Every SNAP application asks about medical expenses, but many households skip past the question because they assume it will not change their benefit. For a household with a member age 60 or older, that assumption can leave real money on the table. Federal rules let those households deduct nearly every dollar they spend on medical care each month, once spending clears a $35 floor, and the deduction can lower a household’s countable income enough to raise its monthly SNAP allotment.
The $35 Threshold, Explained
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Administration spells out the rule on its elderly and disabled eligibility page, current for the federal fiscal year running October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. Households with a member who is 60 or older, or who meets SNAP’s disability criteria, may deduct medical costs that are not covered by insurance or another person once those costs exceed $35 in a given month. Only the amount above $35 counts: the first $35 of medical spending is not deductible, but every dollar past it is.
That threshold has held steady for years, which is part of why it is easy to overlook on an application. A household spending $135 a month on prescriptions and doctor visits does not deduct all $135; it deducts $100, the amount above the $35 floor. A household spending $335 a month deducts $300. There is no cap working the other direction, and the agency’s own worked example on its elderly and disabled eligibility page shows a two-person household applying $300 in excess medical costs directly against its countable income.
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Which Costs Actually Count
The list of allowable expenses is broader than most applicants expect. It covers doctor and dentist bills, prescription drugs, over-the-counter medication approved by a doctor, dentures, inpatient and outpatient hospital charges and nursing care. It also reaches further than a typical medical bill: certain transportation costs to receive care, attendant care and even health insurance premiums all qualify. Special diets are the one notable exclusion; the cost of eating differently for a medical condition does not count toward the deduction no matter how doctor-recommended it is.
Households have to keep records. The agency requires proof of the medical expenses claimed and proof of any insurance reimbursement, so a caseworker can verify the deduction rather than take an applicant’s word for the total. A household that pays out of pocket for a recurring prescription, a monthly Medicare premium, or periodic transportation to a dialysis center or specialist appointment can generally document all three at once, and the deductions stack rather than compete against each other.
Why the $35 Floor Only Applies to Some Households
The deduction exists because SNAP treats households with an elderly or disabled member differently from every other household on more than one front. Most households without an elderly or disabled member follow the FNA’s general SNAP eligibility rules and must pass both a gross income test and a net income test to qualify for benefits. A household with a member 60 or older, or one who is disabled, only has to pass the net income test — and the excess medical deduction is one of the tools that lowers net income before that test is applied. The same households also get an uncapped excess shelter deduction, while every other household’s shelter deduction is capped at $744 a month under the current fiscal year’s rules. Many states also layer in broad-based categorical eligibility, which can raise a household’s income and resource limits further, but the $35 medical deduction applies on top of whatever limits a state has adopted, not instead of them.
How It Changes an Actual Benefit Calculation
The agency’s own example walks through the math for a two-person household where both members are elderly or disabled. Gross income of $1,200 a month, made up of Social Security and a small pension, is reduced first by a $209 standard deduction, then by $300 in excess medical expenses once the $35 floor is subtracted out. After the shelter deduction is applied on top of that, the household’s net monthly income determines its benefit using the same 30-percent formula the agency applies to every SNAP household. Because the medical deduction lowers net income directly, a household that documents its costs can end up with a meaningfully larger monthly allotment than one that never reports medical spending at all.
Who Counts as Disabled for This Rule
The medical deduction is not limited to households with someone 60 or older. SNAP’s definition of disabled reaches federal disability or blindness payments under the Social Security Act, including Supplemental Security Income, state disability payments based on SSI rules, a government disability retirement benefit, certain Railroad Retirement Act annuitants, and veterans who are totally disabled, permanently homebound, or in need of regular aid and attendance, along with some surviving spouses and children of disabled veterans. A younger household member who fits one of those categories qualifies the household for the same $35 threshold as an elderly applicant.
The rule is unlikely to move mid-year. The FNA’s current guidance covers the full federal fiscal year through September 30, 2026, and any change would show up as an update to the same eligibility page households already use to apply. Applicants who are unsure whether a specific cost qualifies are better off listing it and letting a caseworker sort it out during the interview than assuming it will not count and leaving it off the form entirely.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Figures are linked to their primary sources; where a claim could not be verified from the public record, we say so.
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