Month: April 2020

You may have heard that Appendix K for Virginia’s Medicaid waivers has been approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) . What does this mean?

Appendix K outlines new flexibilities that will be allowed during the state of emergency due to COVID-19. For individuals using consumer-directed services, these flexibilities include the ability for spouses, parents of minor children, and guardians of minor children to TEMPORARILY be paid attendants. This does come with some challenges and we encourage you to read the letter below for more information.

As always, we encourage you to stay in touch with your service facilitator about what this means for you in your specific situation.

Letter to EORs regarding Appendix K

The latest guidance from the Social Security Administration, as of Friday, April 10, 2020. The important information is excerpted here:

The Treasury Department has launched a new web tool allowing quick registrations for Economic Impact Payments. Treasury, not Social Security, will make these payments. Please see guidance below.

People who receive Social Security retirement, survivors, or disability insurance benefits and who did not file a tax return for 2018 or 2019 and who have qualifying children under age 17:

Go to the IRS’s webpage to enter their information instead of waiting for their automatic $1,200 Economic Impact Payment. By taking proactive steps to enter information on the IRS website about you and your qualifying children, you will also receive the $500 per dependent child payment in addition to your $1,200 individual payment. If Social Security beneficiaries in this group do not provide information to the IRS soon, you will have to wait to receive $500 per qualifying child.

SSI recipients, especially those who have qualifying children under age 17:

To receive the full amount of the Economic Impact Payments you and your family are eligible for, go to the IRS’s Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info page and provide information about yourself and your qualifying children.

New beneficiaries since January 1, 2020, of either Social Security or SSI benefits, who did not file a tax return for 2018 or 2019:

Go to the IRS’s Non-Filers website to enter their information.

Get the full press release here.

Cornell University’s ILR School has published a helpful informational paper explaining how the stimulus funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act will affect benefits.

COVID-19 and Social Insurance and Benefits Programs