SSI Will Automatically Go to Recipients

PRESS RELEASE

Supplemental Security Income Recipients Will Receive Automatic COVID-19 Economic Impact Payments

April 15, 2020

SSI recipients with dependent children should still use the “Non-Filers Enter Info Here” portal on IRS.Gov to provide their information

WASHINGTON—The Social Security Administration announced today that Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients will automatically receive their Economic Impact Payments directly to their bank accounts through direct deposit, Direct Express debit card, or by paper check, just as they would normally receive their SSI benefits. Treasury anticipates SSI recipients will receive these automatic payments no later than early May.  

“SSI recipients with no qualifying children do not need to take any action in order to receive their $1,200 economic impact payment. The payments will be automatic,” said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “Recipients with qualifying children should use the ‘Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here’ web portal to enter basic information so they can receive their payments as quickly as possible.”

For SSI recipients who have qualifying children under age 17, go to IRS.gov and click on the “Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here” button. The tool will request basic information to confirm eligibility, calculate and send the Economic Impact Payments:

• Full names and Social Security numbers, including for spouse and dependents
• Mailing address
• Bank account type, account and routing numbers

Recipients will receive the $500 per dependent child payment in addition to their $1,200 individual payment. If SSI beneficiaries in this group do not provide their information to the IRS soon, they will have to wait until later to receive their $500 per qualifying child.

For those SSI recipients with dependents who use Direct Express debit cards, additional information will be available soon regarding the steps to take on the IRS web site when claiming children under 17.

The Social Security Administration will not consider Economic Impact Payments as income for SSI recipients, and the payments are excluded from resources for 12 months.

Read more information about Social Security retirement, survivors, and disability insurance beneficiaries.

Read more information on Economic Impact Payments.

Facts on the Stimulus Checks

Call MCIL if you need information about the COVID-19 Stimulus payment

By Christina Clift
In mid-April most Americans will begin receiving “economic impact payments” which is part of the CARES Act law that Congress passed, and the President signed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  This 2.2 trillion dollar rescue package will provide some help to Americans impacted by the Covid19 virus, but it will not be the only solution needed to begin combatting the economic fall-out this virus caused on our city, state, country, and world.  Many people are wondering if they are eligible, how much money will they receive, and how they will get their money. These are all valid questions given the initial confusion when this law was passed, but I’ve done my best to answer some of them below:

Who will be eligible for payments?

• You filed a tax return for either 2019 or 2018. 
• Your income is below the guidelines for the payments. $75,000 a year for individuals and $150,000 for married couples filing jointly
• People with higher incomes get less or no money. See the IRS information for more details.
• Social Security beneficiaries
• You are not a dependent on someone else’s tax form.
• You have a social security number 

How much money should I expect?

Anyone earning up to $75,000 in adjusted gross income and who has a Social Security number will receive a $1,200 payment. This means married couples filing joint returns will receive$2,400 that make under $150,000.

The payment steadily declines for those who make more. Those earning more than $99,000, or $198,000 for joint filers, are not eligible. The thresholds are slightly different for those who file as a head of household.  Parents will also receive $500 for each qualifying child.

How will I get the Money?

Don’t worry, payments will be direct deposited in your bank account or mailed to you in a check. The IRS will use the information you gave them when you filed your 2019 taxes. They will only use your 2018 tax information if you have not filed for this year.  It’s important to remember that the IRS will use the following information from your return to distribute your payment:

• The bank account you gave the IRS for direct deposit of your refund
• The address where you got a refund check
• The address on your most recent tax return

Social Security beneficiaries will not be left out.  You will receive payments just like everyone else, but will not be required to file a tax return.  The IRS will use the information from Social Security to send you a payment. They will do this for senior citizens, Social Security recipients and railroad retirees who otherwise don’t file a tax return.

The IRS is working on a way for individuals to update their information on the internet so you can get a payment quicker. Check back at

www.irs.gov/coronavirus in the next weeks. Direct deposit means you get the payment faster than if they send you a paper check.  If your address has changed you can visit the IRS website for more information at: 

https://www.irs.gov/faqs/irs-procedures/address-changes.

Remember, we are all in this together and MCIL will keep you up to date on issues that impact your life.  Please stay home, stay healthy, and stay tuned for more information.

TennCare Pausing Terminations durning COVID-19

TennCare also stopping involuntary disenrollments from LTSS

TennCare Advocates,

We wanted to take an opportunity to update our advocacy partners on a few decisions TennCare has made in light of the COVID-19 emergency.  To start, for the duration of the emergency, TennCare is pausing terminations for both Medicaid and CoverKids with exceptions for voluntary terminations and cases where a member is no longer a resident. Redeterminations will continue only to the extent a member can be automatically renewed through the ex parte process. The effective date for this pause is March 18 so anyone who was enrolled as of that date will maintain coverage through the end of the national emergency.  This includes members who received continuation of benefits pending appeal as of that date. Regarding the 90-day termination period, this pause will not impact that process currently. If an individual who submits information during the 90-day reconsideration period is ultimately approved, we will continue to fill any gap in coverage back to the date of termination, just as we have done voluntarily for the last several years.

We have also implemented several Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) policy changes including the pause of all involuntary disenrollments from LTSS programs. To ensure continued access to these important services, we are allowing all assessments (PAEs, PASRRs) to be performed remotely. We continue to work closely with our partners and have issued guidance to MCOs, AAADs, and providers, and have worked with DIDD to issue guidance to their support coordination and provider agencies. All of these updates are available on the TennCare Coronavirus webpage at  https://www.tn.gov/tenncare/information-statistics/tenncare-information-about-coronavirus.html.

TennCare has always encouraged anyone who thinks they may be eligible to apply and TennCare Connect will remain open and accessible to anyone seeking to do so.  As you know, online, phone, mail, and in person are all options to apply and we will closely monitor the availability of each of those options as we move forward.  Specific to the application process, TennCare will begin taking self-attestation of eligibility criteria, including income and resources, on a case-by-case basis when documentation is not available due to the coronavirus pandemic.  We have also temporarily simplified the presumptive eligibility process so that applications and signatures can be completed by phone during this emergency; however, anyone who gains or has recently gained eligibility through the presumptive process will still need to apply in order to maintain their eligibility status.

On the medical side, we are also in constant contact with provider groups and stakeholders on ways to support impacted providers and have already taken steps to ensure services are not disrupted.  For example, we have already significantly expanded telehealth policies and guidance regarding services is updated on our website as soon as it becomes available.  Additionally, we have authorized automatic reauthorizations for ongoing home health and private duty nursing services for at least 60 days.  This authorization is temporary and will be reevaluated as we continue to work with our health plans during this period.    

Finally, to secure additional flexibilities related to the COVID-19 emergency, TennCare has submitted an 1135 waiver to CMS.  If approved, TennCare will gain several regulatory flexibilities targeted toward providers and designed to ensure sufficient health care services are available to serve our members.

Again you can find up-to-date information on the TennCare Coronavirus webpage at https://www.tn.gov/tenncare/information-statistics/tenncare-information-about-coronavirus.html.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Thanks

Sarah

Sarah Tanksley Stockton

Director of Communications

310 Great Circle Rd., Nashville, TN 37243

p. 615-507-6457 c.615-767-4109

sarah.tanksley@tn.gov tn.gov/tenncare

Tennessee Equality in COVID-19 Care

Disability discrimination complaint filed over COVID-19 treatment rationing plan in Tennessee

March 27, 2020 
NASHVILLE - As COVID-19 cases increase, the experience in other countries and predictions of United States health officials is that there will not be enough acute care services or equipment, such as ventilators, to meet the demand of patients with the virus who require intensive treatment. Health care professionals in the U.S. are already developing protocols for responding to COVID-19, including treatment rationing that will determine who will and will not have access to life-saving treatment.

Disability Rights Tennessee (DRT), The Arc Tennessee (The Arc TN), and several other disability advocacy organizations filed a complaint with Tennessee’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) on behalf of their constituents and several individual Complainants on Friday, March 27, 2020 about Tennessee’s Guidance for the Ethical Use of Scarce Resources during a Health Emergency.

The complaint voices grave concern that the plans being put in place discriminate against people with disabilities in violation of federal disability rights laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504) and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and place their lives at serious risk. Complaints have called upon the OCR to take immediate action to address this discrimination and assist local jurisdictions and providers to develop non-discriminatory approaches before there are lethal consequences to application of these illegal policies.

The ADA, Section 504, and Section 1557 cover the state of Tennessee and all Tennessee hospitals, health care providers, health plans and insurers. These federal laws prohibit disability discrimination in medical decision-making.The attached complaint filed today by Disability Rights Tennessee and others details these principles.

Yet Tennessee’s 2016 “Guidelines for the Ethical Allocation of Scarce Resources”[1]permit and advise that, in the context of a crisis like COVID-19, health care providers discriminate on the basis of disability in violation of federal law.

Specifically, Tennessee’s guidelines exclude people with “advanced neuromuscular disease” who require “assistance with activities of daily living or requiring chronic ventilatory support,” from accessing critical care, including ventilators. They further exclude people with metastatic cancer, some people with dementia, and some people with traumatic brain injury from necessary care.

The thousands of people who have the listed conditions in the guidelines are not inherently less likely to respond to COVID-19 treatment or medically less capable of surviving and returning to living productive and valued lives.  A diagnosis should not determine anyone’s right to individual medical judgment or leave people afraid to seek professional help because their care will be based on assumptions about a condition. As such, these guidelines violate the federal disability rights laws outlined above.

As a result of these guidelines, and the message that they send about the worth and dignity of people with disabilities, Tennesseans with significant disabilities are experiencing intense fear and anxiety. People with disabilities fear that, should they need critical care or ventilators during the COVID-19 crisis, they may be excluded and denied based on disability, and may even face preventable death.

Jean Marie Lawrence is a Tennessean who was born with Muscular Dystrophy. She is 33 years old and relies on a ventilator for 12 to 20 hours a day. She works 40 hours a week, volunteers, and lives independently. Because Jean Marie has Muscular Dystrophy and is ventilator dependent, Tennessee’s medical rationing guidelines exclude her from receiving COVID-19 treatment. Jean Marie shares,

“Tennessee is saying my life is worth less than that of someone without my disability. I fear not only for myself, but also for the millions of other Tennesseans with disabilities whose lives you may see as untraditional but are nonetheless worth every bit as much as your own.”

Jean Marie's story is just one example of Tennesseans with disabilities who are at risk of being excluded from medical treatment and who, as a result, risk facing preventable death. The stories of the other individual Complainants follow in the Further Description of Complainants at the end of this letter. In passing the ADA, our nation promised to include individuals with disabilities as equal members of our communities in all contexts, including this one.

It has been requested that OCR immediately investigate and resolve this complaint of disability discrimination, and promptly detail what the state of Tennessee and Tennessee health care providers must do to comply with federal laws protecting the rights of all patients, including those with disabilities, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Given that the pandemic is spreading at a rapid pace and the number of confirmed cases and deaths is climbing each day, this is a topic requiring immediate attention.

CONTACTS: 

Lisa Primm, Executive Director, Disability Rights Tennessee,lisap@disabilityrightstn.org, 615-298-1080 x118

Carrie Hobbs Guiden, Executive Director, The Arc Tennessee, cguiden@thearctn.org, 480-236-9722

Shira Wakschlag
, The Arc of the United States, Wakschlag@thearc.org
Complainants are represented by their counsel who are available for comment.