Benefits for immigrants: SNAP, Medicaid and Marketplace help

Three programs, three dates

Public Law 119-21, signed on July 4, 2025, uses almost the same list of eligible non-citizens in every program it touches: lawful permanent residents, Cuban and Haitian entrants as defined in the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980, and people lawfully residing under a Compact of Free Association with the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands or Palau. Citizens and non-citizen nationals are, of course, eligible. What differs is the date. SNAP changed on the day of enactment. Medicaid and CHIP change on October 1, 2026. The premium tax credit loses one group in tax year 2026 and narrows to the common list in 2027.

SNAP since July 4, 2025

Section 10108 rewrote section 6(f) of the Food and Nutrition Act. USDA's implementation memo of October 31, 2025 told states to apply it immediately to new applicants and, for households already receiving benefits, at the next recertification. Green card holders still face the 5-year waiting period of the 1996 welfare law, unless they are under 18, have 40 qualifying quarters of work, are blind or disabled, were lawfully residing in the U.S. and 65 or older on August 22, 1996, have a military connection, or entered as Amerasian immigrants. Cuban and Haitian entrants and COFA citizens qualify with no wait.

The memo's chart lists the groups that lost eligibility: refugees, people granted asylum, people whose deportation is withheld, parolees (including Afghans paroled between July 31, 2021 and September 30, 2023 and Ukrainians paroled between February 24, 2022 and September 30, 2024), and, unless they hold a green card, victims of trafficking, battered spouses and children, conditional entrants, Iraqi and Afghan special immigrants, certain American Indians born abroad and Hmong or Highland Laotian tribal members. A person who loses SNAP this way at recertification does not owe back the benefits received between the law and that date, according to the same memo. Each eligible status stands on its own: if one expires, the agency must check whether another applies.

Households are not required to report a change in immigration status between recertifications. The state, however, must verify status through the federal SAVE system before certifying anyone, and USDA encourages it to check again whenever it processes a change; if it learns that a member no longer has an eligible status, it acts on that information under the usual rules for changes.

A mixed household is not closed. The ineligible person is removed and the others keep their benefit for a smaller household, which the SNAP calculator can estimate. The full list of conditions is in SNAP eligibility.

Medicaid and CHIP from October 1, 2026

Section 71109 adds a paragraph (5) to section 1903(v) of the Social Security Act. Beginning October 1, 2026, no federal payment is made for medical assistance to a person unless he or she lives in one of the 50 states, DC or a territory and is a citizen or national, a lawful permanent resident, a Cuban or Haitian entrant, or a COFA citizen lawfully residing in the U.S. The same limit is applied to CHIP. Refugees and asylees who have not adjusted to permanent residence, and other lawfully present people such as parolees, fall outside federal funding from that date.

The new paragraph keeps the exceptions of paragraphs (2) and (4). The first is emergency Medicaid: treatment of an emergency medical condition for people who meet every condition except status, which HealthCare.gov confirms remains available. Section 71110 holds the federal share for that care to the state's regular matching rate from the same date. The second is the state option to cover lawfully residing children and pregnant women, which HealthCare.gov describes as a way for states to remove the 5-year wait for them. This site does not track which states use it; the state agency knows.

For green card holders, nothing in section 71109 removes the waiting period. HealthCare.gov describes it as 5 years after getting qualified non-citizen status, with no wait for permanent residents who earlier had refugee or asylee status. Income is then tested like anyone else's, against the lines in Medicaid income limits.

The premium tax credit in 2026 and 2027

Before the 2025 law, a lawfully present immigrant with income under 100% of poverty who could not get Medicaid because of status could still be treated as eligible for the premium tax credit. Section 71302 strikes that rule for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025. In 2026, such a person under $15,650 of income, for one, gets no credit; above it, the normal 100% to 400% window applies, computed in the ACA subsidy calculator.

Section 71301 goes further for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026. A lawfully present non-citizen is an "eligible alien" for the credit only if he or she is, and is expected to remain for the whole enrollment period, a lawful permanent resident, a Cuban or Haitian entrant, or a COFA migrant. Marketplaces must verify that status for plan years from January 1, 2027. HealthCare.gov states that other lawfully present immigrants can still enroll in a Marketplace plan, but without financial help. People who are not lawfully present have never been eligible for the credit. The repayment rules apply to everyone: from tax year 2026, excess advance payments are repaid in full, so a status change during the year should be reported at once.

Practical points for families

Each person is assessed on his or her own status. A child who is a U.S. citizen can receive SNAP, Medicaid or CHIP even if a parent cannot. Keep copies of immigration documents and of any change of status, such as a new green card, because a new status can open a program that was closed. For the 2027 credit, what counts is the status expected for the whole enrollment period, so someone whose green card is pending should check with the Marketplace before enrolling.

The rules on this page are federal. For the Medicaid and CHIP programs of your state, their names and income lines, see your state page; for the general Medicaid conditions, Medicaid eligibility.