(𝐓𝐎 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐒𝐈, 𝐒𝐒𝐃𝐈, 𝐒𝐒𝐀, 𝐃𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐕𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬,

Latest relief checks stalled for Social Security and VA beneficiaries

he latest round of stimulus checks have already reached millions, but a lapse in communication between federal agencies is holding back relief for some the nation’s most vulnerable citizens. Tens of millions of recipients of federal financial assistance, like those on Social Security or disability payments through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, saw their $1,400 checks stalled because of their filing status with the Internal Revenue Service. “They (the IRS) said there was nothing I had to do, since I automatically qualified. I didn’t have to do anything … But I would say it took seven to eight weeks to get the first check, and maybe three weeks to get the second,” said Casey Brock, a disabled veteran living in Wolf Point. Brock has received benefits from the VA for about a decade, and said his bank account has been nearly empty since the start of the pandemic. The stimulus check for him means groceries bought and bills paid. Since the pandemic reached the United States, stimulus checks have followed each relief bill passed by Congress. The first two rounds of checks, also known as economic impact payments, have amounted to an estimated $465 billion sent to U.S. citizens. The total amount sent to an individual has varied, depending on income, marriage status and how many children in each household. The responsibility of determining how much money every person who qualifies will receive, and distributing those funds, has fallen on the IRS.

Checks have come in the form of direct deposits, paper checks and prepaid Visa debit cards, and tax filings from 2019 and 2020 have guided the IRS in making those payments. When the IRS issued the first relief checks in the spring of 2020, VA beneficiaries like Brock who did not file annually had to use the non-file tool on IRS.gov to register their dependents and bank accounts in order to receive their payments. They had a May 5 deadline, and then some had to wait months for a check to arrive. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. LIMITED DIGITAL OFFER! $29.99 for 1 year Of the $1.9 trillion in the American Rescue Plan enacted March 11, an estimated $411 billion will go toward a third round of stimulus checks, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Although officials lauded the fact that as of Thursday 127 million Americans had each received checks of up to $1,400, the lack of information from the Social Security Administration delayed deposits for tens of millions like Brock who benefit from the administration. The breakdown stemmed from many Social Security, Supplemental Security Income Railroad Retirement Board and VA beneficiaries not being required to file taxes. In a letter dated March 22, the Committee on Ways and Means within the U.S. House of Representatives pressed both the IRS and SSA to rectify the issue, which left an estimated 30 million people waiting for what the American Rescue Plan has entitled them.

“The American Rescue Plan was intended to provide much-needed economic stimulus and assistance to people across the country – immediately – and we are counting on your agencies to ensure that beneficiaries are not left behind in the seamless delivery of those payments. Some of our most vulnerable seniors and persons with disabilities, including veterans who served our country with honor, are unable to pay for basic necessities while they wait for their overdue payments,” the letter stated. According to the letter, the IRS requested that the SSA send the necessary payment files two weeks before President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law. The committee announced three days later that that the SSA submitted the necessary payment files to the IRS for those 30 million people, and funds would soon follow. As of Friday afternoon, the IRS had not provided a timeline for when those payments should arrive. Montana veterans, Social Security recipients or anyone still waiting for a federal payment can check their check their status online through the IRS “Get My Payment” tool at https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment. Brock, who is providing for himself and several family members, said he has used the tool several times during the past two weeks. Each time he does, he receives a message saying, “payment not available.”

“And that’s the problem for lots of people on Social Security, or disabled veterans. If the bill says that we automatically qualify, then our payments should have went out first,” he said. With an estimated 85% of Americans eligible for the third round of checks, a staff member from the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs said vets who have not received payment by mid-to-late April should contact either the office of Sen. Jon Tester, the chairman of the committee. Contact information for Tester’s staff office can be found at https://www.tester.senate.gov/?p=offices.