Title: Expanded unemployment benefits may bump people from welfare, other aid
Headings: Expanded unemployment benefits could bump people from welfare, other assistance
Expanded unemployment benefits could bump people from welfare, other assistance
Key Points
Expanded unemployment benefits
Medicaid, food stamps and more

Content: During a food distribution at the Salvation Army location on South 5th Street in Reading, PA Friday afternoon May 8, 2020. ( Photo by Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)
MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images
Expanded unemployment benefits have been a lifeline for millions of Americans who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic. That lifeline, however, may reduce or eliminate the financial aid some get through other safety net programs such as Medicaid, food stamps and welfare. That’s because unemployment benefits generally count as income for individuals in such programs, according to Jennifer Wagner, a senior policy analyst with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. These assistance programs, which provide aid for lower-income Americans, typically carry some sort of means testing to determine eligibility and aid amount. Some aid recipients may be unaware of the potential interplay between expanded unemployment benefits and the social assistance they receive, especially since the one-time economic stimulus checks millions of Americans have received from the federal government don’t count as income toward these means-tested programs. However, the expanded unemployment benefits may count as income in some circumstances and some states have different rules, Wagner said. Expanded unemployment benefits
The CARES Act, the $2.2 trillion federal coronavirus relief law enacted in March, expanded unemployment benefits, namely by increasing weekly pay by $600, increasing benefit duration and expanding eligibility to the self-employed and other workers. Nearly 41 million Americans have applied for jobless benefits since mid-March. Unemployment levels in the U.S. are their worst since the Great Depression.