SNAP announces new benefit increase in fall: List of states with the largest increase

It’s been half a year and we’re approaching a series of changes that will take place in the coming weeks. SNAP and other programs like Social security We are eagerly awaiting economic data on how the economy is performing and the resulting impact on overall prices. Food stamp benefits, like all the other goods and services we buy in our daily lives, fluctuate in price throughout the year. Other than deciding what to buy, this is something that is out of your control.

However, understanding how they are updated will give you two benefits. First, you will be able to predict the impact of the economy on your profits from the beginning of the year, and second, you will know when your profits will be updated. SNAP Benefits It will increase. Read on to understand how the program works and what you can do to take advantage of this opportunity.

How is the SNAP benefits program adjusted each year?

As mentioned above, the wellness programs The savings programs that the federal government has designed over time have found that keeping the nominal amount of money the same over time reduces the impact of the program simply because as the year progresses, prices also change and in many cases increase. Therefore, as the cost of living increases, what can be purchased decreases. This is the beginning of what is known as inflation.

To counter this economic phenomenon, the government, and by extension, the agencies that oversee each program, will establish a process to adjust current values ​​to inflation and thus maintain the same level of impact over time. It is important to understand that each agency will have a different process and schedule to implement the changes. However, they will have something in common, and that is the type of adjustment index used.

The percentage used to adjust the eligibility criteria for the different programs is called SALARY ADJUSTMENT (also known as Cost of Living Adjustment). It consists of the average of the data from the third quarter of the year compared to the previous year. It is important to note that the consumer price index used for this calculation is not the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W)but the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), a plan designed to provide a nutritionally adequate diet at the lowest possible cost. With this information, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) updated, at the beginning of the fiscal year (October 1), several values ​​related to the SNAP program:

• Minimum and maximum benefit allocations: This is the range of the amount of money each family can receive.
• Income eligibility limits: This is the maximum monthly income a family can earn to remain in the program.
• The standard deduction amounts are: This is the amount that can be subtracted from household income to determine eligibility for the program.

How much money can recipients expect from the next SNAP increase?

The USDA, which oversees the SNAP Programhas issued a memorandum updating SNAP values ​​to:

However, some states will see a more significant increase than indicated above. These are Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Alaska, and Hawaii. Here is a comparison: