LDH: Federal stimulus checks, unemployment benefits may affect Medicaid eligibility

Medicaid members who received stimulus checks or unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 public health emergency may need to tell Medicaid about it.

What counts as income for Medicaid?

Medicaid members have to report all income to Medicaid at application or renewal. Actively enrolled members must also report any changes in their income. Some unemployment benefits need to be reported as income.

Regular unemployment insurance (UI), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), and Mixed Earners Unemployment Compensation (MEUC) are counted as income. These must be reported to Medicaid as income. You can report any of these benefits online at MyMedicaid.la.gov or by calling 1-888-342-6207.

Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), Lost Wages Assistance (LWA), Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA), and stimulus checks are not counted as income and do not need to be reported to Medicaid as income. Read more