downstream impacts that would include more frequent benefit verifications, increased calls and paperwork for county caseworkers and higher costs to purchase CBMS (the state benefits system) modifications to automate reporting.
On SNAP, staff said a proposal to require states to pay a percentage of benefit costs could translate to millions of dollars in additional state obligations per month, with a corresponding county challenge if states shift costs downward.
Commissioners asked how the county could respond. Staff proposed drafting a written letter from the board to Colorado’s congressional delegation outlining local concerns and asking for state and federal reconsideration of the work requirements and cost shifts. Commissioners agreed to review a draft letter at the next meeting and consider a formal vote then.
Why this matters: Medicaid and SNAP are major safety‑net programs; federal changes that increase verification frequency or shift costs to states would raise administrative burdens for county governments and could reduce recipient access if beneficiaries fail to meet new reporting burdens.
Next steps: county staff will prepare a draft letter for board review and will supply local statistics and example language for the board and for outreach to state legislators and members of Congress.
