With changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Plan and Medicaid looming, Summit County officials are trying to prepare residents to meet the new requirements.
Changes to both programs passed in July 2025 as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, removing work requirement exemptions for some SNAP recipients and cutting funding for Medicaid.
Under the new law, SNAP recipients ages 55 to 64, parents of children ages 14 to 18, veterans, people experiencing homelessness and kids aging out of the foster care system will have to meet work requirements, generally fulfilled by working 80 hours per month or by pursuing certain educational or training opportunities, according to Summit County officials. The bill also makes refugees ineligible for SNAP assistance. The new requirements go into effect Feb. 1. Recipients have to show proof of meeting the requirements starting March 1.
The bill also created new administrative requirements and conditions on eligibility, including work requirements, for Medicaid recipients, according to Summit County officials.
"Program requirements and funding for SNAP and Medicaid will look very different in 2026," Greta Johnson, Assistant Chief of Staff at the Summit County Executive's Office, said.
About 78,000 Summit County residents receive SNAP benefits, Johnson said, and the work requirement change will impact about 21% of them.
"Approximately 135,000 residents in Summit County, so a quarter of our population overall, receive Medicaid," she said.
A timeline for when work requirements will roll out for Medicaid is still unknown, Summit County Department of Job and Family Services Deputy Director Heather Yannayon said.
"We're anticipating that this is gonna happen probably January of 2027, possibly getting information or rollouts may start in fall of this year," she said.
The law also changes how often these recipients have to certify their Medicaid eligibility, Yannayon said.
"The individuals that are subject to this work requirement will have six month eligibility review periods," she said, "so instead of certifying your Medicaid once a year, which is currently happening, you'll have to certify your Medicaid every six months."
Barberton resident Sherry Pettit utilizes both SNAP and Medicaid benefits. She said she's worried about meeting the new work requirements for Medicaid.
"How's people gonna afford their medication?," she said. "How's people gonna stay alive?"
Aside from the changes in work requirements, SNAP recipients may also need to look out for restrictions on what the money can be spent on, Yannayon said.
"[Gov. Mike] DeWine's office did submit a waiver to the federal government to add sugary drinks and soda to the ban list," she said, "so there is a very high probability that in sometime this year, possibly in July, that the state of Ohio will have some restrictions."
On top of these changes, the federal government is cracking down on SNAP fraud, Yannayon said, which could eventually impact recipients.
"The state error rate has to be below a certain threshold," she said, "and if it's not of Oct. 1 of 2027, the state of Ohio would actually have to pay a portion that goes onto your card."
Ohio's error rate is currently at about 7%, Yannayon said, and if that doesn't come down, the state would have to pay $320 million a year to supplement.
People can receive more information on the upcoming changes from the Ohio Department of Medicaid or the Summit County Department of Job and Family Services.
