Processing a Claim of Disability to Qualify for SNAP Eligibility
If a SNAP client is claiming to be disabled, you should first check the Disability page in BEACON to determine if the client has a current disability determination by the Department’s Professional Review Organization (PRO) already on record or the SSI Tracking page to determine if the client is receiving federally or State-administered supplemental benefits (SSP).
If PRO indicates that a TAFDC or EAEDC disabled client with a related SNAP household meets the criteria listing for SSI (decision code 100), equals the criteria listing for SSI (code 110) or meets or equals the SSI standards using the vocational standards for SSI (decision code 120), the PRO disability decision can be used to establish that the client is disabled for SNAP purposes.
These PRO disability decision codes mean the client has been certified disabled using SSI criteria in accordance with 106 CMR 362.210(A)(1).
Important: Be sure to check the End Date field on the Disability page to see that the date is in the future and indicates that the disability status is still current.
PRO decision codes are transmitted automatically to BEACON from Disability Evaluation Services (DES) indicating whether or not the client is federally certified for SNAP purposes.
The decision is indicated on the Disability page as follows:
Approvals:
- Disabled -Yes
- Determination status-Approved
- Disability determination source-PRO
- Federal Certify- Yes or No indicating whether the client meets the SSI definition
- Expiration-a future date
Denials:
- Disabled-No
- Determination Status-Denied
- Disability determination source-PRO
- Federal Certify-No
- Expiration- a date that has passed or no date
If the client has a PRO decision that meets the SSI eligibility criteria the information will batch into the Disability page and be indicated by Federal Certify-Yes. If the client does not meet the SSI criteria the information batched into the Disability page will be Federal Certify-No. Be sure to check the End Date field to see that the date is a future date and indicates that the disability status is still current.
If instead the client or the Department (through BENDEX, SDX or MassHealth), has verified that the client meets the federal standard for disability through another program such as SSI or RSDI, you must select one of the following from the disability determination source dropdown box on the Disability page:
- Federal/State Disability
- MassHealth disability
- MCB (Massachusetts Commission for the Blind)
- SSA
- Veteran
For information on entering the disability for noncitizens who have resided in the U.S. for less than five years and are using the EAEDC Medical Provider Statement to verifying SNAP eligibility see Entering the Disability-EAEDC.