New York City is ramping up outreach efforts as the federal government moves to impose new work requirements on food assistance and healthcare. Officials saw almost 30,000 New Yorkers lose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits on Oct. 1, and worry as many as 900,000 are at risk of losing their health coverage by January 2027.
More than 1.6 million New York City residents rely on SNAP, most of whom are located in the Bronx, the city’s Human Resources Administration (HRA) says. More than 3.5 million rely on Medicaid, according to the health department.
“This is something that is troubling to the entire city, and we also know that it will disproportionately impact immigrants, and communities of color across our five boroughs,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at a community media roundtable on Oct. 23. “We are looking to do everything we can to prevent those who are at risk from losing their benefits.”
The city launched the Health and Affordability Resource Team (HART), a new re-enrollment outreach team meant to help residents navigate Medicaid and SNAP changes. HART is funded by a $3 million investment in the city’s fiscal year 2027 budget. So far the city’s outreach campaign has directly contacted, texted, and called thousands and knocked on doors, and around 2,500 of those who lost benefits on Oct. 1 were able to reapply, said HRA.
The Trump administration’s H.R.1 Bill, which was signed into law in 2025, mandates that states pay at least 75% of SNAP administrative costs while the federal government pays less beginning on Oct. 1. Additionally, the law changes work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents aged 18 to 64, and families with children aged 14 and older are no longer eligible for an exemption from those work requirements.
“These kinds of federal cuts are not just devastating for individual New Yorkers. They are also devastating for so many of the institutions that New Yorkers rely on…bodegas as well as grocery stores,” Mamdani said. “We also see a disproportionate impact in the Bronx in terms of what these SNAP cuts are going to do to the ability for these kinds of institutions to keep functioning in the way they are right now.”
SNAP cuts have a significant impact on the local economy since places like mom and pop grocery stores, bodegas, independent markets, and farmer’s markets accept EBT cards. SNAP purchases generally make up 15% to 20% of a bodega’s revenue, depending on the number of recipients in the neighborhood. HRA initially estimated there would be an $800 million loss in communities across the city.
The HR1 bill also mandates that Medicaid enrollees are required to engage in community service, participate in a work program for at least 80 hours a month, and be enrolled at least half-time in an educational program beginning Dec. 31.
“At the end of the day, what we are seeing on the healthcare side from this federal administration as part of HR1 is nothing short of bureaucratic violence,” Dr. Alister F. Martin, NYC Health Commissioner said.
Martin predicts that when patients lose coverage the burden will likely fall to emergency health departments. For those that won’t be able to re-enroll, Martin said the city has NYC CARE available.
Additionally, many immigrant New Yorkers are “hesitant” to provide information about their families to enroll in benefit programs during this heightened time. The city has promised to reach out to these communities in multiple languages and through trusted messengers in immigration services.
“This is gonna affect so many people, and because many of our homes are multi-generational, multi-status,” Dr. Helen Arteaga, deputy mayor for Health and Human Services said. “We want to make sure that if it doesn’t affect you, it can affect your neighbor, affect your hand, your cousin, to make sure that we have the right information.”
“We know we can only move at the speed of trust in public health. If the trust isn’t there, folks are not gonna pick up the phone. They’re not gonna respond to the text. They’re not gonna sit here and do an application,” Martin said about reaching immigrant communities.
New Yorkers who have lost or are at risk of losing their health insurance can call 347-665-0214 or 866-INSURED (866-467-8733) to speak with a NYC Health Department enrollment counselor. For SNAP, call 718-SNAP-NOW (718-762-7669).
You can also visit nyc.gov/medicaidhelp or nyc.gov/workrules.
