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Caldwell County DSS warns HR 1, Medicaid rules and shutdown could hit local benefits and budgets
Summary
The county Department of Social Services told commissioners Oct. 27 that federal changes in HR 1 and a continuing federal government shutdown could shift costs to the state and counties, alter SNAP and Medicaid eligibility, increase staff workloads and pause SNAP benefit payments for November if the shutdown continues.
Caldwell County Department of Social Services Director Kim Arnett told the Board of Commissioners on Oct. 27 that provisions in HR 1 and an ongoing federal shutdown could create significant administrative and benefit-cost exposure for the county.
Arnett said the county has about 14% of residents on SNAP, or roughly 11,141 people, and that under HR 1 states will be required beginning Oct. 2027 to share a portion of SNAP benefit costs tied to the state's payment error rate. "If the error rate is over 10%" in North Carolina, "that's gonna be around a 15% cost share," Arnett said, and she estimated the statewide annual cost at about $420 million and Caldwell County's share at roughly $3.6 million under current error-rate calculations.
Arnett described a…
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