Under the revised plan, a household must have no more than $5,500 in eligible assets, and the limit is $9,000 for a household with an elderly or disabled member. Like most other states, Pennsylvania currently has no asset test, but the income limit of 160 percent or less of the federal poverty level – or about $35,300 for a family of four – would continue to apply.
“The asset test ensures every public dollar we have goes directly to those who need it most,” state Department of Public Welfare Secretary Gary Alexander said in a statement.
It would go into effect May 1. The department estimated that 1,448 households currently receiving food stamps have assets at or above $5,500, while 2,575 elderly or disabled households have assets at or above $9,000. That’s about 0.5 percent of the 1.8 million people, or 880,000 households, currently receiving the federally paid benefit in Pennsylvania. Read more.