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BAM 401E 16 of 34 ELECTRONIC BENEFIT TRANSFER ISSUANCE SYSTEM BPB 2026-019 8-1-2026
BRIDGES ADMINISTRATIVE MANUAL STATE OF MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
party/protective payees may only receive one free Bridge card replacement as well. Clients’ available benefits will be reduced to cover the cost of all subsequent replacement cards with no exceptions granted. Even if an error is made with the spelling of an authorized representative or third-party payee/protective payee’s name and it is discovered on a future date, there is no way to reverse the charge or reimburse the client. The available benefit reduction for a card replacement is $5.51 whether the card is mailed by the US postal service or replaced by a local office over the counter card. For SEBT only cards, the replacement fee will be $1.00. Example: Sally has an authorized representative, named Sam. Sam loses his card and receives the one free replacement authorized representative card. If Sam loses the replacement card or Sally changes her authorized representative, her available benefits will be reduced for any future authorized representative cards. Note: Sally is still eligible to receive one free replacement card for herself before her available benefits will be reduced to cover the cost of her replacement card. Benefit Reduction Process The EBT vendor determines if the entire replacement fee is available. If the entire fee is available in the client’s cash account, the fee will be deducted from the available benefits. If not available, they will determine if the entire replacement fee is available in the client’s SNAP account. If neither account has the entire replacement fee available, the fee will be deducted the next time an account has the available balance (starting with the cash account). If the replacement fee is still not available after 365 days, the fee will be expired.