Cuts to Food Assistance Looming for Older Adults as ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill Act’ Progresses

Keep vital SNAP benefits intact, AARP tells lawmakers

Deirdre van Dyk and Emily Paulin,

Updated May 22, 2025

AARP

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Published May 15, 2025

/ Updated May 22, 2025

Millions of low-income people, including many older adults, could lose access to food assistance under new federal legislation that proposes changes and funding cuts to the national Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

AARP is urging lawmakers to reverse course and protect the program, which helps those in need buy groceries.

A Republican plan to slash $300 billion from SNAP would, for the first time, require adults ages 55 to 64 to meet stringent work requirements and shift responsibility for financing up to 25 percent of SNAP benefits to states.

If the proposal is adopted, the 1 in 10 older adults who struggle with food insecurity could find it challenging to meet new requirements or cut through red tape to access the assistance they need. SNAP households with adults age 50 and older receive about $6 a day.

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The House’s Republican majority approved the changes May 22 in a wide-reaching bill that also would slash taxes and increase military and border security spending through cuts to SNAP, Medicaid and other federal programs. The bill, called the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, now moves to the Senate.

AARP is “concerned about the deep cuts to SNAP,” Nancy LeaMond, AARP’s chief advocacy and engagement officer, wrote in a May 21 letter to House leadership about several key provisions in the bill. She noted that the program is “a lifeline for millions of older adults facing rising food prices and financial strain.”

About 12.6 million adults ages 50 and older have limited access to nutritious food because of financial constraints. They are often hungry, cutting back on or skipping meals because they can’t afford groceries.

SNAP serves low-income individuals and families, helping them buy food at grocery stores, farmers markets and some online retailers. While federal guidelines determine eligibility for the program, each state has some flexibility to set additional requirements. Generally, people qualify based on income and assets.

“With rising food prices, rising food insecurity and a growing aging population, it is more important than ever to connect eligible older adults to SNAP and other nutrition assistance programs,” Bill Sweeney, AARP’s senior vice president of government affairs, wrote in a May 13 letter to the House Agriculture Committee, which oversees SNAP.

Shifting the costs to states

The biggest change to the program would require states to partially pay for SNAP benefits in addition to covering more administrative costs. The federal government has paid all SNAP benefits since the program was established in 1939, while administrative costs have been shared equally with states.

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Under the Republican proposal, states would pay at least 5 percent of the benefits, starting in October 2027. But that percentage would increase based on a state’s error rates — when too much or too few benefits are paid to a recipient.

States with the highest error rates would have to contribute 25 percent of benefits. AARP estimates that 28 states would qualify for the highest percentage.

“This unfunded mandate on states will shift millions or billions onto state budgets that may result in downstream cuts to food assistance, making it even harder to meet the needs of older Americans who need help putting food on the table,” Sweeney says.

On top of paying more for benefits, states would be on the hook for 75 percent of administrative costs, up from 50 percent.

States will be forced to make difficult decisions to absorb those new costs.

“Even shifting funding by 5 percent to the states could force the rationing or reduction of benefits. States might also be forced to change eligibility requirements, making it harder for individuals to qualify for the benefits,” says Lauren Ryan, AARP government affairs director for federal food security policy.

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Modifying the work requirements

SNAP beneficiaries currently have work requirements, but most older adults adults and people with disabilities are exempt. In the bill, adults up to age 65 could be required to work 80 hours a month, but that might not be easy. Two-thirds of workers over age 50 have seen or directly experienced age discrimination in the workforce, according to AARP surveys, and 1 in 5 feel they are being pushed out of their jobs because of age.

“We’re concerned about expanding work requirements to older adults who already face higher rates of long-term unemployment and persistent age discrimination,” Sweeney says, urging lawmakers to reconsider these requirements.

In addition, family caregiving work does not count toward the required work hours. Those who fail to fulfill work quotas could lose SNAP benefits for three years.

“Some older adults may already be working but with inconsistent hours or providing unpaid care,” Ryan says. "They may be meeting the requirements or trying to find work but be penalized due to bureaucratic red tape.”

Read AARP’s May 21 letter to House leadership, where we support certain tax provisions in the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act and oppose cuts to Medicaid, Affordable Care Act marketplace health coverage and SNAP, as well as the policy to keep prescription drug prices high for certain types of drugs.

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Deirdre van Dyk is an AARP associate editor covering Social Security, caregiving, technology and fraud. She previously worked at USA Today and Time, where she covered business, government, sustainability and innovation.

Emily Paulin is an editor at aarp.org who covers nursing homes, health care, and federal and state policy. Her work has also appeared in Broadsheet, an Australian lifestyle publication.