Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Federal Policy Impacts topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County warns of federal policy shifts: SNAP, Medicaid and new administrative costs will bite Buncombe's budget
Summary
Health & Human Services staff said recent federal legislation and the temporary shutdown will raise SNAP/MEDICAID administrative work and shift more administrative cost to counties; Buncombe projects a larger recertification caseload and roughly $1.9M higher local SNAP admin costs if federal-state cost shares change as described.
Buncombe County Health & Human Services officials told commissioners at the Nov. 11 budget retreat that recent federal legislation and the temporary federal shutdown have immediate and potential multi-year budget implications for county-administered safety-net programs.
David Sweat, director of Health & Human Services, said that approximately 20% of Buncombe residents were enrolled in Medicaid as of June (~62,000 people) and that October figures included about 26,307 children (0–18) and 6,256 adults 65+. He told commissioners that a recently discussed federal bill would increase verification and recertification workload (including work requirements for some adults) and that the county's Medicaid recertification caseload could rise from about 49,000 annual recertifications to roughly 63,000. "That increase will create more work for us," he said.
Sweat said SNAP administrative cost share changed in the legislation such that counties would now be responsible for roughly 75% of administrative costs (up from ~50% previously), pushing Buncombe's local share for administrative staffing to an estimated $6.86 million to maintain current staffing, an increase of about $1.9 million. He warned that SNAP is the area where the county will feel the largest near-term fiscal impact and that the state will bear benefit-cost increases tied to error rates, which complicates county-state negotiations.
On the federal shutdown that preceded the meeting, Sweat said the government reopened and USDA funding for SNAP and WIC was restored; the county and community organized food drives that collected several thousand pounds of food to help households affected during the pause in benefits. He said county staff are monitoring state guidance about benefit loads and back-pay schedules.
Commissioners asked whether counties will be responsible for verification and the increased administrative work; Sweat said local offices do the recertification and verification work and the county will bear more of the related administrative cost if the cost-share shifts remain in place.
