The U.S. Department of the Treasury is requiring all federal benefits be paid electronically
People who live in nursing homes – and the homes themselves – are required to comply with the Treasury Department’s new guidance. If a nursing home serves as the representative payee for a beneficiary, the home will need to ensure federal benefit payments are converted to an electronic payment by March 1, 2013.
The rule affects:
Current check recipients – People already receiving Social Security and other federal benefits by check are required to switch to direct deposit by March 1, 2013.
People newly applying for benefits – Anyone applying for federal benefits will receive their payments electronically from day one.
What your organization should do:
Help residents who still receive their federal benefit payment by paper check switch to an electronic payment method by the March 1, 2013 deadline. Funds can be deposited either into the resident’s own account or into a Resident Trust Account. The resident or the resident’s representative payee should call the U.S. Treasury Electronic Payment Solution Center at 1-888-382-3725 to sign up, or complete a form available at www.godirect.org.
Common situations nursing homes may encounter and how to help residents convert to direct deposit is included in the presentation Changes to Federal Benefit Payments: What SNFs Need to Know, developed in conjunction with the American Health Care Association. An archived version of the webinar is also available at http://webinars.ahcancal.org/session.php?id=9422.
Please view additional resources and helpful guidelines for administrators at http://godirect.org/partners/nursing-homes-and-treasury%E2%80%99s-electronic-payments-requirement/.