Benefits Data Trust (BDT) set out with a team of highly skilled researchers to determine what impact the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) had on healthcare utilization and costs. The results of this compelling research are available in this policy brief.

The study is the first to examine the association between SNAP and both hospital and nursing home utilization. Researchers studied the entire population of 69,000 Maryland seniors on Medicaid and Medicare (dual eligibles). Individual-level medical claims data were cross-matched against SNAP enrollment data, and used to analyze the impact of SNAP on healthcare utilization and costs.