FAFSA skipped asset questions after marking Medicaid - Covid exception issue

This is a common issue! The Medicaid question is part of the Student Aid Index (SAI) qualification for the simplified needs test. If you answer yes to any of the federal benefits questions AND your income is below $60,000, the FAFSA will skip asset questions because your assets aren't considered in the calculation. The key here is whether your family ACTUALLY received Medicaid during the tax year in question - not whether you should have qualified under normal rules. If your children were legitimately enrolled in Medicaid during 2023 (regardless of why), then answering 'yes' is correct.

The FASA system is so BROKEN!! Same exact thing happened to me last year and we ended up getting FLAGGED for verification because the financial aid office noticed the discrepancy in our income vs. benefits. Took MONTHS to resolve and almost missed the scholarship deadlines. The whole system is just designed to trip up parents who are trying to be honest. Makes me so mad!!!

The simplified needs test has specific requirements - your family must have an AGI below $60,000 AND received one of the qualified federal benefits. If your income was above that threshold, but you still truthfully received Medicaid (even under special Covid rules), you should actually select "no" for that question because the question is really asking "Do you qualify for the simplified formula?" not just "Did you receive benefits?" The Department of Education actually updated guidance on this because of Covid Medicaid extensions. You should answer based on whether you would have qualified for Medicaid under normal circumstances, not the emergency provisions.

we had literally the exact same issue!!! our twins were on CHIP which is like medicaid but for families with slightly higher incomes, and i answered yes. after submitting i realized it never asked about our rental property. i was freaking OUT thinking i was gonna go to jail for fafsa fraud lol. anyway i called and they told me i could make a correction after submission. the lady said its super common mistake.

If you try calling Federal Student Aid to ask about this, prepare to be on hold FOREVER. I tried for two days last month about a similar question and never got through. Eventually used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an agent in about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The FSA agent I spoke with said that for the Medicaid question, what matters is if you actually received the benefit during the tax year, regardless of special circumstances. But she also mentioned that if your income is above the threshold, you should be seeing the asset questions regardless.

Ugh I am having the opposite problem! We DID qualify for SNAP for part of last year, I answered YES, but the stupid system is STILL asking for all our assets which are literally just a checking account with like $2300 and an old 401k. The whole FAFSA redesign is a complete disaster.

To answer your follow-up question - since your income was $87,000, which is above the $60,000 threshold, the system should definitely be asking about your assets regardless of the Medicaid answer. This sounds like a technical glitch in the new FAFSA system. I recommend: 1. Take screenshots of the submission process showing the questions were skipped 2. Complete and submit the form as the system allows 3. After submission, use the correction feature to verify your answers 4. Contact your daughter's financial aid office to explain the situation Most importantly, document everything. The new FAFSA system has had numerous technical issues this year, and financial aid offices are aware of these problems. They'll likely work with you to ensure all information is correctly recorded.

One more important point: changing your answer to "no" on the Medicaid question is the technically correct approach, but be prepared for a possible verification request regardless. This new FAFSA system has been flagging applications with corrections at a higher rate. However, verification is not an audit - it's just a standard process to confirm information. If selected for verification, you'll simply need to provide documentation supporting your answers. The financial aid office will guide you through this process. Keep records of your tax returns, W-2s, and any documentation showing when your children were disenrolled from Medicaid.

i think i saw somewhere that for the 2025-2026 FAFSA they actually increased the simplified needs threshold to $75k? but i might be wrong lol. financial aid is so confusing!!!

I'm new to this whole FAFSA process and reading through everyone's experiences is both helpful and terrifying! My daughter is a junior so we'll be doing this next year. Can someone explain what happens if you DO get selected for verification? Like, what documents do they typically ask for and how long does the process usually take? I want to be prepared since it seems like the new system is flagging more applications than before.

As someone who just went through this exact situation with my son's FAFSA, I can confirm that the system is definitely glitchy this year. We had a similar income level (~$85k) and answered yes to the SNAP question, but the system still asked for our assets - which makes me think there might be inconsistencies in how the new system is processing these responses. Here's what I learned from our financial aid counselor: the simplified needs test requires BOTH the federal benefits AND income under $60k. If you only meet one criteria, you don't qualify for the simplified formula. Since your income was $87k, you should be seeing the asset questions regardless of the Medicaid answer. I'd suggest going back to change your answer to "no" since you wouldn't have qualified under normal circumstances, then submit. The system should then ask for your assets. If it still doesn't, definitely contact the financial aid office - they're used to dealing with these technical issues this year and won't penalize you for system errors. Also, don't stress too much about "fraud" - the Department of Education knows the Covid Medicaid situation created confusion, and honest mistakes with good faith corrections aren't going to get you in trouble!

Reading through all these responses, it's clear that the FAFSA system has some serious bugs this year! I'm a first-time parent going through this process and honestly, it's been overwhelming. But seeing how supportive this community is makes me feel so much better. For what it's worth, I think everyone's advice about changing your answer to "no" makes perfect sense given your income level. The simplified needs test requiring BOTH federal benefits AND income under $60k is key - if you don't meet both criteria, you should be seeing those asset questions. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet: when you do go back to make corrections, the system might ask you to re-verify some earlier information. Don't panic if that happens - it's just part of how the correction process works. And definitely keep screenshots of everything like others suggested. This whole experience has taught me to document every step! Good luck with your daughter's application - sounds like you're being really thoughtful about doing everything correctly, which is exactly the right approach!

I'm going through the FAFSA for the first time with my oldest son, and this thread has been incredibly educational! The confusion around Covid-era Medicaid eligibility seems to be affecting so many families. One thing I wanted to add based on my research: if you do end up needing to make corrections after submission, you can actually do this multiple times if needed. The Federal Student Aid website specifically mentions that corrections won't negatively impact your application as long as they're made in good faith to provide accurate information. Also, for anyone else dealing with similar benefit questions - I found that keeping a timeline of when your family received benefits (and when you were disenrolled) can be really helpful. We had a similar situation with SNAP benefits that ended mid-year due to income changes, and having those exact dates made answering the questions much clearer. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - it's so helpful to know that these system glitches are widespread and that financial aid offices are understanding about the technical issues this year!

As someone new to this community and the FAFSA process, I just want to say how incredibly helpful this entire discussion has been! My daughter is a sophomore, so I have a year to prepare, but reading through everyone's experiences with the Covid Medicaid situation has already saved me from what would have been a very stressful mistake. The key takeaway I'm getting is: if your income was above the $60k threshold, you need BOTH the federal benefits AND the income requirement to qualify for simplified needs test. Since you only had one of the two criteria, changing your answer to "no" makes complete sense. What really strikes me is how supportive everyone has been in helping each other navigate these system glitches. It's clear the new FAFSA has some serious bugs, but seeing how financial aid offices are understanding about honest mistakes and technical issues is really reassuring. I'm definitely going to start gathering all our financial documents early and create that timeline of any benefit enrollment/disenrollment dates that @Andre Lefebvre suggested. Better to be over-prepared than scrambling at the last minute! Thank you all for sharing your experiences so openly - this community is such a valuable resource for parents trying to figure out this complex process!

As someone completely new to the FAFSA process, this thread has been absolutely invaluable! I'm just starting to research financial aid for my daughter who's a junior, and I had no idea how complex these benefit questions could be, especially with all the Covid-era complications. From reading everyone's experiences, it seems crystal clear that since your income was $87,000 (above the $60k threshold), you should change your Medicaid answer to "no" - you need BOTH the federal benefits AND income under $60k to qualify for the simplified needs test. The fact that the system skipped your asset questions with your income level definitely sounds like a technical glitch. I'm taking so many notes from this discussion! The advice about taking screenshots, keeping benefit enrollment timelines, and being prepared for potential verification requests is gold. It's also really reassuring to know that financial aid offices understand these system issues and that honest corrections won't cause problems. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences so openly - this community support makes navigating this intimidating process feel so much more manageable!

As a newcomer to this community, I just want to say how incredibly helpful this entire discussion has been! I'm just starting to research the FAFSA process for my son who's a junior, and honestly, I had no idea about any of these complexities with federal benefits and income thresholds. From reading everyone's experiences, it's clear that the key issue here is the simplified needs test requiring BOTH federal benefits AND income under $60,000. Since your family income was $87,000, you only met one of the two criteria, which means the system shouldn't have skipped the asset questions. Changing your answer to "no" on the Medicaid question makes perfect sense given your situation. What really stands out to me is how supportive everyone has been in sharing their experiences with these FAFSA glitches. It's reassuring to know that financial aid offices understand these technical issues and that making honest corrections won't cause problems. I'm definitely taking notes on all the practical advice here - taking screenshots, keeping detailed benefit timelines, and being prepared for potential verification requests. The Covid Medicaid situation seems to have created confusion for so many families, but seeing how the community comes together to help each other navigate these challenges gives me confidence that we can figure this out. Thank you all for being so open about your experiences - it makes this intimidating process feel much more manageable!

As someone brand new to both this community and the FAFSA process, I've found this entire discussion incredibly enlightening! My daughter is currently a sophomore, so I have some time to prepare, but reading about everyone's experiences with the Covid-era Medicaid complications has already taught me so much. From what I'm understanding, the core issue seems to be that the simplified needs test requires BOTH federal benefits receipt AND income under $60,000. Since your family income was $87,000, you only qualified for one of the two criteria, which means the system should definitely have asked about your assets regardless of the Medicaid answer. What strikes me most is how many families are navigating these same Covid-related benefit complications - it's clearly a widespread issue that the FAFSA system wasn't fully prepared to handle. The advice about changing your answer to "no" makes complete sense given your income level and the fact that your children were only eligible due to emergency provisions rather than normal qualifying circumstances. I'm taking extensive notes from all the practical tips shared here - documenting everything with screenshots, maintaining detailed benefit enrollment timelines, and being prepared for potential verification. It's also incredibly reassuring to learn that financial aid offices understand these technical glitches and that honest corrections won't negatively impact applications. Thank you to everyone who has shared their experiences so openly. This community support makes what initially seemed like an overwhelming process feel much more manageable. The willingness to help each other navigate these complex situations is truly valuable for parents like me who are just beginning to understand the financial aid landscape!