Can you get unemployment and medicaid at the same time in Washington state?

Yes you can definitely have both! Unemployment benefits and medicaid are separate programs. Your UI payments might affect your medicaid income calculations but in most cases you'll still qualify, especially if your unemployment amount is relatively low. You should report your unemployment income to medicaid when you file your monthly reports though.

I've been on both for about 6 months now. The unemployment office doesn't communicate with medicaid automatically so you have to report your UI income yourself. My medicaid worker told me that unemployment is counted as income but the amount is usually low enough that most people still qualify.

The key thing is that medicaid looks at your monthly income, not your annual income when you're unemployed. So even though you had a job before, they'll base your eligibility on your current situation. Unemployment benefits are taxable income but they're usually much lower than what you were making working full time. Just make sure you report any changes to your medicaid caseworker within 10 days.

I had trouble getting through to both agencies when I needed to report changes. If you're having issues reaching Washington ESD to ask questions about how unemployment affects other benefits, I found this service called Claimyr that helps you get through to agents. They have a website at claimyr.com and there's a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works. Made it way easier to get answers about my specific situation.

been getting both since march, no problems. just report your ui income every month when you do your medicaid renewal stuff. they dont really care as long as youre honest about it

One thing to watch out for - if you get a job while still receiving some unemployment benefits (like if you're working part time), that income gets counted too. So keep track of all your income sources when reporting to medicaid. It's not just the unemployment amount they need to know about.

This is confusing. I thought if you lost your job you automatically qualified for everything. Why do they make it so complicated?

I'm dealing with this exact situation right now. Lost my job in January and have been getting both unemployment and medicaid. The unemployment amount counted as income for medicaid but since it's only about 40% of what I was making before, I still qualified. The medicaid office was actually pretty helpful when I called to report the change.

Another thing - if you're getting medicaid, you probably qualify for the subsidized phone program and maybe food assistance too. Might be worth looking into while you're between jobs. Being unemployed sucks but at least there are programs to help.

This whole system is a nightmare. I've been trying to figure out my benefits for weeks and every agency tells me something different. How are we supposed to navigate this when we're already stressed about losing our jobs?

been there! you can totally have both. i got laid off last summer and kept my medicaid the whole time i was getting unemployment. just report it when you file your monthly medicaid stuff and you'll be good. unemployment income is low enough that most people still qualify for medicaid anyway

To summarize for the OP - yes you can have both unemployment and medicaid at the same time. Report your UI income to medicaid within 10 days of receiving your first payment. Keep documentation of everything. The unemployment amount will count as income for medicaid purposes but since it's typically much lower than your previous wages, you'll likely still qualify. Just be honest and report all changes promptly.

One more tip - if your medicaid gets cancelled for any reason while you're unemployed, you can usually get it back pretty quickly once you provide the right income documentation. Don't panic if there's a gap in coverage, just reapply right away.

this happened to my sister last year. she kept both the whole time she was unemployed. took about 4 months to find a new job and never had any issues with medicaid. they just wanted her to report the unemployment income which she did

Final thought - when you do find a new job, make sure to report that income change to medicaid too. Your eligibility might change once you're working again, but at least you'll have employer health insurance to transition to.

Just wanted to add that if anyone else is having trouble getting through to Washington ESD to ask about how unemployment affects other benefits, that Claimyr service I mentioned earlier really helped me get answers. The agents were able to explain exactly how my UI benefits would be reported and what I needed to tell other agencies.

Thanks for posting this question OP. I didn't even know you could have both programs at the same time. This thread taught me a lot about how the system works.

The system is set up to help people who lose their jobs. Having both unemployment and medicaid makes sense because you still need health insurance even when you're not working. It's actually pretty smart when you think about it.

Hope your job search goes well OP! At least you know you'll have health coverage while you're looking. That's one less thing to stress about.

This has been a great discussion. The main takeaway is that unemployment and medicaid can work together - you just need to communicate with both agencies about your income changes. Don't let the bureaucracy scare you away from getting the help you're entitled to.

I'm in a similar boat - just got laid off two weeks ago and was panicking about losing my health coverage. This thread is so reassuring! I've already applied for unemployment but was hesitant to report it to medicaid because I was scared they'd cut me off. Now I understand that being honest about the income is actually the best approach. The unemployment amount will be way less than what I was making anyway, so hopefully I'll still qualify. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - it makes navigating this whole mess feel less overwhelming when you know other people have been through it successfully.