Holocaust or Nazi Victim Reparations -- Effect on Medicaid, SSI and other Federally Funded and New York State Benefits

Under a 1994 law, (h.r. 1873 or public law 103-286), Holocaust compensation payments made to individuals based on their status as victims of Nazi persecution are  excluded from being counted as income and resources in determining both eligibility for and the amount of benefits  to be provided under any Federally funded program based on financial need.    This means payments made to victims of Nazi persecution do not increase the countable income, and therefore do not increase the Medicaid "spend-down" of Holocaust survivors and other Nazi victims.   Savings accumulated from reparations are not counted as resources.   The same exemption applies to Supplemental Security Income, Food Stamps and Federally subsidized Housing programs.  

The Conference on Material Claims Against Germany hosts a webpage with information about this important exception,  with materials authored by Selfhelp Community Services, Inc., an organization that had its origins in assisting people fleeing from Nazi Germany in 1937.  

Reparations in General - Excluded from Medicaid, SSI and other Federal Benefits

• Scroll down on the above webpage to download the brochure, authored by Selfhelp Community Services, that explains the exemption in detail, and how to obtain a payment history of various types of reparations.  You will need this history to establish an exemption for savings, as opposed to income. 

*            The brochure gives information about an important administrative hearing decision rendered in 2007 that clarifies proof needed to exempt accumulated savings when a Nazi victim applies for Medicaid.  A redacted copy of this 2007 decision is posted here  also described in this press release. 

*            The brochure also explains that EPIC, SCRIE, and other New York State-funded benefits, with no federal funding, do not count German reparations as income. 

• Scroll down further to download the spreadsheet by which you can convert German Deutschmarks or Euro's to U.S. Dollars.

• Scroll down further to access a sample completed restitution summary spreadsheet

German Social Security

The above materials do not explain one particular type of German payment to victims of Nazi Germany -- German Social Security.   While these payments are sometimes called a "pension," rather than reparations, in many cases they are exempt because they are a form of reparations.   This article explains circumstances under which German Social Security is exempt.     This Affidavit of Elihu Kover, Vice President for Nazi Victim Services at Selfhelp Community Services, further explains these rules. 

• Ghetto Pension or ZRBG. One type of German Social Security that is exempt is the German Pension for Work in Ghettos or ZBRG.   Like other forms of Social Security that should be exempt, these payments, first authorized in 1997 and then expanded in 2002,   are made  to Holocaust Survivors who were employed for remuneration during their internment in Nazi ghettos annexed to the Third Reich.  Such work periods are now considered as an insured period to be counted as contribution credits to German Social Security.   In 2009, a successful appeal in the highest German court liberalized the criteria for qualifying for ZRBG.   Many people who have had appeals pending for years may be receiving payments.   See this  ZRBG fact sheet explaining why these are exempt.  

• Germany’s Ghetto Fund -- In 2007 the German government created a special fund (“Ghetto Fund”) to acknowledge, through a one-time humanitarian payment of 2,000 €, Jewish victims of Nazi persecution who worked in a Nazi Ghetto but were denied the ZRBG or German social security pension for voluntary and remunerated work. This lump-sum payment should be considered among the exempted Holocaust-related reparation payments. See this link on  the Claims Conference’s website or http://www.claimscon.org/index.asp?url=ghettofund/notice-1207. 

Other Federal Benefits and Reparations -- A recent opinion letter from  the Baltimore office of the U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Development, dated Jun 1, 2009, interprets the same exemption for Nazi reparations as it applies to an application by an elderly Holocaust survivor for Section 202 federally subsidized housing.  She had purchased a house in 2004 with saved reparations.  Under the usual rules, while the house would not disqualify her from being accepted as a tenant in Section 202 housing, interest on the house as an asset would  normally be imputed to her.  The opinion letter states that "reparation payments, their interest and assets, such as homes and bank accounts, should be excluded in calculating the income eligibility of Section 202 applicants."   This letter might be useful for other federally funded benefits. 

Taxes and Reparations -- See this Claims Conference webpage

Bank Fee Waivers and Reparations -- certain banks have agreed to waive wire transfer fees for electronic receipt of reparations. 

Online Training -- Watch our online training on Holocaust reparations and Medicaid -- CLE credit available.  

This article was authored by the Evelyn Frank Legal Resources Program of Selfhelp Community Services, Inc.