SSI AND SSDI BASICS

Part Two of a Two-Part Series

The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers two federal programs that provide monthly disability benefits to those who qualify. The basics of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), the disability program, were covered in Part One of this two-part series. Part Two of this series will focus on the Supplemental Security Income program or SSI.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a federally financed, needs-based benefit program administered by the Social Security Administration. It guarantees a national income level for individuals with low income and resources who also are of advanced age, or are blind or disabled. It is separate from Social Security Retirement, Survivors and Disability- one does not need to have paid into Social Security to qualify (with the exception of certain immigrants- see below).

Eligibility categories:

  • age : sixty-five or over;
  • blind : central vision acuity no better that 20/200 in the better eye with corrective lenses or limited to a visual field of 20 degrees in the better eye;
  • disabled adult : a person age eighteen or older who is unable to engage in “Substantial Gainful Activity”* due to a medically determinable mental or physical impairment, which has lasted or is expected to last at least twelve months or result in death;
  • disabled child : a person under age eighteen who has a medically determinable mental or physical impairment that meets medical criteria or function limits resulting in marked and severe function limits and which has lasted or is expected to last at least twelve months or result in death.

An SSI applicant or recipient must either be a citizen of the United States or have Qualifying Alien Status. Since1996 immigrant eligibility rules have been tightened. Eligibility depends on the immigrant’s status and date of entry into the US.

The three basic groups of aliens who are eligible for SSI:

  • Non-citizens receiving SSI on 8/22/96 . All non-citizens who were receiving SSI on this date are grand-fathered into the SSI program, as long as their status is at least PRUCOL (Permanently Residing Under Color of Law) and they remain otherwise eligible
  • Non-citizens who entered prior to 8/22/96 if they were lawfully residing on 8/22/96 AND are now Qualified Aliens AND are now disabled or blind (regardless of age)
  • Non-citizens who enter after 8/22/96:

Must be:

    • a legal permanent resident who has 40 quarters of coverage and has lived 5 years in the US,
    • OR refugees, asylees and persons granted withholding of deportation within for the first 7 years of that status,
    • OR honorably discharged veterans and active duty armed services personnel who are qualified aliens and their spouses and unmarried dependent children.

Applicants must have resided in the United States for at least thirty days. A recipient who leaves the US for a full calendar month loses SSI eligibility and is not eligible again until she has remained in the country for thirty consecutive days.

The definition of Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) used in 2004, in general, is earnings of more than $810 a month in gross wages. Applicants who exceed this amount after any deductions (see below) will be considered to be engaging in SGA and will be ineligible for benefits. There is no SGA test for blind SSI applicants. Unsuccessful work attempts are not counted. Countable earnings may be reduced, subsidies and special conditions exist and impairment-related work expenses are considered.

Asset Limits

The SSI resource limit is $2,000 in countable resources for an individual, and $3,000 for a couple.

Countable resources are those that are considered toward the SSI resource limitation. Examples:

  • Cash on hand that is not current month’s income
  • Money in savings, checking or credit union accounts that is not current month’s income
  • Stocks and bonds
  • Certificates of deposit
  • U.S. savings bonds
  • Land or property on which the person does not reside
  • Life insurance policies with value of over $1,500
  • Certain trusts created to benefit the recipient

Please note that a resource may be counted even if there is a financial penalty for accessing it, e.g., early cashing of a certificate of deposit.

Excluded (non-countable) assets include:

  • The home in which the person lives and the contiguous land on which it stands
  • One car, regardless of value, if used for work or to get to medical services and appointments, or if it is specially modified to transport a person with disabilities. If a car cannot be excluded for these reasons, the SSA will exclude its current market value up to $4,500 and any excess will count toward the applicable resource limit. Only one car per SSI recipient may receive the benefit of this exclusion regardless of whether more than one car could be claimed.
  • Personal or household goods if total equity value is under $2,000.
  • Life insurance policies with a face value under $1,500.
  • Burial funds of $1,500 or less if the person owns any excluded life insurance. These funds must be specifically identified as burial funds and set aside in a separate account.
  • Burial plots or spaces. An individual my exclude both burial spaces and burial funds.
  • Properties used for self-support. Effective May 1990, all property used in trade or business or property used by an employee for work is excluded regardless of its value. This includes up to $6,000 equity in non-business property used to produce “goods or services essential to daily activities”.
  • The proceeds from the sale of a home if the proceeds are used within three months to purchase another residence.
  • Retroactive lump-sum payments of SSI or Social Security benefits for six months after receipt.
  • Resources identified as necessary to fulfill a Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS).
  • Real property, for up to nine months, pending efforts to sell. Conditional benefits are paid during this time and are recoverable as overpayments upon sale of property.
  • Real property, the sale of which would cause undue hardship, for example, if upon sale a co-owner of the property would be rendered homeless.

The SSA may determine that other resources are non-countable if the resource is “inaccessible”. For example, real estate owned by four siblings, one of whom is the SSI applicant, cannot be sold without the approval of all co-owners. Should one sibling refuse permission to sell, the SSA should determine that the real estate is a “non-countable” resource to the SSI applicant.

On October 14 th 2003, new regulations went into effect requiring SSI applicants and recipients, as a condition of eligibility, to authorize SSA to contact any financial institution and request any financial records that institution may have. The new provision also requires such authorization from anyone whose income and resources are considered as being available to the applicant or recipient, unless there is good cause why the permission cannot be obtained. Failure to give permission to contact financial institutions may result in suspension of SSI benefits.

For more information, applications and forms please visit the SSI website:

http://www.ssa.gov/applyfordisability/

For information on disability criteria:

http://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/

For information on work incentives:

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/redbook/