If you are a legal permanent resident adult, you are exempt from the five-year wait if you receive a disability benefit based on a severe disability. 106 C.M.R. § 362.220 (B)(7)(e). Unlike cash assistance and MassHealth, the SNAP/food stamp program relies on a disability determination made by another benefit program.
If you receive MassHealth benefits or EAEDC based on a disability, you may be eligible without the five-year wait. For both programs, your disability must be as severe as the SSI disability criteria. DTA is supposed to check with the UMass Disability Evaluation Service (DES) to find out the severity of your disability.
If you are age 65 or older and you receive EAEDC cash assistance, DTA will let you prove disability with a signed one-page statement from your doctor, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or psychologist. The disability needs to meet the SSI severity levels that apply to seniors (which does take advanced age into account for SSI purposes).
Advocacy Reminder
- If you are an elder or disabled LPR but are not receiving EAEDC cash assistance, contact a Legal Services advocate. Some elder or disabled LPRs may not qualify for EAEDC for financial reasons (e.g., spousal income or assets above the low EAEDC limits, or they do not want/need EAEDC benefits.) An advocate may be able to find a way for you to prove disability to overcome the five-year waiting period.
Additional Policy Guidance on Disability Verification
Additional Policy Guidance on Disability Verification
- Broader group of health care practitioners now allowed to sign Disability Certification, including doctors, osteopaths, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and psychologists. DTA Transitions (July 2008)
- Guidance to DTA workers on identifying both elderly and disabled EAEDC immigrants who may be eligible for SNAP/food stamps without the five-year waiting period. Guidance includes Disability Verification Form for Elderly Non-Citizens. DTA Field Operations Memo 2008-11 (Mar. 11, 2008) and DTA Field Operations Memo 2008-28 (May 29, 2008)
- See also BEACON User's Guide, Ch. XIII-H, pp. 51-57, on how to determine severity of disability for SNAP/food stamp purposes.
Produced by Patricia Baker, Laura Gallant, Deborah Harris, Rochelle Hahn Massachusetts Law Reform Institute Last updated January 2011
