What are SNAP and HUSKY work requirements?

What’s already in place, and what is changing

Every person should have access to food and healthcare, and every person is valuable, whether they work or not. Unfortunately, some government programs, like SNAP and HUSKY, have work requirements that some people need to meet in order to receive benefits.

About 25% of people who use SNAP, and 67% of people on HUSKY work, but some people aren’t able to because of their health, they care for children (or they are children), or another reason. SNAP and HUSKY already have work requirements in order to receive benefits. But new, unfair rules will rip food and healthcare away from Connecticut residents.

What’s happening with SNAP work requirements?

About 58,000 Connecticut residents are still at risk of permanently losing their benefits because of new rules that eliminate some existing exemptions and cut SNAP’s budget.

There were already many work requirements for SNAP. But the new federal budget (H.R. 1, also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”), takes away some of the exemptions to those requirements. Changes to SNAP work requirements started on Dec. 1. For people with children over the age of 14, people over the age of 64, and others, this could take away SNAP. Some Connecticut towns also had waivers to work requirements, and the new budget gets rid of those.

There are two types of work requirements for SNAP: 

• “General” work requirements: The state has more information on what’s considered the “general” work requirements for SNAP. 
• “Able bodied adults without dependents”: The second category is for people the government calls “able bodied adults without dependents.” The state has an online screening tool so you can learn more about what you will be required to do and if you qualify for an exemption.

The state also has more information on how to apply for SNAP and what type of documentation you’ll need to provide to meet the new rules.

In the end, these SNAP changes threaten to take away food from 58,000 Connecticut residents. In some towns, one in four people who use SNAP will lose it.

What’s happening with HUSKY work requirements? 

The work requirements are different for HUSKY. Again, everyone should have access to healthcare, whether they work or not. But there were already many work requirements around HUSKY.

Under the new federal budget, starting in 2027, most adults ages 19 to 64 will be required to work, volunteer, or be in school to keep their HUSKY care. There are some exemptions for people who are pregnant, have children, or have a disability.

The state is tracking changes to HUSKY work requirement changes and when they will happen.

Work requirements don’t work.

The new rules are unfair and will push working class people off HUSKY and SNAP. History is clear. We already know that changes like work requirements don’t work for our state. 

When dozens of Connecticut towns were mandated by the federal government to enforce similar work requirements in 2016, 25% of people on SNAP lost their coverage. People with chronic health conditions were more likely to lose their benefits than people without a chronic condition, and many people who lost their benefits were already working.

These new rules are also confusing. There is a big risk that even people who still qualify for SNAP and HUSKY will lose benefits because of paperwork issues.  

In Connecticut, we care about our neighbors, and our state needs to try to protect as many people as possible right now.

Our governor and legislature need to create a task force for state agencies to coordinate their responses to the SNAP and HUSKY changes, to try to help people keep their benefits. Our state has to make it easy for people to get clear information, have simple ways to fill out their paperwork and prove work/volunteer/school hours, and keep their benefits. Take action to tell Connecticut to protect HUSKY and SNAP.