Food stamps (SNAP) in
New Hampshire.

New Hampshire raised its gross limit for most households from 130% to 200% of poverty in January 2023, through policy release SR 22-37. The route is expanded categorical eligibility: income at or under 200%, plus eligibility for a service listed in BFA Form 77u, Community Resources.

Homes that qualify this way skip the SNAP resource test and the net income test. Households already getting cash assistance or SSI are categorically eligible on their own and face no income test at all.

Everyone else is Regular SNAP, held to 130% gross and 100% net, unless they fit the Target Population rules for elderly or disabled members, which drop the gross test but keep a net test and a $4,750 resource cap.

Table E carries a column most states never print. It applies when someone 60 or older lives and eats with others but asks to be a separate SNAP household because a permanent disability stops them from buying and preparing food on their own.

DHHS can grant that, but the people they live with must have gross income under 165% of poverty, $2,976 a month for two or $4,538 for four, and must also pass the 100% net test and a resource test.

In practice it lets an older parent living with family get a benefit sized to their own income instead of being counted with the whole house.

Most households report almost nothing mid-certification. Manual section 145.01 limits the duty to three events, each due by the 10th of the month after it happens.

Those are: household gross income rising above 130% of poverty for your size, $2,345 a month for two; a single lottery or gambling win of $4,750 or more before taxes; and an adult under the work rule dropping below 80 hours a month.

If your income was already above 130% when you were approved, you have met that rule and need not report raises until renewal. The $4,750 win threshold rose from $4,500 on October 1, 2026.

Under the Elderly Simplified Application Project, a federal waiver in effect since July 1, 2025, a household gets a 36-month certification when every adult is 65 or older or disabled and no adult works. Children may live in the home.

Renewal is on paper or online, with no interview unless you ask for one. Each year DHHS sends a reminder to report any change in expenses or deductions, with proof.

If the home stops meeting those rules, for example because an adult takes a job, the case keeps its 36 months but goes on ESAP hold. You then fill out BFA Form 478, the Periodic Report, every six months and must return it by the 5th of the month after it is sent.

DHHS says federal law passed in December 2024 ended replacement of SNAP stolen through skimming or card cloning. Cash benefits may still be replaced through BFA Form 473; SNAP cannot.

The ebtEDGE app lets you freeze the card between trips to the store, block purchases outside New Hampshire, where DHHS says most skimming starts, and block online purchases if you never shop online. Turn the blocks off before an online order or out of state trip.

Report a stolen card to 888-997-9777, which shuts it off. The new card keeps your old PIN, and after four replacement cards DHHS watches the account for suspicious activity.

Hearings are run by the DHHS Administrative Appeals Unit, which sits apart from the program offices. Most DHHS appeals must be filed within 30 days, but SNAP gets 90 days from the date on the Notice of Decision.

Ask in writing on the Appeal Request form or in a letter: drop it at a District Office, mail it to 105 Pleasant Street, Concord, NH 03301, or email dhhs.aau@dhhs.nh.gov. If you cannot write, telling any DHHS worker you want to appeal starts it.

Appeal within 15 days and your benefits can usually stay at the old level, though you repay them if DHHS wins. Send your exhibits and witness list at least 5 days before the hearing. Written decisions take about one to three months.