Listen to Lawrence – Stimulus Checks for Medicaid and SSI Recipients

April 21, 2020

Dear clients and friends,

Many of you will soon be receiving your stimulus checks, about $1200 per person, either electronically or in the mail. I know for many of you this cannot happen soon enough.

However, we have many clients who are on Medicaid (older people receiving home care or nursing home care services) and/or Supplemental Security Income, SSI (younger people with disabilities) and they have been calling our office expressing anxiety over how to handle their stimulus check when they receive it. The problem is that a person receiving needs-based government benefits like Medicaid and SSI is only allowed a very limited amount of income and if that amount is exceeded, such benefits may be lost or alternatively, they will derive no benefit from their stimulus check.

The good news is that the check is to be treated as a tax refund and not counted as income in the month of receipt. Then, it is protected for 12 months before being counted as a resource. So enjoy your stimulus checks!

I hope this helps.

Please pass this information on to your family and friends and continue to keep your questions coming! If you are thinking about it, others are probably thinking about it too, so my answers will no doubt help you and many others. Let’s stay connected.

LISTEN TO LAWRENCE!

BE SAFE!