Maintaining Medicaid (healthcare) and SNAP (food stamps) Benefits

NJRC assists persons returning from prison or jail, persons in recovery from addiction, and veterans to keep access to Medicaid/NJ FamilyCare health insurance and SNAP food assistance.

New federal rules under Public Law 119-21 / H.R. 1 require some participants to document work, training, education, treatment status, disability, or other information to continue using Medicaid and food stamps.

Medicaid and SNAP are different programs. NJRC will screen each participant separately for Medicaid and SNAP eligibility, exemptions, work requirements, community-engagement requirements, notices, and documents.

NJRC will help you understand whether you qualify, whether your eligibility may change, what documents are needed, and how to respond to notices so that benefits are not lost due to missing or unclear paperwork.

NJRC's H.R. 1 Compliance Brochure

What changed?

SNAP food assistance
Beginning in November 2025, certain SNAP recipients called Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents, or ABAWDs, must meet SNAP work requirements unless an exemption applies.

You may be subject to the SNAP ABAWD rule if you are: 18 through 64 years old; physically and mentally able to work; and not living in a SNAP household with a child under age 14.

If you are subject to the rule, you may need to document work, a work program, education, SNAP Employment and Training, workfare, or another approved activity. SNAP rules must be reviewed separately from Medicaid rules.

Medicaid / NJ FamilyCare health coverage

Beginning January 1, 2027, certain adults enrolled in Medicaid/NJ FamilyCare, called “applicable individuals,” may need to meet “community-engagement” requirements unless they qualify for an exclusion or exception.

You may be an “applicable individual” for Medicaid community engagement if you are: 19 through 64 years old; enrolled in, or applying for, Medicaid/NJ FamilyCare’s adult expansion group; and not covered by an exclusion or exception.

What counts as community engagement?

If you are required to meet Medicaid community engagement or SNAP work requirements, NJRC will help you join activities that may count.

Required activities include:

• Employment
• Approved work programs, job training, or NJRC Reentry Training Center classes
• Education, GED, technical school, or community college
• Community service
• A combination of approved activities totaling at least 80 hours per month
• OR Sufficient income, where permitted ($580 per month based on federal minimum wage × 80 hours)

Exemptions and exceptions may apply

Exemptions are not automatic. Participants must be screened, and documents may be required.

NJRC will help participants apply for exemptions or exceptions and will help gather and preserve documents.

1. Returning from prison or jail
If you were released from prison or jail, you may qualify for a Medicaid community-engagement exception.
For Medicaid, a person who was an inmate of a public institution during the three-month period before the first day of a month may be exempted from Medicaid community engagement for that month. NJRC will help document your release date, facility, correctional records, and when the requirement may begin.

Example: If you are released from jail or prison in March, NJRC will review whether you are temporarily exempted from Medicaid community engagement requirements for March, April, May, and June under the public-institution lookback rule.

If no other exemption or exception applies, you may need to begin meeting the 80-hour monthly community-engagement requirement in July. NJRC will help determine the correct start month and what documents are needed.

2. Substance use disorder, addiction treatment, mental health, or medical condition

If you have a substance use disorder, are in addiction treatment, receive mental health care, have a disabling mental disorder, are medically frail, or have a serious medical condition, you may qualify for an exemption, exclusion, exception, or hardship review.

NJRC will help request records from licensed providers, clinics, hospitals, treatment programs, IOP programs, recovery programs, or mental health providers.

Helpful documents may include treatment letters, diagnosis records, medication records, attendance records, discharge papers, hospital records, counseling records, MAT records, or provider verification.

3. Veterans

NJRC will screen veterans for all Medicaid and SNAP categories.

For Medicaid, a veteran with a total disability rating may qualify for a specific exclusion. NJRC will help obtain and preserve VA documentation, such as a VA award letter or rating decision. A partial VA disability rating alone may not qualify for that specific total-disability exclusion.

For SNAP, veteran status alone is no longer a separate exception under the new federal SNAP guidance, but veterans may still qualify for another SNAP exemption based on disability, medical condition, inability to work, household status, or other applicable rules.

Veterans will be screened for every other possible exemption, including disability, medical frailty, substance use disorder, mental health condition, treatment participation, homelessness, hospitalization, caretaker status, or other hardship.