Your EBT Benefits Changed April 1 — Here's What You Need to Know

SNAP benefits are changing across the country — and if your EBT looks different this month, this video explains exactly why and what to do about it. I'm Kwame — adjunct finance professor at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, and this is Benefits Insider. No panic. No politics. Just clarity. ───────────────────────────── 📋 WHAT'S IN THIS VIDEO ───────────────────────────── 00:00 – Why your SNAP looks different this month 02:30 – 4 reasons your benefit may be lower or gone 06:00 – The COLA income trap: how your Social Security raise cut your SNAP 09:00 – Which groups may face new work rules — and why you must verify 13:00 – SNAP food-purchase restrictions rolling out in 22 states 17:00 – Why food banks say they cannot cover the gap 20:00 – 3 ways to meet work requirements (including one most people never hear about) 21:10 – What else quietly cuts SNAP: income, household, and recertification rules 22:45 – Document checklist before your recertification 24:00 – Your 3-step action plan ──────────────────────────── ❓ WHY YOUR SNAP LOOKS DIFFERENT ──────────────────────────── There are 4 main reasons your benefit may have changed: 1️⃣ Work rule non-compliance triggered at recertification — if you're newly subject to work rules and didn't document hours, your benefit may have been reduced. 2️⃣ Paperwork / administrative errors — the Urban Institute found 1 in 4 adults had SNAP interrupted in the past year. 1 in 8 lost benefits purely due to recertification paperwork problems, not income. 3️⃣ Eligibility changes — the age ceiling for work requirements moved from 54 to 64. If you're 55–64, verify your status with your SNAP office. 4️⃣ The COLA income trap — Social Security got a 2.8% raise in January 2026. That income counts toward SNAP. If it pushed your net income above ~$1,305/month (for a 1-person household), your SNAP benefit was recalculated — and may have dropped to zero. ──────────────────────────── 💊 FREE MEDICARE HELP I work with Chapter Medicare — unbiased advisors who compare 24,000+ plans at no cost to you. No pressure. No commissions. 📞 (539) 205-2147 🌐 https://askchapter.org/insider 📧 FREE NEWSLETTER — Daily SS & Medicare clarity, no hype. 👉 https://benefitsinsider.co/subscribe 👥 JOIN THE COMMUNITY Benefits Insider on Skool — go deeper on every topic. 👉 https://www.skool.com/nextchapter ──────────────────────────────── DISCLAIMER: Benefits Insider is not a government website or agency and is not associated with the SSA, USDA, or any federal entity. Content is for informational purposes only — not legal or tax advice. Based on 15+ years of research and experience. Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-Medicare, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options.