Health care organizations across the Northeast Region have joined forces and call on all fourteen U.S. Senators in the Northeast (New England and New York) region to “oppose any Farm Bill that cuts or restricts access to SNAP” (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). The letter, signed by 67 statewide and regional health care organizations include the Medical Societies of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Rhode Island in addition to state Chapters of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Family Physicians, Nurses Associations, hospitals, health centers, and other prominent health care providers and organizations.

The letter provides research on health benefits associated with SNAP, the country’s largest program for reducing food insecurity. Citing extensive medical research from the region, the organizations note that, “(R)estricting Access to SNAP or cutting benefits threaten the health of our patients and make provider’s jobs of treating illness more difficult and costly.”

A copy of June 11, 2018 letter is available below.