Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
SSI is an cash assistance program administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA). SSI provides a minimum level of income to aged, blind, and disabled people who have limited income and resources. The State of Wisconsin supplements the federal SSI payment with an additional payment of $83.78, and provides Medicaid health insurance.
Other State of Wisconsin SSI supplements are available to individuals who need 40 hours or more per month of long term support services (Exceptional Expense Supplement, SSI-E) and for parents who care for children ( Caretaker Supplement, CTS, C-SUPP).
An SSI recipient needs to receive at least $1.00 in federal SSI payments to be eligible for State of Wisconsin supplements.
SSI is a needs-based program. Consequently, eligibility and ongoing payments are based on one’s current assets and income. As assets or other income increase, SSI payments may decrease or stop. To remain eligible for SSI, countable assets (cash, bank accounts, valuable possessions, stocks, investments, some insurance policies) must be less than $2,000.00.
The maximum payment an SSI recipient can receive is referred to as the Federal Benefit Rate (FBR). In 2008, the FBR is $637.00. An individuals monthly payment is determined by other sources of earned and unearned income. To be eligible for a cash SSI payment, countable income must be less than the FBR.
SSI uses a system called Retrospective Monthly Accounting (RMA). Your SSI payment is based on any income (earned or unearned) received two months prior to the month you receive your payment. For example, income received and reported to SSA for May will affect your SSI payment in July. However, if you are not eligible for a payment based on a current month’s earnings or resources, no payment will be due for that month. There is not a two-month delay in this situation.
SSI has a number of work incentives which serve to protect benefits for working recipients. Below are brief descriptions of SSDI work incentives.
- Continued Payment Under a Vocational Rehab Program (Section 301): Benefits can continue for a individual who is determined to be no longer disabled as the result of a Continuing Disability Review (CDR), but is participating in a vocational rehabilitation program.
- General Income Exclusion: The SSA only considers “countable” income in determining the amount of your monthly SSI payment. SSI does not “count” the first $20.00 of unearned income. Unearned income is from sources other than work (e.g.; unemployment insurance, Social Security Disability Insurance). If there are no sources of unearned income, this exclusion can be applied to earned income.
- Earned Income Exclusion: For work earnings or earned income, SSI does not “count” the first $65.00, and one-half of the remainder. In other words, you can earn $65.00 per month with no effect on your SSI cash payments. After that, for every $2.00 earned, $1.00 will be deducted from the SSI payment.
- Student Earned Income Exclusion: For students under the age of 22, SSA will not count $1,550.00 per month (in 2008), with an annual maximum exclusion of $6,240.00.
- Blind Work Expenses: For SSI recipients who are blind, SSA will exclude all work related expenses. These expenses do not have to be related to blindness.
- Impairment-Related Work Expenses (IRWE): IRWE are costs that you incur that are necessary for working AND related to your disability. SSA will deduct the value of IRWE from your gross income when calculating the amount of your monthly payment. For every $2.00 spent on an IRWE, your SSI payment increases by $1.00.
- Continued Medicaid Eligibility 1619b: Medicaid coverage will continue for SSI recipients if earned income causes the Federal SSI payment to decrease to $0.00.
- Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS): PASS plans allow an individual to set aside a portion of your earnings to save for work-related goods or services (e.g.; car, tools, education). The portion of income that is set aside in the PASS is not “counted” by SSA as income. This enables you to become eligible for or increase your SSI payment. More information about PASS plans.
- Reinstating Eligibility Without a New Application: SSI payments can restart if a without a new application if the individual is again eligible and the period of ineligibility has been less than 12 months.
Additional Resources:
- SSA Red Book: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/redbook/. The Red Book is a general reference source about the employment-related provisions of SSDI and the SSI programs.
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