NJ FamilyCare Public Health Emergency Update

The Federal Public Health Emergency has been extended. The earliest date it will be over is April 16, 2022. Do not ignore any recertification requests. For additional information about this topic, please see our previous announcement here: /news/health_insurance_update_20211221

Tax Reminders

• Unemployment Insurance benefits are federally taxable during the year that payments were issued. Many people who were eligible for Unemployment Insurance in 2020 received retroactive payments in 2021. Remember to download your 1099-G and provide it to your accountant. You can download your 1099-G by following the instructions at this link: https://lwdwebpt.dol.state.nj.us/ClaimStatus/claimStatus.htm;jsessionid=4bB-mmGGvJtMDUFamO7q6me7
• Family Leave Insurance benefits are federally taxable during the year that payments are issued. If you received Family Leave Insurance, Family Leave During Unemployment, or Disability During Unemployment benefits at any point during 2021, download your 1099-G form and provide it to your accountant. Forms will not be mailed. You can access your 1099-G form here: https://www.myleavebenefits.nj.gov/labor/myleavebenefits/help/taxforms.shtml
• If you received health insurance through Get Covered NJ in 2021, you will receive a Form 1095-A which shows how many months you had health insurance coverage and the amount of Advanced Premium Tax Credit you received. You will need that form to file your 2021 tax return. If you requested paperless notifications, you will not receive it in the mail. You can download it from your Get Covered NJ account.

Mortgage Assistance Program – Coming Up!

New Jersey is launching a Homeowners Assistance Fund (HAF) to provide eligible homeowners with up to $35,000 to cover mortgage arrearages, delinquent property taxes, and other housing cost delinquencies for those who were negatively impacted by COVID-19. Homeowners will need to live in the home and demonstrate a COVID-19 related financial hardship occurring after January 20, 2020. The application portal will open on Tuesday, February 8th. Click here for more information: https://www.njhousing.gov/dca/hmfa/covid19/haf

Rental Assistance Programs

If you are behind on your rental payments, you should look into the following three rental assistance programs:

1. Ocean County Rental Assistance Program — Opening phase 2 shortly. For more information and to apply, visit: https://co.ocean.nj.us/OC/frmRERAP.aspx.
2. New Jersey COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program — Accepting pre-applications now. For more information and to apply, visit: https://njdca.onlinepha.com/
3. Lakewood Township Rental Assistance — You can reach out to Solutions to End Poverty Soon (STEPS) by calling 732.367.1640.

WIC Update

The Ocean County WIC Program will be moving from checks to eWIC to deliver WIC food benefits at the end of February 2022. This will allow shopping for authorized WIC products with multiple trips to the store rather than purchasing everything at one time. Also, any benefit not used in a shopping trip will be available on the next trip until the end of the benefit period. For more information, click here: https://www.state.nj.us/health/fhs/wic/ewic/participant_ewic.shtml