What is Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Benefits

Supplemental Security Income (or SSI) is a U.S. government Social Security program that is run by Social Security Administration. The SSI program aims at making monthly payments to low income persons with few resources who are aged 65 years or older, or are blind, or suffer from a disability (determined by Disability Determination Services under contract with Federal government) and is funded from U.S. Treasury general funds. The amount received in the first month may not be the same for every following month since the amount due shall depend on other income and living arrangements. The intimation concerning any change in amount is communicated well in advance. The monthly benefits range from a minimum of $1 to $674 however some states make supplemental payments as well.

Brief History of SSI

SSI in its current form has developed from the various welfare programs that were in vogue during the tenure of President Nixon. He federalized the various Aids that were available to the Elderly, Blind, Permanently and Totally Disabled by creating SSI through Social Security Amendments of 1972 with the responsibility of administering SSI being delegated to Social Security Administration. The SSI program helped in standardizing the eligibility for qualifying as also the benefits that could be accrued from the same.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility criteria for the SSI benefits are outlined below:

  • Applicant must be 65 years of age or older to qualify for SSI benefit. Blindness or disability is also qualifying criteria.
  • Applicant should be a U.S. national or citizen or residing in U.S. legally. In some cases, noncitizen residents can also qualify for SSI.
  • Income and Resources of the applicant must be within defined limits.

Children (under the age of 18 years) with medically determinable impairment that results in functional limitation(s) qualify for SSI benefit. The determining factor for the impairment however is that the impairment may last/has lasted for a continuous period of 12 months and is likely to result in death of the individual concerned.

Income and Resources Criteria

In addition to the Income limitations another requirement for SSI is that the resources of the applicant should be below a certain limit. The resource limits in cash (or assets convertible to cash) at the time of applying for SSI benefit are listed below:

  • Single Individual – $2,000
  • Individual and their spouse – $3,000 (irrespective of the spouse being eligible for SSI or not)
  • Child applicant with one parent living in the household – $4,000
  • Child applicant with two parents living in the household – $5,000

As can be ascertained from the facts mentioned above part of spouse income and resources are included while ascertaining whether an applicant qualifies for receiving SSI payments. For persons below 18 years of age, parents’ income and resources are taken into consideration although scholarship, if any, does not count. Similarly sponsors’ income and resources are considered in case of a sponsored non citizen. SSI does not count wages of the working disabled persons that are being utilized by them for their payments related to items or services that help in their work viz. wheelchair. The wages of a blind person that are used for work expenses such as transportation expenses or utilized towards training also do not count towards SSI eligibility.

Benefit Details

The payments under Supplemental Security Income are made on the first day of the month to cater to the basic needs of food, shelter and clothing. The income and resources of an applicant play a vital role in deciding if the applicant is eligible to receive the payment. Income refers to the wages received while the Resources refer to cash or any asset that can be turned into cash such as property, stocks, other investments etc. Employment does not limit the eligibility for SSI and hence a person may still be eligible for payments while being employed.

Other Related Benefits

The individuals qualifying for Supplemental Security Income are eligible for several other assistance programs such as Medicaid, Qualified Medicare Beneficiaries (QMB), Food Stamps, Housing Choice Voucher Program and any other such related program that may be announced from time to time.

Applying for SSI

The application for applying to SSI is available on U.S. government official website http://www.USA.gov/. You can also call at 1 (800) 333-4636 to get assistance through a Social security representative. The blind or disabled children under the age of 18 can be assisted by their parents while applying for SSI and in some cases even third parties also can apply on behalf of the blind or disabled children.

Right to Appeal

Any disagreements with regards to decision made by the authorities on the claim for SSI can be appealed and representation can even be made with assistance of an attorney or other qualified person so chosen by the applicant.