The corona virus relief bill includes a stimulus payment to most Americans.
However this payment is concerning to Medicaid recipients and has them wondering how the payment will affect
their benefits.
The Corona virus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provides a one-time direct payment of $1,200
to individuals earning less than $75,000 per year ($150,000 for couples who file jointly). Individuals earning up
to $99,000 ($198,000 for joint filers) will receive smaller stimulus checks. Payments are based on either 2018 or
2019 tax returns. These payments include Social Security beneficiaries.
The basic Medicaid rule for nursing home residents is that they must pay all of their income, minus certain deductions, to the nursing home. If the stimulus payment were considered income, it would likely have to go straight to the nursing home. Since in most states Medicaid recipients cannot have more than $2,000 in assets, there was also concern that the stimulus payments could put many recipients over the asset limit.
In a blog post, the commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) has clarified that the SSA will not consider stimulus payments as income for Supplemental Security Insurance (SSI) recipients, and the payments will be excluded from resources for 12 months.
Because state Medicaid programs cannot impose eligibility requirements that are stricter than SSI requirements, the payments should not affect Medicaid eligibility.
based on that information, existing Medicaid recipients should not have to pay the stimulus checks to the nursing homes and can leave some or all of the funds in their accounts for up to 12 months.
When evaluating new Medicaid applications, the Medicaid agency should not count the additional funds in the accounts nor the one time check as income for that month.
In states that have "monthly income caps" for Medicaid eligibility and require an Irrevocable Income Trust [QIT or Miller Trust], the funds should not have to be transferred to this account because it is not counted as income.
Please note that that since there is no precedent for these checks it's difficult to say if the Medicaid agencies will be aware of the rules regarding these checks.
If questions arise the commissioner of the SSA has made mention is his blog that you can direct them to. click here
Please note that the above information refers to Long Term Care Medicaid programs - other Medicaid programs and other government benefits programs may view the guidelines differently.
Please note that the above is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute advice of any kind as each individual's circumstances vary. If you need specific information on your circumstance please contact us. [email protected] 855.471.6771
Medicaid Plus, P.C. processes thousands of Medicaid applications each year and can help you with your Asset Protection and Medicaid application. Please contact us for a free phone consultation.