States where health law seems to increase food-stamp use

President Barack Obama’s health care law seems to be enticing more Americans to apply for food stamps in 11 states, despite significant improvement in the economy.

Under the law, many states tried to improve Medicaid and food-stamp enrollment systems by making it easier for people to register for food benefits when they sign up for health coverage. Below is a list of the 11 states with recent enrollment increases in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

STATE	FOOD STAMPRECIPIENTS JAN. 2013	FOOD STAMP RECIPIENTSDEC. 2014	CHANGE IN FOOD STAMP ENROLLMENT	UNEMPLOYMENT RATE JAN. 2013	UNEMPLOYMENT RATE DEC. 2014
California	4,155,083	4,407,217	Up 6 percent	9.4 percent	7.1 percent
Connecticut	426,519	446,146	Up 5 percent	8.1 percent	6.3 percent
Florida	3,573,410	3,689,976	Up 3 percent	7.7 percent	5.7 percent
Hawaii	188,763	194,932	Up 3 percent	5.1 percent	4 percent
Illinois	2,027,281	2,076,871	Up 2 percent	9.1 percent	6.2 percent
Maryland	760,830	786,745	Up 3 percent	6.8 percent	5.5 percent
Nevada	358,457	410,201	Up 14 percent	10.2 percent	7 percent
New Jersey	867,660	915,614	Up 6 percent	8.8 percent	6.3 percent
New Mexico	442,753	447,952	Up 1 percent	6.8 percent	6 percent
Pennsylvania	1,767,367	1,808,787	Up 2 percent	7.6 percent	5 percent
West Virginia	352,352	367,943	Up 4 percent	7.2 percent	5.9 percent

Sources: U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Labor, AP analysis