SNAP recipients in Massachusetts can resume their regular grocery shopping after a confusing weekend of conflicting headlines about the status of their food benefits, Gov. Maura Healey said Monday.
Addressing reporters early Monday afternoon, Healey said that the previously frozen SNAP benefits have now been fully funded in Massachusetts.
“My message to every SNAP recipient out there is this: Forget the noise that you’re hearing from Donald Trump. Forget the noise about further appeals to the Supreme Court,” Healey said. “I want you to know because of the actions that we took, your SNAP benefits have been restored to your cards. Go out and buy the food that you need to feed your family.”
During past shutdowns, the federal government kept the SNAP food assistance program running. Its initial decision not to pay the benefits during the shutdown that started Oct. 1 prompted lawsuits from a series of states, including Massachusetts.
On Friday, in light of a court ruling, Healey ordered full SNAP benefits to be paid out in the state.
But a flurry of legal activity and back-and-forth with the federal government followed over the weekend, with President Donald Trump’s administration at one point directing states to “undo” full benefits they distributed.
Healey said Monday she’s not sure what the Trump administration’s next move will be.
“But we know the law is clear on this,” she said. “And we’re going to make sure that people continue to get their SNAP benefits.”
However, the good news for SNAP recipients was tempered by bad news regarding health care costs.
On Monday, the longest shutdown in U.S. history appeared to be approaching its end after the Senate advanced a reopening plan. But the deal struck with Republicans does not extend a set of expiring health care subsidies that Democrats had been pushing for. Instead, it calls for a Senate vote on them later this year. Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey voted against the deal, though seven other Democrats and a Democrat-aligned independent voted in support.
Healey warned that this could bring what she called “budget-busting, skyrocketing health care costs” for some Bay Staters when the subsidies expire at the end of the year.
Healey’s office said that when the tax credits expire, nearly 340,000 Massachusetts residents will lose help paying for their insurance, with an average premium increase of $1,300 a month. On Monday, the governor urged Congress to take immediate action to maintain the subsidies, which were created under the Affordable Care Act.
“We have people real-time right now trying to figure out their family budgets, which is why I call on the president and Congress to get there, to get a vote,” Healey said. “Let’s extend these tax credits for another year. It seems to me that at a time when costs are out of control around this country and Americans are suffering and are fed up, just extend these tax credits, and sort out other things over time. But don’t double down on people’s pain in Massachusetts or around this country.”
The Massachusetts Health Connector, the state’s Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace, began its open enrollment a week ago. People who are enrolled in that form of health insurance are starting to see how much they’ll need to pay for insurance after federal subsidies end.
Health Connector executive director Audrey Gasteier said call center agents are hearing frustration and concern from Connector members staring down dramatic premium increases.
“Some are choosing lower-cost plans, even if it means having to switch doctors,” Gasteier said. “Some are rolling the dice picking plans with higher out-of-pocket costs they hope they don’t need to spend. Some are so shocked by an increase their household budget just can’t absorb that they simply don’t know what to do and are waiting and hoping for the tax credits to be extended.”
If Congress does extend the subsidies, Gasteier said the Connector “is ready to move mountains to deliver to members the premium support they deserve as nimbly and rapidly as possible.”
