The short answer
The budget law enacted in July 2025 expanded work requirements in SNAP and created new ones in Medicaid. In SNAP, adults aged 18 to 64 without a qualifying exception can receive benefits for only three months in three years unless they work, train or volunteer at least 80 hours a month. The upper age used to be 54, the parent exception now covers only parents of children under 14, and exceptions for veterans, people experiencing homelessness and former foster youth were removed. In Medicaid, adults aged 19 to 64 covered through the expansion group will have to show 80 hours a month of work, training, school or community service, or earnings of at least $580 a month, starting no later than January 1, 2027, unless they are exempt. Pregnant women, people with disabilities, parents of young children and several other groups are excluded. Most people who lose benefits under rules like these lose them over paperwork, so answering every notice matters as much as the hours.
Two programs, two different rules
The SNAP and Medicaid requirements sound alike but work differently, and it helps to see them side by side before finding your own situation below.
Swipe sideways to see the whole table.
| Rule | SNAP | Medicaid |
|---|---|---|
| Who it covers | Adults 18 to 64 without a qualifying exception | Adults 19 to 64 in the expansion group, not pregnant and not on Medicare |
| What is required | 80 hours a month of work, training or volunteering | 80 hours a month of work, community service, a work program or half-time school, or $580 a month in earnings |
| What happens if it is not met | Benefits limited to 3 months in 36 | Coverage refused at application or ended at renewal |
| When it applies | Since July 4, 2025, as states put it in place | No later than January 1, 2027, earlier where states choose |
Neither rule reaches children, people over 64, people with disabilities or pregnant women. The exceptions decide most cases, so they are the heart of what follows.
If you are 55 to 64 and on SNAP
This is the biggest change. SNAP's time limit used to stop at 54; it now runs to 64. Someone who is 58, lives alone and lost a job, and who was outside the rule before, is now inside it: after three months, they must work, train or volunteer 80 hours a month to keep benefits, unless an exception applies.
The exceptions that most often help people in this age group are receiving unemployment benefits, working at least 30 hours a week, caring for an incapacitated person, or having a physical or mental condition that limits work. A condition does not have to qualify for disability benefits to count, so if health is part of why you are not working, tell the agency and ask what proof it accepts. The rule stops applying at 65, and people already 60 or older can be eligible for the more generous SNAP rules for older households, described in our SNAP guide.
If you are a parent
Both programs still exempt parents of younger children, but the age lines are lower than many families expect. For SNAP, the exception now covers adults in a household with a child under 14, not under 18. For Medicaid, it covers parents and caretakers of a child 13 or younger, or of a person with a disability.
A hypothetical example: a parent of a teenager on Medicaid
Rita is 34, covered through the Medicaid expansion, and has a 15-year-old. Her child is too old for the parent exemption. She works 20 hours a week at $12 an hour, about $1,040 a month, so she meets the requirement through the earnings alternative without logging any hours.
For many working parents, the earnings route is the easy one. $580 a month is 80 hours at the federal minimum wage, so a part-time job at a higher wage usually clears it on its own.
If you are a veteran, homeless, or aged out of foster care
In 2023, SNAP added exceptions to the time limit for veterans, people experiencing homelessness and young adults who aged out of foster care. The 2025 law removed all three. People in these groups are now subject to the SNAP rule unless another exception applies, such as a health condition or caring for a child under 14.
Medicaid treats veterans differently: veterans rated totally disabled are exempt from its requirement. People recently released from jail or prison are also exempt from the Medicaid rule for a period, and American Indians and Alaska Natives are exempt from both programs' rules, with the SNAP exception defined by the Indian Health Service's terms.
If you are pregnant, ill or living with a disability
Pregnancy, and for Medicaid the postpartum period, is an exception in both programs. So is a physical or mental condition that keeps you from working: in SNAP, anyone physically or mentally unable to work; in Medicaid, people who are medically frail or have a disability, and people in drug or alcohol treatment.
People receiving SSI or SSDI are generally outside both rules, and most SSI recipients get Medicaid through a disability group rather than the expansion group. How an exemption is confirmed is up to the state, and many will try to verify it from records they already hold before asking you for paperwork. If they do ask, a doctor's statement describing what you cannot do usually helps.
If you are in the Medicaid expansion group
States must start the Medicaid requirement no later than January 1, 2027, and may start sooner; under a federal rule published in June 2026, a state showing a good-faith effort can be given more time, but no later than December 31, 2028. Compliance is checked when you apply, looking back one to three months, and at renewal, which for expansion adults moves to every six months.
Two details matter. Anyone already meeting SNAP's or TANF's work rules is treated as meeting this one. And a person refused Medicaid under this rule is generally barred from Marketplace premium tax credits too, so losing Medicaid this way does not open the door to subsidized private coverage. States can grant short-term hardship exceptions, for example during a hospital stay, in a county with very high unemployment or a declared disaster, or while traveling for medical care. See Medicare and Medicaid for how the expansion group fits with the rest of Medicaid.
If you work part time, study or volunteer
Both programs count more than a paid job, in slightly different ways. SNAP counts paid work, including self-employment and work paid in goods or services; volunteer work the state can verify; and approved work programs, such as SNAP employment and training. Hours can be combined to reach 80 a month. Medicaid counts paid work, community service, a work program, or at least half-time school, combined to reach 80 hours, or monthly income of at least $580; seasonal workers can have income averaged over the previous six months.
Looking for work does not count by itself toward SNAP's 80 hours unless it is part of an approved program, so ask your state which programs near you qualify. Many SNAP employment and training programs include job search help, training and support with costs such as transportation.
If jobs are scarce where you live
States can ask to waive SNAP's time limit in areas without enough jobs, but the 2025 law narrowed that option sharply: an area generally needs an unemployment rate above 10 percent, with a separate test for Alaska and Hawaii. Far fewer places qualify than before, which is one reason the rule now reaches people it had not reached in recent years. If your area had a waiver in the past, do not assume it still does; ask your SNAP office whether it qualifies under the new test. For Medicaid, very high county unemployment is one of the hardship exceptions a state may grant.
Keeping benefits, whichever rule applies
- Read every notice from your SNAP or Medicaid office and answer by the date given.
- Keep pay stubs, school enrollment records, volunteer logs or program attendance sheets for every month.
- If an exemption might apply, say so and ask what evidence the agency accepts.
- Report a new job or reduced hours on time; see reporting changes to your benefits.
If you lose benefits and think the decision is wrong, ask for a fair hearing; see appealing a benefit decision. Losing SNAP under the time limit is not permanent: meeting the requirement for 30 days, or qualifying for an exception, can restore it. Our SNAP guide covers the program's other rules.
Common questions
Who has to meet the SNAP work requirement now?
Adults aged 18 to 64 who are able to work and do not live with a child under 14, unless another exception applies, such as pregnancy, a disability, working 30 hours a week or receiving unemployment benefits.
When do Medicaid work requirements start?
No later than January 1, 2027, for adults in the Medicaid expansion group, and earlier in states that choose. A state can get extra time, up to December 31, 2028, if it shows a good-faith effort.
Does a part-time job count?
Yes. Hours of work, training, school and community service can be combined to reach 80 a month. For Medicaid, earning at least $580 a month also counts, however few hours it takes.
Are older adults exempt?
Adults 65 and older are outside both rules. The SNAP time limit now applies up to age 64, and the Medicaid requirement to adults aged 19 to 64.
Your state's notice is what counts
This guide describes the federal framework. Each state runs its own version, sets its own start date within the federal deadline and decides how exemptions are verified. None of our calculators models a work requirement: they estimate what a household might receive if eligible, and whether an adult must also meet a work rule is a separate test the agency applies.
Official sources
Find your situation, then keep records
Work out which of the situations above is yours, and if an exception fits, tell your agency before the next renewal rather than after. From now on, keep a simple monthly record of hours or earnings. To see what your household may receive, estimate your SNAP benefit and check the Medicaid income test for your state.
