The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, or HHSC, asked state lawmakers for additional funding to address a growing backlog of applications for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and Medicaid.
As , more than 210,000 Texans are waiting for their Medicaid application to be processed 鈥� and more than 150,000 are waiting for an eligibility worker to review their SNAP application. Last week, HHSC legislature asking for funding to make more than 640 temporary eligibility workers permanent employees.
Diana Forester, director of health policy at the advocacy organization Texans Care for Children, said the positions are set to expire at the end of the current fiscal year, meaning the state could lose hundreds of workers by August 2027.
鈥淲ithout these workers, I don鈥檛 see a way for them to be able to get through [the backlog] in any kind of meaningful way, which means people don鈥檛 have insurance that they鈥檙e eligible for,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 have access to food through SNAP that they are eligible for. It just means that families are stuck waiting too long for healthcare and food.鈥�
HHSC did not respond to 四虎影院鈥檚 request for comment prior to publication.
In its legislative appropriations request submitted last Friday, the agency said there has been a significant increase in 鈥渆ligibility actions鈥� since 2017, and it needs more resources to meet state and federal timeliness standards.
The 642 temporary positions were approved for the past two state budget cycles to deal with the increased workload that followed the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, when the state had to review more than four million enrollees within a year 鈥� known as the Medicaid unwinding.
HHSC said application volume has decreased since the end of the public health emergency, but the workload for eligibility workers hasn鈥檛 returned to pre-public health emergency levels. The agency said there鈥檚 been an increase of more than 16% in application volume across all programs.
Despite the increase, HHSC said in its request that staffing for eligibility has grown by only about 10% since 2019 鈥� a result of the temporary workers provided by the state in 2023.
Forester said she鈥檚 worried about what would happen if HHSC isn鈥檛 able to convert those jobs into permanent positions.
鈥淭he thing about temporary positions is if you have people leave those positions and there鈥檚 only a few months left, are you going to repost for them?鈥� she said. 鈥淭hen, are people going to apply for temporary jobs or are they going to be more tempted to do something that鈥檚 permanent.鈥�
HHSC has been able to utilize temporary overtime to work through extreme backlogs, according to Forester, who worked at the agency for more than a decade before starting at Texans Care for Children.
鈥淏ut that鈥檚 not sustainable,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou actually need people that are trained and know how to work these applications.鈥�
Forester said Texas鈥� eligibility technology system is outdated 鈥� something the agency is already working to address.
鈥淏ut in the short-term 鈥� the next like eight years 鈥� we have to work with what we have, which is these very manual heavy systems,鈥� Forester said. 鈥淭he only way to really work through a backlog is just to have more workers.鈥�
HHSC prepares for higher SNAP costs in request
Texas has been preparing for significant changes to SNAP funding since the federal tax and spending bill in 2025.
The bill lowered the federal government鈥檚 contribution to cover the administrative costs of the program from 50% to just 25%. That makes Texas responsible for an additional $117 million annually, according to state officials.
Forester said state officials and lawmakers already knew HHSC was going to have to make this request.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be watching to see which source of funding the legislature uses to pay the state鈥檚 share,鈥� Forester said. 鈥淔ortunately, the state revenue continues to come in really strongly and the state has a huge rainy-day fund. The legislature has different ways it can pay for this cost share. It鈥檚 just a matter of which pool of money they鈥檙e going to pull from.鈥�
Federal lawmakers also approved changes to the SNAP program that would make states responsible for covering a percentage of the benefits costs of the program based on payment error rates.
Texas could be responsible for covering more than $700 million in benefits costs if it doesn鈥檛 improve the accuracy of its program. In order to avoid paying for part of the program, Texas would need an accuracy rate of 94%, but in fiscal year 2025, the state鈥檚 rate was 91%.
HHSC said its SNAP payment accuracy hasn鈥檛 met federal standards since 2019.
鈥淔ederal policy changes to shift SNAP benefit costs to states puts even more emphasis on the need for tenured staff and maintaining timely work,鈥� the agency said in its request.
Forester said there wasn鈥檛 a placeholder for the potential cost associated with Texas鈥� error rate.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 know the final number year, but that was interesting that it鈥檚 not a specific ask,鈥� she said. 鈥淗HSC has done a really good job in interim hearings articulating that this is going to be something the state has to pay and educating lawmakers about this 鈥� like showing them the potential, what we expect could be our payment error rate.鈥�
The additional cost wouldn鈥檛 go into effect until next fiscal year, which Forester said means it needs to be considered as part of the budget lawmakers will be working on in 2027.
She said advocates are keeping a close eye on how the state chooses to address it.
鈥淚 just thought since it was a known expected cost, it might be articulated somewhere in there,鈥� Forester said. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 alarming yet.鈥�
Abigail Ruhman is 四虎影院鈥檚 health reporter. Got a tip? Email Abigail at aruhman@kera.org.
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