Rep. Baird: Medicaid, SNAP users shouldn’t fear accidental loss of benefits

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Baird of Indiana said changes to Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program eligibility are meant to preserve those federal-state programs for those who truly need them.

The federal budget bill signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4 imposes federal work requirements for Medicaid for the first time. Able-bodied adults without dependents will have to work or volunteer at least 20 hours per week.

Meanwhile, work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also called SNAP and formerly known as food stamps, have been expanded to cover adults up to age 64 and for parents of children ages 15-18.

Baird serves on the House Agriculture Committee and thus was deeply involved in SNAP negotiations. In an interview with News 8 for Sunday’s “All INdiana Politics,” he said lawmakers felt those changes would help push able-bodied adults without dependents to work while sparing families with young children or the elderly.

“We have such a need for employees in this country that we think those changes and those dates and periods of time that we used seems to be more effective, more efficient and more suitable for the kinds of situation that we’re in and where we need employees. But, we also want to make sure that we don’t affect mothers or children or the elderly or those disabled.”

States also will have to cover some of the costs of delivering food aid under the program for the first time. Baird said those amounts depend on the rate at which each state mistakenly provides benefits to those who don’t need them. He said any savings under the bill would offset the cost to states.

Medicaid users have said they fear the new federal work requirements will lead to them being mistakenly denied benefits even if they qualify for an exemption on paper, such as for being physically unable to work. Baird said he doubted that will become a widespread problem.

“If we’re going to look at the efficiency and the effectiveness and the error rate, I think that’s going to call attention to the program and I think that’s going to give the states the opportunity to review where those things might be occurring,” he said.

Baird, who also serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the threat for retaliation from Iran for last month’s air strikes has not gone away but he believes the strikes made the region safer by “devastating” Iran’s nuclear program. Asked whether he thinks Israel and Hamas will accept Trump’s latest ceasefire proposal, he said the rest of the region wants peace and the deal is the closest the region has been to peace in a long time.

“All INdiana Politics” airs at 9:30 a.m. Sundays on WISH-TV.

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