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In July, the Trump administration proposed significant changes (PDF) to some eligibility criteria for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The proposal would limit states’ ability to increase SNAP’s income limits and remove or relax SNAP asset limits set at the federal level, a policy known as broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE). Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia, as well as Guam and the Virgin Islands, now use BBCE, and many have done so for several years. BBCE helps SNAP reach households that may have slightly higher income and assets and very significant expenses, like high housing costs (in excess of 50 percent of income) and medical out‐of‐pocket expenses. (Waxman and Joo, 9/16)

Forced sexual initiation in women appears to be common and associated with multiple adverse reproductive and general health outcomes. These findings highlight the possible need for public health measures and sociocultural changes to prevent sexual violence, particularly forced sexual initiation. (Hawk et al, 9/16)

Seventy-nine percent of noncitizen residents who originally entered the United States without legal permanent resident status have at least one characteristic that could count against them under the Trump Administration’s new “public charge” rule, according to an updated KFF analysis. Such characteristics – including having an income below 125 percent of the federal poverty level or lacking a high school diploma or private health insurance — could make it harder for immigrants to obtain admission into the U.S. or get a green card under the administration’s final rule to change “public charge” inadmissibility policies scheduled to take effect on October 15. (9/18)

Adolescents who show signs of body-wide inflammation may be at risk of early death decades later, researchers report. A study published in JAMA Pediatrics used blood samples from 106,000 healthy Swedish men, 16 to 20 years old, examined for compulsory military service. Their checkups included a test known as a “sed rate,” which is a general indicator of inflammation. (Bakalar, 9/18)