CUTTING SNAP INCREASES HEALTH COSTS

According to a study by University of California, San Francisco researchers, low-income California residents who don’t get enough to eat are more likely to be admitted to the hospital for hypoglycemia, a condition linked to diabetes. In the last week of the month, risk for hypoglycemia admission among this population increased 27%. “This is people going hungry, skipping meals and ending up in the hospital,” said the study’s lead author, Hilary Seligman. Low-income people often run out of SNAP benefits near the end of each month. “From my perspective,” she said…”it’s cheaper to make sure people don’t get hungry than to deal with the far more expensive healthcare costs of not having access to food.”

 

Source: Huffington Post, 1/8/14, SNAP & Health Costs; ABC News. 1/10/14, Doctors' Warning