COVID-19, Unemployment Insurance, and People with Disabilities

The Arc has received concerning reports that people with disabilities on SSI who lost their SSI benefits because they received unemployment insurance payments are also receiving a termination notice from Medicaid. This shouldn’t happen and there is clear CMS guidance (see #33) on the issue. We have a fact sheet on this issue available here and attached. In short, unemployment benefits are counted differently than wages and so people may lose their SSI benefits (although the benefits should be suspended for 12 months and not terminated so once the UI benefits run out, SSI should be restarted without the need to reapply), but should not lose Medicaid because of protections from the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.