Governor Brian P. Kemp recently announced that he has dedicated more than $1 billion to the Department of Human Services to provide cash assistance of up to $350 for active enrollees of Medicaid, PeachCare for Kids®, SNAP, and/or TANF. Georgians who are enrolled in more than one of these programs will only receive one cash assistance payment.
As cash assistance payments continue to be issued in the coming weeks to eligible Georgians statewide, we ask people to be aware of the following:
- If recipients attempt to transfer their card balance to Apple Cash, Cash App, or Zelle, the transfer will be declined.
- Cards cannot be used to buy money orders.
- A card balance cannot be converted to cash.
- Walmart does not accept Apple Pay for in-store purchases, but a virtual card can be used on Walmart.com.
- The card cannot be used for any impermissible transactions. This includes gaming, gambling, lottery, adult entertainment, alcohol, tobacco, vaping, or firearm purchase.
- Some merchants do not allow virtual card payments. Although, cardholders may be able to Buy Online and Pick-up In-Store, according to their availability. (See question 15 below for more information)
FAQs
1. Who is eligible to receive the cash assistance payment? Eligible recipients include Georgians who were enrolled and actively receiving Medicaid, PeachCare for Kids®, SNAP, and/or TANF benefits on July 31, 2022.
2. Do you have to apply to receive the cash assistance payment? No, you do not have to apply for this one-time cash assistance payment. Eligible Georgians will have information regarding the status of members in the household posted in their “Check My Benefits – Case Selection” screen of their Gateway account beginning Sept. 19, 2022. You will see your client ID number on the left side of your screen. Save this number and do not share it with anyone; you will need it to claim your virtual payment.
3. How will DHS communicate with me? DHS will be communicating with eligible Georgians through the Georgia Gateway portal. All potentially eligible Georgians should log in to their Georgia Gateway accounts and ensure their personal information and contact preferences are up to date. If you do not have your account linked and a customer portal login created, the instructions linked here can help guide you through the process: Customer Portal Steps and Mobility Steps . Emails about the cash assistance payment will come from [email protected]. To ensure timely receipt of email communications from DHS, please add this email address as a "safe sender" or "mark as not spam" in your email account.
4. When will I receive the cash assistance payment? Eligible Georgians will receive the cash assistance payment beginning in mid-September. For the quickest payment delivery, select “email” as your contact preference in Georgia Gateway and provide the best email address to contact you. Cash assistance payments are slated to go out to eligible Georgians who have "email" as their contact preference beginning the week of Sept. 19, 2022, and eligible Georgians who have "email and U.S. mail" as their contact preference beginning the week of Sept. 26, 2022. Eligible Georgians with a "U.S. mail" contact preference will receive their payment at a later date. Check this FAQ page for updates.
5. How will I receive the cash payment? Will it go on my SNAP/TANF benefit card? No, these cash assistance payments will be provided to eligible Georgians outside of current benefit payment cards. Virtual payments will be issued to eligible Georgians who have their contact preference set to "email" or "email and U.S. mail" in Georgia Gateway. Instructions on how to redeem the virtual payment will be included in email communication when the payment is issued. Plastic cards will be mailed to eligible Georgians who do not have their email address listed in Gateway. Note: Paper checks will NOT be issued.
6. How does the virtual payment card work? The virtual payment card is a Mastercard prepaid card that works like a debit card – it just lives in your digital wallet instead of your physical wallet. It offers a safe and convenient way to pay anywhere that accepts Mastercard payments, not just online. Please see below instructions for loading the Mastercard prepaid card into your digital wallet to use at merchant locations.
- Apple Wallet: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204506
- Google Wallet: https://guidebooks.google.com/google-pay-us/get-started/how-to-add-banks-credit-cards-google-pay
- Samsung Wallet: https://samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00045170/
7. What if I enrolled after the cutoff date? Cash assistance will not be provided to those enrolled after the cutoff date of July 31, 2022.
8. Is the cash assistance payment per household or per eligible person in the assistance unit? The assistance will be at the eligible active client ID level as of July 31, 2022. For example, a household that has one eligible parent and one eligible child would get one cash assistance payment for the parent and another cash assistance payment for the child.
9. In a joint custody situation where the child receives Medicaid on one parent's case and SNAP on the other parent's case, who will receive the cash assistance payment? The hierarchy is SNAP, TANF, then Medicaid, so the child's benefit would go to the parent with the SNAP case.
10. In the customer portal, it is displaying that one of my children is eligible while another is ineligible, but they were both on benefits July 31. Why would that be? Make sure all of your cases are linked to your account in the customer portal. Instructions are available here: Customer Portal Steps - Create and Link an Account.
11. I can’t access my Georgia Gateway account. What problem are you having?
- I know my password and user ID but am receiving an error when I try to log in. Gateway is experiencing high volumes. If you receive an error while logging in to your account, please try again after a brief wait period.
- I forgot my user ID. Use the “Forgot user ID” function to recover your user ID.
- I forgot my password. Use the “Forgot password” function to reset your password.
- I can’t log in to Gateway and haven’t done so in a while. If you have not logged in to Gateway in a while, you may need to create a new account. The instructions linked here can help guide you through the process: Customer Portal Steps - Create and Link an Account.
12. Where is my payment? Cash assistance payments, when disbursed to your case, will be claimed in an email sent from DHS. Please check your email and ensure communications do not go to your spam/junk folder. If you did not provide an email in Gateway, physical cards will be issued in the coming weeks.
13. My family member/neighbor/friend got their email. Can they forward it to me so I can obtain my payment? No, for security and to prevent fraud, please do not forward, post, or share your payment email.
14. My family member/neighbor/friend got a payment email and said I can call a customer call center number. If I call and have my information, can I advance my payment? No, you will receive notification by email or U.S. mail of your issued payment.
15. Can I use my virtual card to buy something online and pick-up in store? Yes, one convenient way to use your card is by shopping with a business that offers a Buy Online Pick-up in Store (BOPIS) option. This way, you can shop online and pay with your card from the comfort of your home before choosing from in-store pickup, curbside, or home delivery options. Browse your options online at stores like Target, Costco, Home Depot, Kroger, Publix, Rite Aid, Walgreens, Old Navy, Kohls, and more!
16. My question is not listed above and is about card activation/use. See additional FAQs related to card activation/use here: Cash Assistance Program Mastercard Prepaid Card.
