For the most part, no: the Amish do not receive government assistance. They almost universally decline welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, and similar public benefits, and most hold a legal exemption that removes them from both Social Security and Medicare. A narrow set of exceptions exists around farm conservation payments and, occasionally, disaster relief, but the general rule is that Amish families rely on their own congregations rather than government programs when someone needs help.
Welfare, Food Stamps, and Medicaid
Amish citizens are legally eligible for the same public benefits as anyone else, including SNAP, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Medicaid, and WIC. In practice, participation is vanishingly rare. Accepting government money for basic living expenses contradicts the foundational Amish commitment to communal self-reliance, and most church communities view it as a breach of their covenant to remain separate from secular institutions.
When a family faces a crisis, the response comes from inside the community. Benefit dinners, auctions, direct financial contributions from fellow members, and work organized by church deacons replace what a government caseworker would otherwise arrange. Housing, food, and clothing for members in need all flow through the congregation. Some research suggests WIC participation among new Amish mothers may run slightly higher than participation in other programs, though it remains well below the general population average and is reportedly done discreetly when it occurs at all.
The Social Security and Medicare Exemption
The one federal program the Amish can legally opt out of is Social Security and Medicare, and the process is spelled out in 26 U.S.C. § 1402(g). That statute allows self-employed individuals to apply for an exemption if they belong to a religious group that has existed continuously since December 31, 1950, has a track record of providing for its dependent members, and is conscientiously opposed to accepting benefits from any public or private insurance program.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1402(g) – Members of Certain Religious Faiths
The application is IRS Form 4029, and filing it is a one-time, all-or-nothing decision. The applicant permanently waives all rights to Social Security retirement benefits, survivors benefits, disability payments, and Medicare coverage. Both the applicant and an authorized representative of the religious group must sign the form, which is sent to the Social Security Administration’s Religious Exemption Unit in Boyers, Pennsylvania.2Internal Revenue Service. Form 4029, Application for Exemption From Social Security and Medicare Taxes and Waiver of Benefits Anyone who has already received Social Security benefits is ineligible unless they repay those benefits in full.
A parallel provision, 26 U.S.C. § 3127, extends the exemption to the employer-employee relationship, but only when both the employer and the employee are members of the same qualifying religious group and both have approved exemptions.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3127 – Exemption for Employers and Their Employees
Where the Exemption Stops
The exemption has hard edges. If an Amish person works for a non-Amish employer, Social Security and Medicare taxes must be withheld from wages and the employer must pay the employer’s share. Personal religious beliefs do not override the employer’s legal obligation. Form 4029’s instructions make this explicit: the employee exemption applies only to wages paid by an employer who holds an identical approved exemption.2Internal Revenue Service. Form 4029, Application for Exemption From Social Security and Medicare Taxes and Waiver of Benefits
The Supreme Court settled this boundary in United States v. Lee (1982), where an Amish farmer and carpenter argued that employing other Amish workers shouldn’t require him to pay Social Security taxes. The Court disagreed, ruling that the tax must be “uniformly applicable to all, except as Congress provides explicitly otherwise.” Amish employers hiring outside their faith community have no escape from the standard payroll tax rules.4Social Security Administration. SSR 82-44c – Employment Coverage of Work for Amish Employers
Healthcare Without Medicare
Waiving Medicare means the Amish need another way to handle medical costs. The primary mechanism is Amish Hospital Aid, a community-run cost-sharing program established in 1969. It works like a stripped-down insurance plan: participants pay the first 20% of a hospital bill, and the program covers the remaining 80%. Members who can’t afford even that 20% turn to their congregation’s alms fund, built from voluntary donations and managed by church deacons.5PubMed Central. Sharing the Load: Amish Healthcare Financing
When a congregation’s alms fund can’t cover a catastrophic bill, deacons reach out to neighboring Amish congregations for what are called “community collections.” Auctions of donated goods supplement these funds for particularly expensive cases. A separate organization called Disability Relief Aid handles costs that fall outside hospital bills, like wheelchairs and home accessibility modifications, and is also funded entirely by community donations.5PubMed Central. Sharing the Load: Amish Healthcare Financing
The Amish Hospital Aid board also negotiates discounts with hospitals. Facilities cooperate because Amish bills are typically paid within 30 days, involve minimal paperwork, and come with an implicit promise that the hospital won’t be sued. The resulting rates generally land slightly above Medicare reimbursement levels, though each hospital sets its own discount.5PubMed Central. Sharing the Load: Amish Healthcare Financing
Workers’ Compensation and Unemployment Insurance
Many states allow Amish-owned businesses to opt out of workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance, provided the religious community demonstrates a reliable alternative for supporting injured or unemployed workers. Specifics vary by state. In Indiana, Amish business owners and the state workers’ compensation board reached a formal agreement in 2008 creating a voluntary mutual-aid plan called “Small Business Aid” as a recognized substitute for standard coverage.
These arrangements typically require the community system to cover only Amish employees. If an Amish business hires non-Amish workers, the employer must carry standard workers’ compensation coverage for those employees or face civil liability and state penalties.
When the roles reverse and an Amish individual works for a non-Amish company, the employer withholds unemployment taxes and provides workers’ compensation coverage as required by law. The worker’s religious objection doesn’t create an exemption for the secular employer.
Farm Programs and Disaster Aid
Farming is central to Amish life, and USDA conservation programs represent the area where Amish interaction with government spending is most common. Some Amish farmers participate in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), which reimburses landowners for adopting conservation practices like erosion control, pasture restoration, and stormwater management. Many church districts view these payments as compensation for following land-use requirements rather than as welfare, drawing a line between personal handouts and business transactions.
EQIP payments are capped by federal law. Standard reimbursement cannot exceed 75% of the estimated cost of a conservation practice, and the aggregate amount any single person or entity can receive across all EQIP contracts cannot exceed $450,000.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 USC 3839aa-7 – Limitation on Payments Historically underserved producers can qualify for higher rates, up to 90% of estimated costs.7eCFR. 7 CFR 1466.23 – Payment Rates Participation varies significantly among Amish orders, with some strictly forbidding any government interaction and others permitting it for the survival of the family farm.
Federal disaster relief through FEMA is a harder call. After catastrophic weather destroys barns or homes, some families may accept emergency assistance through FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program, which provides housing assistance and other needs assistance to disaster survivors with uninsured losses.8Federal Emergency Management Agency. Individual Assistance Even then, the strong preference is for communal barn-raisings and direct community support. Whether to accept federal disaster aid is typically decided by local church elders, weighing the scale of destruction against the risk of setting a precedent for government dependence. These exceptions are rare and treated cautiously.
Taxes the Amish Still Pay
The impression that the Amish live outside the tax system fuels much of the confusion about government assistance, but the Social Security exemption is narrow. Every other federal, state, and local tax obligation applies the same way it applies to anyone else. Amish families file income tax returns, pay self-employment tax on earnings not covered by the exemption, and remit estimated quarterly payments when required.
Amish landowners also pay local property taxes, which fund public schools, roads, police, and fire departments. This is worth pausing on: Amish families pay school taxes to support the local public school system even though they educate their children in private one-room schoolhouses they build and fund themselves. Sales tax on purchases and excise taxes on fuel apply the same way. The Supreme Court addressed this broader tax obligation directly in United States v. Lee, holding that “religious belief in conflict with the payment of taxes affords no basis for resisting the tax.”4Social Security Administration. SSR 82-44c – Employment Coverage of Work for Amish Employers The Amish contribute to the public treasury on nearly every front while drawing almost nothing from the programs that treasury funds.