How to Apply for Food or Health Assistance

Applying for SNAP food benefits and Medicaid health coverage through New Hampshire's Department of Health and Human Services, online at NH Easy or on paper, step by step, and what to do if you disagree with a decision.

Checked against its sources October 12, 2026.

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“How to Apply for Food or Health Assistance.” Granite Record, https://graniterecord.org/guides/food-and-health-assistance. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.
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Granite Record. (n.d.). How to Apply for Food or Health Assistance. Retrieved 19 Oct. 2026, from https://graniterecord.org/guides/food-and-health-assistance
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Granite Record. “How to Apply for Food or Health Assistance.” Accessed 19 Oct. 2026. https://graniterecord.org/guides/food-and-health-assistance.
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@misc{guides-food-and-health-assistance, title = {How to Apply for Food or Health Assistance}, howpublished = {Granite Record}, url = {https://graniterecord.org/guides/food-and-health-assistance}, note = {Accessed 19 Oct. 2026} }

At a Glance

The Department of Health and Human Services takes applications for SNAP (food assistance) and Medicaid (health coverage) together. Apply online at NH Easy, or on the paper Application for Assistance mailed to your local District Office. After you apply you may have an interview, and you will be asked for proof of your household’s circumstances. The Department says the only way to find out whether you qualify is to apply.

  1. How do you want to apply?

    • OnlineApply at NH Easy, for SNAP, Medicaid, cash and child care at once.
    • On paperFill in the Application for Assistance and mail it to your District Office.
  2. Answer the Department’s questions: an interview if it asks, and proof of your household’s circumstances.
  3. Read the Notice of Decision. If you disagree, you can appeal.

Step by Step

  1. Know what you are applying for

    • SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, gives eligible low-income people and families benefits to buy food, paid each month onto an EBT card used like a debit card at the checkout. Whether you qualify depends on your household’s size, income, expenses and resources. You may qualify whether you own a home, have none, live alone or with others, and whether or not you work or have children.
    • Medicaid is health coverage, paid for by the federal and state governments, for people and families who meet its eligibility requirements.

    Work requirements changed in 2025. Since November 1, 2025, under federal legislation passed on July 4, 2025, adults aged 18 through 64 who are able to work and have no child under 14 in their household must work, volunteer or take part in training at least 80 hours a month to get SNAP for more than three months in three years, unless they are exempt; the SNAP page lists the exemptions. The Department is also preparing for changes to Medicaid eligibility, including work or other community engagement requirements for people covered through the Granite Advantage Health Care Program; its Stay Covered New Hampshire page has them. This is what the Department said on October 17, 2026: check its pages before you apply.

    SNAPMedicaid

    The law: RSA 167:4

  2. Apply online or on paper

    Online: NH Easy, the Department’s benefits site, takes one application for cash, SNAP, child care and Medicaid, and can tell you first whether you might qualify.

    On paper: to apply for every kind of assistance, fill in both the Application for Assistance (Form 800) and its Medical Assistance insert, and mail them to your local District Office. Both come in Spanish too. For Medicaid alone there is a shorter form, 800MA. For SNAP, you can also call 603-271-9700 to have an application mailed to you.

    If someone is helping you apply, you both fill in the Authorized Representative Declaration (Form 778).

    NH EasyPaper applications

  3. After you apply

    You may need to talk with a Department specialist about your situation in an interview; the Department tells you if one is needed. You will also give proof of your household’s circumstances. Form 800V gives examples of what is accepted, and you can upload documents through NH Easy. Have them with you at an interview to avoid delays.

    Examples of acceptable proof (Form 800V)

  4. If you disagree with a decision

    You can ask for an administrative appeal hearing. Ask in writing, on the Department’s appeal request form or in a letter, and drop it off or mail it to your District Office, mail it to the Administrative Appeals Unit, or email it. If you cannot write, tell a Department representative that you want to appeal.

    Generally you have 30 days from the date on your Notice of Decision, or 90 days for SNAP; your notice gives your deadline. If you appeal within 15 days, you may in some cases keep your benefits at the same level until the appeal is decided, but must repay them if the Department’s decision is upheld. You do not need a lawyer.

    Administrative appeals

Who Can Help

The Department’s customer service center answers questions about applying, and your local District Office can help in person.

Find your District Office

For help with an application, someone to talk your options through with, and free legal help if a benefit is denied or cut:

  • NH Easy, the Department of Health and Human Services’ benefits site: apply for cash, medical, SNAP (food) and child care assistance, Medicare beneficiary and long-term care assistance, or check first whether you might qualify. To speak to someone, call 1-844-ASK-DHHS (1-844-275-3447).
  • Aging and Disability Resource Centers (formerly ServiceLink), a Department of Health and Human Services program with local resource centers: free counseling for older adults, adults with disabilities and caregivers, on benefits, applications, housing, Medicare and Medicaid, with no eligibility requirement. Call 1-866-634-9412, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  • Free civil legal aid. New Hampshire Legal Assistance helps people with low income and limited assets, and adults 60 and over, mainly with housing (eviction, foreclosure and property tax deeding), domestic violence and family law, and public benefits. Apply through 603 Legal Aid, online or at 1-800-639-5290; it also publishes self-help articles.

NH Easy 603 Legal Aid

In the Record

Chapter 167: Public Assistance to Blind, Aged, or Disabled Persons, and to Dependent Children

Bills now before the General Court that would change it:

Laws that changed it since 2020, newest first:

See Also

Where This Comes From