How SNAP Benefits Seniors—and Health Care's Bottom Line
Feb 1, 2018, 12:38 PM, Posted by David Adler, Ginger Zielinskie
New research shows that seniors who participate in the SNAP program are much less likely to be admitted to nursing homes and hospitals, demonstrating the power of investing in social services to reduce health care costs and improve health outcomes.
The fresh fruit, frozen vegetables and salad Karen Seabolt eats help her “do more of what I need to do to live a better life,” she says. The 66-year-old from Tulsa, Oklahoma, has diabetes and is paralyzed on her right side from a stroke.
As a diabetic, Karen needs to eat the fresh fruits and vegetables her doctors recommend, and the $15 dollars per month she gets from SNAP—the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—help her do that.
“It really comes in handy towards the end of the month. You may run out of money, but you always have your SNAP benefits. They’re for food only, so you’re not tempted to do without medicine to get food,” she told us.
SNAP benefits go far beyond a healthy meal. We now know that they can be a critical link to lower health care costs and better health for millions of seniors like Karen. A new study suggests—for the first time—that accessing SNAP benefits helps keep low-income seniors out of nursing homes and reduces hospital admissions.
