WASHINGTON (AP) — Some nursing homes are demanding that low-income Medicaid recipients hand over their $1,200 stimulus checks from the government — and lawmakers want to halt the cash grab.

They're calling on the Health and Human Services inspector general and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to warn nursing homes to cease and desist.

By law, the money from the coronavirus relief bill is a tax credit, not taxable income that can be used to defray the cost of care.

Nursing homes account for about one-third of the deaths in the coronavirus pandemic.

The industry says the problem with stimulus checks is not widespread.

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