SNAP Access for Medically Vulnerable Children

What it does

If Congress passes it, the SNAP Access for Medically Vulnerable Children would allow households with children with chronic medical conditions to deduct allowable medical expenses, which may qualify them for a higher SNAP benefit. Currently, SNAP’s Excess Medical Expense Deduction allows qualified households to deduct medical expenses over $35 per month from their income in calculating SNAP benefits. This bill would improve the SNAP Excess Medical Expense Deduction to include children that suffer from one or more chronic conditions. Under this bill, SNAP households could deduct allowable expenses over $35 incurred by a sick child and, as a result, may qualify for a higher SNAP benefit.

Who supports this bill?

Representatives Shontel Brown, Marcy Kaptur, Sanford Bishop and Jahana Hayes introduced this bill. In the House, this bill is referred to as H.R. 706 and these Representatives are already supporting the bill.

This bill is endorsed by the Food Research & Action Center.

Want to support this bill?

If your Senators and House Representative aren’t already on the list of cosponsors for the bill:

• Ask your two Senators to “support a companion bill to the House’s SNAP Access for Medically Vulnerable Children, H.R.706.”
• Ask your House Representative to “cosponsor the SNAP Access for Medically Vulnerable Children Act, H.R.706.”

If your elected officials are already supporting this bill, you can always contact them to thank them and help spread the word among your networks.

Resources

If you’d like to learn more about the SNAP Access for Medically Vulnerable Children Act, you can:

• Find instructions for calling or writing your Representative (tip: enter your address)
• Track the bill’s progress on Congress.gov or GovTrack
• Learn why lawmakers are supporting this bill (Representative Shontel Brown’s press release)
• Read the full bill text

See more bills worthy of your support in the 2023 Farm Bill.