The consequences of work reporting requirements for New Yorkers nearing retirement: Edna’s story The data from this Spotlight highlight how many New Yorkers who receive SNAP are living with work-limiting disabilities, serious health conditions, and poor health. New Yorkers have also shared stories underscoring the importance of SNAP and how even modest monthly benefits provide critical support, particularly for those facing significant health challenges. Yet access to this vital assistance will soon become more difficult for many New Yorkers nearing retirement who are also managing health challenges, due to stringent new work requirements enacted in the 2025 reconciliation bill. Consider Edna: She is a 67-year-old living alone in Staten Island who receives Social Security benefits and a $200 per month SNAP benefit. She thought her carefully-planned retirement would go smoothly. She worked all her life in manufacturing jobs, climbing up the ladder. Divorced, she retired and moved to New York City to be near her daughter. But then things went awry. Her osteoarthritis got worse, and she has difficulty walking. A car repair of $1,200 set her back. The cost of food is now a constant worry. “Food costs have skyrocketed. Everything’s gone up, food, gas—but my income doesn’t change accordingly... [in the past] for $50, you’d get three or four bags of food. Now, it’s like two bags for $50.” She calculates that her SNAP benefits allow for a little over $6.00 a day for 2-3 meals. Even then, “Usually, I’m short every month about anywhere from $20 to $50.” She stretches out her protein by eating a single chicken breast over three meals. She cooks dry beans, freezes them, vacuum-seals bulk meat from Costco, and plans menus around coupons. She now eats “usually two meals a day, maybe a snack, and that’s it. No extras, no sodas and things like that.” In the end, she says, you “don’t have enough money... to get those things that you really need for nutrition.” She also lives in what she calls a “food desert.” The most affordable grocery store is “literally a 30-minute drive.” After years of working in manufacturing, she developed severe osteoarthritis which limits her mobility, so even food pantries are inaccessible. “I can’t stand in line to go to a pantry… There’s no avenue that I can see to be able to get additional foods without being there.” She keeps a tight budget, tracking every dollar. She rarely uses her car because of the price of gas and is even thinking of canceling her one entertainment outlet—streaming services—because of the cost. The stress is constant. “It’s very stressful… when you’re limited on what you can even do to alleviate those issues, then you’re stuck.” Stories like Edna’s demonstrate how SNAP provides vital assistance to New Yorkers facing financial hardship, particularly those with disabilities and chronic health conditions. Even so, benefits often fall short of meeting basic food needs, and will likely fall further as OBBBA cuts take effect. At 67, Edna will not be subject to the law’s new work requirements. But had she been just a few years younger, recently enacted policy changes would have required her to either continuously report that she is working or repeatedly document that her osteoarthritis is severe enough to qualify for an exemption. Under law, cases are deemed severe only if an individual is consistently unable to walk, stand, or use their arms or hands. Either scenario would have put her SNAP eligibility at risk. The jobs available to her are limited by her osteoarthritis regardless of how it is classified, and repeatedly proving her condition meets an extremely narrow definition would impose significant administrative hurdles – barriers that make accessing and maintaining benefits especially difficult for people with disabilities.
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