Workforce board hears how state agencies are coordinating for SNAP and upcoming Medicaid work requirements

State agency staff told the workforce board that the passage of the federal HR 1 changes means individuals receiving SNAP already face new work requirements, and federal work rules for Medicaid (Apple Health for adults) will start affecting eligibility in January 2027. Emily (coordination group staff) said the board’s cross‑agency group — including DSHS, ESD, HCA and local workforce boards — has produced a policy Q&A and a crosswalk of workforce activities to indicate what counts toward required hours. "We have policy documentation... a policy Q and A, and we also have a crosswalk of workforce development and SNAP activities," staff said.

Health Care Authority staff explained steps to verify Apple Health work requirements with a goal of minimizing paperwork: clients will self‑attest through Washington Health Plan Finder, while HCA builds a verification hub that will pull federal and state data (including provider claims for medical‑frailty exemptions) to confirm attestations behind the scenes. "Work requirements are similar to that of SNAP, includes 80 hours of a work program... volunteering," HCA staff said, adding that they expect to use existing federal data sources and a new verification hub to reduce manual verification.

Why it matters: local workforce boards report surges in service demand tied to SNAP rule changes, and Medicaid’s later phase will expand the number of people needing help to document work activities. Agency speakers stressed the importance of coordinating communications, training frontline staff and aligning data systems so that people do not lose benefits inadvertently.

Next steps: agencies will finalize SNAP policy documents, test operational documentation and staff guidance, and continue stakeholder engagement to identify data sources (community colleges, student clearinghouses) to plug into the verification hub. Both short‑term operational fixes and longer‑term system improvements are underway, the board was told.

Representative remarks and exchanges were limited to presentations and clarifying questions during the update; no board action was taken.