Nearly half a million people who receive food stamps but still do not get enough to eat will lose out on the program, due to proposed cuts, according to the New York Times.
Congress is proposing an additional 160,000 to 305,000 food stamp recipients lose their eligibility to be in the program known as the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP.
According to a new report 5.4 million people would be eliminated from the program.
A study released by The Health Impact Project, a Washington research group said cuts to the program would not only affect the ability of low- income households to feed themselves, but would also drive an increase in poverty.
The study found a combination of poverty and a lack of food can lead to an increase in illnesses like heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure in young adults. For children, the cuts can lead to depression and higher rates of asthma.
"The SNAP program has implications for health, and we want to make sure that health is part of the debate," Dr. Aaron Wernham, the director of the project. "There is a large body of public health research which shows how food insecurity affects health."
The study stated diabetes can increase federal and state health care cost by nearly $15 billion over the next 10 years. The report comes after the passing of the new farm bill in May, which would cut about $4.5 billion from the food stamp program, by mainly changing the eligibility requirements. According to the New York Times, a house bill with $20.5 billion in cuts to the food stamp program failed to pass in June.
According to the Times, the food stamp program has become a target for conservatives in Congress. Nearly 48 million people currently receive food stamp benefits and the program cost about $80 billion a year. The main issue is the program is loaded with fraud because many ineligible people are receiving and using the benefits.
The Agriculture Department said the ineligible people who are using the food stamps are doing so because it is a tough economy.
"It's a trade-off between paying for rent, medicine or food," Dr. Wernham told the Times. "Policy makers need to understand what the health impacts are going to be if they make the kinds of changes they are considering to the SNAP program."
The Health impact Project is a collaboration between the Robert Wood Foundation and the Few Charitable Trusts.
