Jan 11 -- The Food and Nutrition Service invites comments to OMB by February 12, 2024 regarding the proposed data collection for Improving Coordination Between SNAP and Medicaid in State Agencies.
SNAP and Medicaid serve similar populations, which provides opportunities for State Agencies administering the programs to coordinate policies and processes to improve efficiency, customer service, and program access. This study will conduct case studies in up to five states to understand the challenges with improving program coordination and highlight the best practices that could be shared with other states.
FNS has identified five objectives for this study:
1. Identify and describe relevant federal statutory, regulatory, and operational barriers and facilitators that have considerable impact on coordination between SNAP and Medicaid agencies.
2. Identify and describe relevant State statutory, regulatory, and operational barriers and facilitators that have considerable impact on coordination between SNAP and Medicaid agencies.
3. Identify and describe systems used by States to determine eligibility and manage SNAP and Medicaid application and recertification information.
4. Identify and describe similarities and differences in State SNAP and Medicaid applications.
5. Using information collected from Objectives 1–4, develop a Best Practices Guide that explains how States can better improve coordination between SNAP and Medicaid.
As both programs dominantly serve low-income households, there is extensive overlap in household participation in SNAP and Medicaid. Over 75 percent of households participating in SNAP have at least one household member enrolled in either Medicaid or CHIP as of 2014 and an even larger percentage of SNAP households are eligible to enroll in at least one form of Medicaid (Wagner and Huguelet, 2016).
Since the reform of both SNAP and Medicaid in the past two decades, State agencies have introduced new techniques to improve efficiency, customer services, and program access, with new strategies focused on improved coordination between these programs. FNS has contracted with MEF Associates and its subcontractor, the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC), to conduct a study to understand the challenges with improving program coordination and highlight the best practices that could be shared with other States. The key project activities FNS is undertaking to answer these questions are: (1) a document review, (2) case studies of five States that involve site visits, and (3) process mapping.
To meet the study objectives, FNS will gather data through site visits to five States that have promising coordination strategies. The States will be chosen based on evidence of promising coordination practice, geographic diversity, and variation in SNAP and Medicaid program characteristics (e.g., expansion vs non-expansion States, mix of marketplace type). FNS will inform SNAP Directors in the FNS Regions about the study State(s) in their Region that have been selected. FNS and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will then reach out to respective SNAP and Medicaid Directors. Finally, the study team will email State SNAP and Medicaid directors, which will offer the State a voluntary opportunity to participate in the study (see Appendices H:L). As needed, the State agency will participate in follow-up telephone conversations with the study team to assess their willingness and ability to support the site visit activities. Should any of the five States decline to participate, the project team will recruit a replacement from the five alternative States.
FNS submission to OMB:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202311-0584-006 Click IC List for information collection instrument, View Supporting Statement for technical documentation. Submit comments through this webpage.
FRN:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-00444
For AEA members wishing to submit comments, "A Primer on How to Respond to Calls for Comment on Federal Data Collections" is available at
https://www.aeaweb.org/content/file?id=5806