How Shelby County is Affected
Federal Employee Pay
Let’s start with what has already been happening. We know that 670,000 federal employees nationwide have been furloughed this month, meaning they are not working and not receiving pay. An additional 730,000 are working without pay. These employees (of which there are more than 13,000 in the Memphis area and an additional 10,000 in other parts of West Tennessee) missed their first paycheck of the shutdown this week. That is almost 4% of the Memphis workforce not receiving the paychecks that their families rely on.
SNAP Benefits
Another significant impact of the shutdown has not been seen yet, but it will be felt by low-income households beginning tomorrow. Benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides monetary assistance to 42 million low-income Americans (or 20 million households) to purchase food, will not be renewed for the month of November due to the shutdown. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the program, has already said that it will not utilize its emergency funds to continue providing assistance to households who receive SNAP benefits. Because of this, nearly 20% of households in Shelby County will struggle to afford food. Any leftover funds on EBT cards from October may still be used, but most SNAP recipients do not have leftover funds each month.
One quick way to help families find food resources across the state is by visiting www.feedTN.org.
Healthcare Premiums
If you receive healthcare coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, you will also see a significant impact from the shutdown when open enrollment begins tomorrow. More than 24 million people nationwide (and almost 94,000 in Shelby County) receive healthcare coverage through the ACA marketplace. But, the federal subsidies that keep ACA plans relatively affordable for families who need them are set to expire tonight, if Congress does not reach a deal to end the shutdown. That means that families in Shelby County can expect premiums to be hundreds of dollars more that the previous year, on average, when they begin their open enrollment process. Since open enrollment stretches into December or January, depending on the start date of the coverage, it is unclear whether an end to the shutdown before the end of open enrollment would retroactively lower premiums. This all depends on negotiations in Congress, though ACA subsidies have been the primary point of difference between the two parties in the Senate.
