Eroding the foundation: health and social needs of adult SNAP participants in an era of policy change

In 2025, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was at the center of policy debate. SNAP-specific provisions within the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (OBBBA) will affect about 42 million low-income participants. To ground policy proposals and national discourse in evidence, we (1) summarize the characteristics of adult SNAP participants and then (2) describe how recent legislation and proposals may affect them. Using data from 34 states and the District of Columbia, approximately 1 in 10 adults in our sample reported SNAP participation in the last 12 months. Compared to non-participants, adult SNAP participants were significantly more likely to report fair/poor health status, inability to see a doctor because of cost, and health-related social needs (eg, food insecurity, inability to pay bills, lack of reliable transportation), conflicting with some public perceptions of participant characteristics. Provisions within OBBBA will impose financial burdens on states and create barriers to eligibility (eg, excluding previously eligible populations) and enrollment/recertification (eg, adding administrative burdens) for participants. Considering adult SNAP participants face concurrent material hardship, changes to the program may exacerbate existing disparities in health and economic stability of low-income households nationwide on SNAP benefits to assist in meeting basic needs.