Arrested? What Happens to Your Benefits
If You Go to Jail or Prison?

Will My Disability Checks Stop When I Am in Jail or Prison? What Happens to My Medical Care While I Am in Jail or Prison? What Happens to Other Benefits While I Am in Jail or Prison? When I Am Released, How Do I Get My Disability Benefits Back? How Do I Pay for Medical Care After I Am Released? How Do I Obtain Other Benefits After My Release? How Can I Apply for Benefits I Did Not Have Before My Arrest? For More Information Notes

A Guide to Federal Rules on SSI, SSDI, Medicaid, Medicare and Veterans Benefits for Adults with Disabilities

This guide explains what will happen to your federal benefits if you are arrested and held in jail or prison, and how you can get them back when you are released.

It describes federal rules on:

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability
• Social Security Disability Insurance Disability (SSDI)
• Medicaid health and mental health services
• Medicare health and mental health services
• Veterans pensions and compensation
• Veterans health care
• Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
• Food Stamps

It first explains how and why you may lose these benefits and then how to restart them when you are released from jail or prison. The third section tells how you can make a new application for benefits you didn't have before your arrest.

You can find more information and some application forms through phone numbers and websites listed in the booklet. If you have difficulty getting access to the internet or a phone, a family member, friend or advocate can use this booklet to help you apply or reapply for federal benefits.

More About this Booklet

This guide was developed by the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, written by Chris Koyanagi, policy director, and edited by Lee Carty, communications director, with general program support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

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