Eligibility worker vs eligibility specialist

The differences between eligibility workers and eligibility specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an eligibility worker and an eligibility specialist. Additionally, an eligibility worker has an average salary of $38,510, which is higher than the $37,322 average annual salary of an eligibility specialist.

The top three skills for an eligibility worker include public assistance programs, social services and medical assistance. The most important skills for an eligibility specialist are medicaid, patients, and provide technical assistance.

Eligibility worker vs eligibility specialist overview

	Eligibility Worker	Eligibility Specialist
Yearly salary	$38,510	$37,322
Hourly rate	$18.51	$17.94
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	19,954	19,944
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	2	2

What does an eligibility worker do?

An eligibility worker is in charge of determining an individual's eligibility for social services and benefits such as financial and housing aid. Their responsibilities include gathering and reviewing applications, conducting interviews and assessments, and coordinating with various agencies to arrange services. They also assist individuals by understanding and identifying their needs, answering inquiries, referring them to services and other agencies, helping them fill out forms and other requirements, and updating them with the progress of their applications.

What does an eligibility specialist do?

An eligibility specialist is responsible for reviewing applicants' documents to verify their eligibility for qualifying for various organization programs. Eligibility specialists organize files accurately, communicate with other institutions for fact-checking, follow-up with the applicants for missing requirements, respond to the applicants' inquiries and concerns, and recommend alternatives, especially for financial assistance. An eligibility specialist must have excellent communication and record-keeping skills and extensive knowledge of the aid programs and company policies for processing applications.

Eligibility worker vs eligibility specialist salary

Eligibility workers and eligibility specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Eligibility Worker	Eligibility Specialist
Average salary	$38,510	$37,322
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $48,000	Between $30,000 And $45,000
Highest paying City	Urban Honolulu, HI	Chicago, IL
Highest paying state	New Jersey	Iowa
Best paying company	County Of Los Angeles Public Library	CBIZ
Best paying industry	Professional	Government

Differences between eligibility worker and eligibility specialist education

There are a few differences between an eligibility worker and an eligibility specialist in terms of educational background:

	Eligibility Worker	Eligibility Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Northwestern University	Northwestern University

Eligibility worker vs eligibility specialist demographics

Here are the differences between eligibility workers' and eligibility specialists' demographics:

	Eligibility Worker	Eligibility Specialist
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 18.4% Female, 81.6%	Male, 18.1% Female, 81.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 15.8% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 24.3% Asian, 10.6% White, 43.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4%	Black or African American, 14.1% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 17.2% Asian, 8.1% White, 56.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between eligibility worker and eligibility specialist duties and responsibilities

Eligibility worker example responsibilities.

Calculate and determine benefits and renewals for applicants to state entitlement programs, CalFresh and Medi-Cal.
Greet the clients when they come to apply to foodstamps, calworks or medical.
Interview clients for food stamps, TANF and Medicaid to see if they are eligible to receive benefits.
Plan, implement and coordinate programs and services to TANF recipients and their family members in order to promote self-sufficiency.
Carry all the cases for the entire county of individuals who are self employ but still eligible for Calworks and/or foodstamps.
Gather require information and documentation to determine eligibility in the Medi-Cal program while implementing policies and regulations.

Eligibility specialist example responsibilities.

Manage assignments of paying medical bills limit in depth that include organizing and researching regulations as pertain to veterans eligibility.
Demonstrate competency in basic understanding of Medicaid, policies, forms and DHS policy.
Coordinate these efforts by working with DES staff, other state agencies, FEMA and other volunteering private organizations.
Conduct Medicaid and TANF eligibility interviews.
Interview patients using multiple data base system to assess and determine Medicaid eligibility coverage for long term care services.
Experience with disability claim process as DHS eligibility worker desire.

Eligibility worker vs eligibility specialist skills

Common eligibility worker skills

Public Assistance Programs, 10%
Social Services, 8%
Medical Assistance, 8%
Medi-Cal, 7%
Customer Service, 6%
Computer System, 5%

Common eligibility specialist skills

Medicaid, 14%
Patients, 11%
Provide Technical Assistance, 6%
Social Work, 5%
Data Entry, 5%
Community Resources, 4%

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Eligibility Worker
Eligibility Worker vs Eligibility Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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