State & Federal Coronavirus Information for I/DD Community

California Capitol

Safety Net Services Protection for Californians

Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom said that Californians who rely on Medi-Cal, CalFresh, CalWORKS, Cash Assistance for immigrants and in-home supportive services will NOT lose access due to COVID-19. If you receive any of these services, you do not have to worry about your re-determinations eligibility for 90 days. The 90-day period started on March 18th.

  • Medi-Cal health coverage
  • CalFresh food assistance
  • CalWORKS
  • Cash Assistance for Immigrants; and
  • In-Home Supportive Services

You can read the full order from the Governor here: https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/3.17.20-N-29-20-EO.pdf.

Governor Newsom’s other announcements and executive orders related to COVID-19 can be viewed here: https://www.gov.ca.gov/newsroom/

Impact on Social Security

The Social Security Administration updated their website to reflect the policy changes that they are implementing during the pandemic. You can visit: https://www.ssa.gov/coronavirus/ to read it in full.

The changes most likely to effect our community are:

  • “All local Social Security offices will be closed to the public for in-person service starting Tuesday, March 17, 2020. This decision protects the population we serve—older Americans and people with underlying medical conditions—and our employees during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. However, we are still able to provide critical services.”
  • “We will not start or complete any current medical continuing disability reviews. If you have a medical continuing disability review pending, please do not request medical information from your doctors at this time. We will follow up with you for any medical evidence once the COVID-19 public health emergency subsides.”
  • “Where possible, we are suspending our processing and collection of overpayments.”
  • “We are not conducting organization or individual representative payee accountings.”
  • “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are extending our deadlines wherever possible.
  • If we asked you to contact us by a certain date, please do not come to the office. You can contact us once our offices reopen to the public or you can mail your documents to us. We will follow up with you once the COVID-19 public health emergency subsides.
  • We are providing maximum flexibility in applying our good cause policy. This policy allows us to extend the time limits for submitting appeals and taking other actions during this public health emergency.”

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