Pickle Amendment

October 25, 2015 - 1 minute read

Congress adopted the Pickle amendment (named after its sponsor, Senator Pickle), 42 U.S.C. § 1396a, to protect Medicaid eligibility for certain persons who had formerly received both SSI benefits (under Title XVI of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1381 et seq.), and Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) benefits (under Title II of the Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 401-433), but lost the former as a result of Title II COLA’s, which increase the Title II monthly cash payment at a much faster rate than Title XVI COLAs. Once the unearned Title II income exceeds the income limits, the SSI recipient becomes ineligible for SSI. Under Pickle, although the recipient is no longer eligible for SSI monthly cash payments, he or she continues to receive Medi-Cal