HLS 16RS-580 ENGROSSED
2016 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 93
BY REPRESENTATIVE IVEY
SNAP/FOOD STAMPS: Requests a feasibility study of a prospective program to limit uses
of SNAP benefits by Medicaid enrollees with certain health conditions
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To authorize and request the Department of Health and Hospitals and the Department of
3 Children and Family Services, jointly, to study the desirability and feasibility of a
4 prospective program to limit uses of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
5 benefits by Medicaid enrollees with certain health conditions, and to report findings
6 of the study to the legislature.
7 WHEREAS, proper nutrition is a key to good health; and
8 WHEREAS, many health conditions can be worsened or improved by diet; and
9 WHEREAS, the program still commonly known as "food stamps" was renamed the
10Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in 2008; and
11 WHEREAS, SNAP, which is administered at the state level by the Louisiana
12Department of Children and Family Services, is the largest of all federal food assistance
13programs and provides support to needy households and to those making the transition from
14welfare to work; and
15 WHEREAS, per federal policy, SNAP benefits may be used only for the purchase
16of nonalcoholic beverages and food which is not hot at the point of sale, with virtually no
17restrictions on foods and beverages within these broad categories that SNAP recipients may
18purchase; and
19 WHEREAS, while a major purpose of the Food Stamp Act of 1964, which created
20the program that became SNAP, was to fight hunger among the nation's poor, low-income
21families of today are at least as likely to struggle with obesity as they are with hunger; and
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HCR NO. 93
1 WHEREAS, U.S. states and cities have become increasingly aware of the high costs
2of chronic diseases resulting from obesity and other conditions related to diet that are borne
3by public health systems, and have persisted in petitioning the federal government,
4particularly over the past decade, to prohibit the purchase of unhealthy foods with SNAP
5benefits in their jurisdictions through special waivers of otherwise applicable SNAP policy;
6however, to date, no such waiver has been approved; and
7 WHEREAS, the groundswell of support among policymakers for prohibiting the
8purchase of unhealthy foods with SNAP benefits is perhaps best explained in a succinct
9quote by Dr. Kelly Brownell, dean of the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke
10University and internationally recognized expert on obesity, who has stated that "the
11government should not be in the business of making people sick"; and
12 WHEREAS, Medicaid, which is administered at the state level by the Louisiana
13Department of Health and Hospitals, is the nation's medical assistance program for low-
14income individuals and families, and is the largest single item in the budget of this state; and
15 WHEREAS, at over eight billion three hundred eighty million dollars, Medicaid
16comprises thirty-four and two tenths percent of Louisiana's total operating budget in the
17present state fiscal year, and costs of this program continue to grow at an unsustainable rate;
18and
19 WHEREAS, as documented in numerous state- and national-level studies, obesity
20prevention and enhanced management of chronic diseases have the potential to produce vast
21savings in the Medicaid program, as well as improve the overall health of the population
22served by the program.
23 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
24authorize and request the Department of Health and Hospitals and the Department of
25Children and Family Services, jointly, to study the desirability and feasibility of a
26prospective program to limit uses of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits
27by Medicaid enrollees with health conditions that are significantly impacted by diet.
28 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the primary duty of the Department of Health
29and Hospitals in this study effort shall be to identify the cohort of Medicaid enrollees whose
30health could be most significantly improved by diet, and that the primary duty of the
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HCR NO. 93
1Department of Children and Family Services in this study effort shall be to examine the
2feasibility of prohibiting the purchase of unhealthy foods with SNAP benefits by these
3Medicaid enrollees.
4 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health and Hospitals and the
5Department of Children and Family Services, jointly, shall develop a written report
6addressing the feasibility and desirability of the prospective program detailed in this
7Resolution, and shall submit the report to the House Committee on Health and Welfare and
8the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare no later than sixty days prior to the convening
9of the 2017 Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana.
10 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
11secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals and the secretary of the Department of
12Children and Family Services.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 93 Engrossed 2016 Regular Session Ivey
Authorizes and requests the Dept. of Health and Hospitals and the Dept. of Children and
Family Services, jointly, to study the desirability and feasibility of a prospective program
to limit uses of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits by Medicaid enrollees
with certain health conditions, and to report findings of the study to the legislature.
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