While President Biden touts the recently negotiated deal to raise the debt ceiling as a “crisis averted,” the deal fails to address the increasingly complex needs of our vulnerable food insecure populations who rely on The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Political theater aside, the entire back-and-forth with the debt ceiling reminds me of another – less politically correct – phrase.

“All that glitters is not gold.”

Because there’s one group of people who got the short end of the stick in the process – the 42 million Americans whose daily lives and well-being depend on SNAP to put food on the table.

As part of the provisions in the new deal, those who rely on SNAP will face more stringent work requirements to maintain eligibility.

Look, I’ve sat on both sides of the table in my life. Twelve short years ago I was a single mother, pregnant and surviving off of food stamps where I relied on the support of the SNAP program. I’ve also been fortunate enough where, regardless of my ethnicity and gender, I’ve been given the opportunity to build a platform where I can give a voice to those in similar positions that I once was in and advocate for their needs. I recognize that the basic premise of any negotiation is that both sides need to compromise.

No matter what side of the political aisle you sit on, you cannot refute the empirical evidence that imposing work requirements on those struggling with food insecurity does not promote higher rates of employment nor long term economic stability. In fact, the existing work requirements have actually proven to restrict access to those in need.

As nearly 50% of SNAP beneficiaries are part of a racial minority community, imposing additional requirements that have already been proven ineffective will only perpetuate inequities in the United States. This is a prime example of disjointed government programs not collaborating for the greater good.

Imposing work requirements may look good on paper to decrease the near term cost of SNAP benefits, but it will perpetuate systemic health disparities among an already incredibly disadvantaged and overlooked population within our Medicare and Medicaid budgets. Backtracking on our mission to create a more equitable health care system where everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health.

Unfortunately, undercutting SNAP benefits has been brewing for a while now.

Rewind to March of this year, when the Covid-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) ended. Once that happened, so did extended federal aid on SNAP benefits. This reduced financial support in grocery purchases by $95-250 a person.

Not to mention this occurred as inflation drove the cost of food up by 11% – which just so happens to be the biggest annual increase since the 1980s.

In other words, folks who are eligible for SNAP benefits already receive less aid as food prices continue to climb. The new provisions of the debt ceiling estimate 250,000 of these already vulnerable individuals will lose SNAP benefits entirely due to increased work requirements. Unfortunately, I expect that this number is wildly conservative.

Statistically these individuals will only have the opportunity to seek unskilled hourly employment to satisfy the 20 hrs/week work requirements. The national hourly rates for unskilled labor currently average $18.72/hr, totaling $374.40 in gross income per week. After accounting for two weekly shifts at the average 32 miles daily commute, this average American is presumably left with less than $145.00 of gross income with today’s fuel prices before taxes are even withheld. Other outside factors such as cost of child care, access to transportation, and cost of healthcare will make satisfying these work requirements near impossible for a majority of the impacted population.

And to make matters worse, Congressional leaders have known for some time that work requirements would ultimately do more harm than good.

A June 2022 report from the Congressional Budget Office – a federal agency within the legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress – determined that increasing work requirements doesn’t actually increase work, it just increases hunger.

You’d assume that if lawmakers were armed with this information, they wouldn’t even consider tinkering with SNAP benefits.

Like I said, not all that glitters is gold!

It feels easy for bureaucrats to break it down on Capitol Hill, but the fact is that food insecurity is a multi-dimensional issue and the reasons behind why someone needs the support of SNAP are very complicated and can’t be fixed in the blink of an eye.

Not to mention, the millions that rely on SNAP are already working hard and doing the best that they can given today’s economic circumstances and barriers they are already up against based on circumstances they oftentimes cannot control.

Being a single mom reliant on food stamps was never in my plan, and it wasn’t something I was in control of when my ex-husband left me twelve years ago. However, my lived experiences as an economically disadvantaged Latina have enabled me to authentically advocate for others in need. I have personally experienced just how detrimental restrictions on these vital programs can be to one’s health and self worth.

Today, as the CEO and founder of FarmboxRx – a company that partners with health insurers like Medicare and Medicaid to deliver fresh foods to these at-risk Americans – I’ve seen how limiting access to supplement food plans will increase healthcare costs at-large.

It’s imperative for nutrition companies to partner with Medicare and Medicaid programs to address member SDoH needs. These partnerships will become increasingly important in keeping rising costs manageable, especially as SNAP benefits are further reduced. Solutions like this not only help the economy and health system – they literally save lives and improve health outcomes.

Photo: vgajic, Getty Images