By MICHAELA SPRINGER
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
The CEO of a prominent Indiana food bank on Wednesday said proposed cuts to SNAP and Medicaid moving through the Senate “would be a disaster” for every single Hoosier.
The cuts are part of President Trump’s “big, beautiful” spending proposal that would involve a $300 billion cut in SNAP funding and a $1 trillion funding slash for Medicaid, a cut that Gleaners says is the largest healthcare cut in history. The House GOP narrowly passed the proposal just days before its Memorial Day deadline.
Fred Glass, chief executive officer of Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, said these cuts would leave a catastrophic impact on the food insecure, Indiana workers, and other communities in our state.
According to Gleaners, the proposed reconciliation bill would:
- Cut 15 percent, or $214 million, of food access to Hoosiers. This is the “the equivalent of 80 million meals that neither the state of Indiana nor its charitable food system will be able to replace”;
- Displace $46 million in SNAP administrative costs to taxpayers;
- Greatly decrease or eliminate food and healthcare benefits to “workers, children, seniors, veterans, the disabled, and the sick”;
- Remove Medicaid “as an essential lifeline” from Indiana’s rural hospitals. Gleaners says U.S. Sen. Ed Markey named numerous rural Indiana hospitals that would be at risk of closure if the bill passes, including Memorial Hospital of Logansport, Ascension St. Vincent hospitals in Randolph, Jennings, Clay, and Washington counties, and more;
- Slash SNAP’s positive economic impact “which generates $7.50 for every $7 spent on groceries”;
- Cost tens of thousands of jobs and millions of dollars.
Federal data shows that as of February 2025, over 42 million people received SNAP benefits. CNN reports that nearly 80 million children, older adults, people with disabilities, and parents or adults without dependents rely on Medicaid.
Gleaners estimates over 610,000 Hoosiers rely on SNAP to buy groceries, including 264,000 kids and 90,000 older adults. Medicaid provides health coverage for 1.8 million in the state, including children.
In a previous interview with News 8, Glass noted that the entire charitable food system in Indiana, made up of 11 food banks, created 108 million meals in 2024. This would not be enough to cover the shortfall if the funding cuts are approved.
Glass also addressed misconceptions about SNAP recipients, saying they aren’t people taking advantage of the system, they aren’t lazy; they are often working people, children, disabled, or elderly.
“All Hoosiers deserve access to food and healthcare,” Glass said. “This bill will deny both with catastrophic impacts on all Hoosiers and our communities.”
This story was originally published by WISH-TV at wishtv.com/focus-on-food/focus-on-food-stories/proposed-snap-medicaid-cuts-impact-hoosiers.