PART OF OUR RESOURCE 2024 SERIES: Expanding your options and your community
Featuring guest blogger and special needs financial planner and Social Security expert, Barbara Bush.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a federal income supplement program funded by general tax revenues (not Social Security taxes); it is designed to help aged, blind, and disabled people, who have little or no income; and it provides cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter. The individual has no work history or is incapable of earning a substantial wage or insufficient quarters to be eligible for Title II benefits (Social Security Disability Insurance-SSDI, Retirement, Survivor, Disability Insurance-RSDI), assets are below $2,000 a month or receiving Title II benefits which are below $861 a month.
Who Can Apply for SSI?
Applicants must have a severe medical condition that will last for 2 years or until death; must be a U.S. citizen or a resident of the US, or one territory or have a green card for five (5) years. Social Security Administration (SSA) uses credit reporting agencies and records from the IRS to check the social security number of the applicant to find any assets connected to that social security number.
If a child qualified for SSI benefits prior to age 18, they must reapply at age 18 as an adult. The Social Security Administration’s criteria for disability is different for a child than an adult. At age 18, the individual is considered an adult and only their income is counted and not their parents. You must file an application for renewal of benefits.
How to Apply for SSI
Understand that the Social Security Administration cannot tell you what documentation you need to file to support the SSI application. For example, if you do not send in a current psychological evaluation, Disability Determination Services (DDS) will schedule this evaluation with their doctors. In most cases, they are denied by the evaluating doctors. The agents at the SSA are there to take your information, not guide you on how to complete the application.
The SSI application can take 9 – 12 months to be approved or denied. The date you file the application is called the protected filing date and benefits will be paid from the date of filing to the date of approval.
First, you file an application by either calling SSA, going online and completing an application, or completing an SSA 8000 paper application. You should also file copies of the following:
Birth Certificate
SSN card
Texas ID or Passport
Insurance card (front and back)
Medical Records for the past 2-5 years where the disabled individual was seen for their condition.
Psychological Evaluation done in the last 6 months to 1 year
Latest IEP, FIE, ARD
Original diagnosis showing that the disability began prior to age 22
You will also have to complete the following forms:
SSA Form 3368
SSA Form 827
SSA Form 1696
SSA Form 3373
Hearing Back from Social Security
Once SSA has reviewed all documents and the applicant satisfies the financial requirements they send the application to Disability Determination Services (DDS) and they review all medical information to determine if the disability is severe enough to meet the qualification of disability. They will either approve or deny the application and send it back to SSA. If approved, SSA will send a letter stating the approval date, the amount the applicant will receive and if a Representative Payee is selected, stating that person’s name.
If you are denied, you have the right to appeal this decision within 60 days of the denial. Know you must have new information that supports your disability application. Understand or review the information they used to deny your application.
Naming a Representative Payee & Their Responsibilities
The person named as the Representative Payee before should be able to handle money and budget money and understand the rules a Representative Payee must adhere to. If this is not a strength of your disabled adult child, this designation would not be a fiduciary responsible action to take. The Representative Payee must understand the rules associated with this designation. Some of the rules the Representative Payee must understand are to notify Social Security by phone or online of any changes, such as if the SSI recipient has a change of address, the Representative Payee’s phone number changed, change in banking information, or if they have started to work or have stopped working. Gross wages need to be reported to SSA by the 6th of the following month of the earnings. If the Representative Payee does not report this information to SSA and there is an overpayment of SSI benefits, the Representative Payee may be held personally liable to pay this amount back to SSA.
The Representative Payee must monitor and understand SSI’s calculations for earned income and how this affects the amount the recipient is entitled to receive. SSA may continue to pay the SSI recipient the full amount when the individual is not entitled to receive this amount. The Representative Payee must not spend the amount over what the individual is entitled to receive versus what was received. SSA will catch up to their mistake and will request that the overpayments be returned to SSA. This may take SSA anywhere from 1 year to 15 years to recognize the overpayments. The formula SSA uses to determine what the SSI recipient should receive is in the chart below. This amount will change from month to month is the individual is paid hourly.
The Representative Payee can notify SSA of additional people to be considered as alternate Representative Payees. In case the current Representative Payee becomes unable to act or dies, SSA will know who to contact to resume SSI benefits, Otherwise, SSA will stop sending the SSI benefit until contacted by a successor Representative Payee. If you have named additional people to be considered, they will be able to contact those people to be considered as a new Representative Payee and the recipient will continue to receive their monthly SSI benefit and Medicaid.
Solutions for Special Needs Families is available to speak to your group on the following topics. If you are interested, please contact Barbara Bush to set up a date and time.
What is SSI and How Do I Get it? Supplemental Security Income is a federal program that will provide a financial benefit to a disabled individual and insurance through Medicaid. This program is not based on past work but on being deemed disabled and not having assets of more than $2,000. This presentation will talk about how to file an SSI application with Social Security, how to get the maximum SSI benefit, and what happens if you are able to work.
Able Account – Who can get one? What is it? How can you use it? This presentation will explain the who, what, and how’s of this savings account. You will learn who can open an Able account, the benefits of opening an Able account, and how to use the money in the Able account. Now a person with a disability can have assets worth more than $2,000 and it will not disqualify their Medicaid or SSI.
Navigating Life After 18. What parents need to consider when their special needs child turns 18. Guardianship vs Supported Decision Making Agreement; SSI before and after age 18; SSI-Medicaid; RSDI-Medicare; Making sure your disabled adult child will receive part of their parent's Social Security retirement benefit. You will learn about these topics and more.
Effects of Earned Income when receiving SSI benefits? Can you work and not lose your Social Security benefits? Yes, but you need to understand the formula SSI uses to determine your Countable Income. Rules regarding submitted wage information to SSA and how to avoid an Overpayment Letter from the SSA.
Preparing for Transition. What parents need to consider when their special needs child turns 18. Have you signed your child up for Medicaid Waivers? What about Health Care Transitions, Medical Records, School Records, Legal Considerations, Planning for Government Benefits, and Long-Term Financial Planning. You will learn about these topics and more.
What are Medicaid Waivers and How do I get my child on the list -This presentation will explain the Medicaid Waiver programs and how to get your child signed up for them. I will give a brief explanation of each program and the eligibility criteria.
The Notebook-How to prepare the next person-in-line to care for your disabled adult child - In this presentation, you will learn how to equip the next person-in-line with documents that are necessary to care for your disabled adult child. The documents in the Notebook will empower the next in-line to understand the history and have a smooth transition in caring for your loved one.
Guest Bio: Barbara Bush
Barbara is a National Social Security Advisor which brings a broad base of experience in planning for and meeting the needs of adults with intellectual disabilities and their families. Having worked for many years as a legal assistant for law firms specializing in estate planning and probate, Barbara applies extensive knowledge of legal and financial considerations required in the process of special needs long-term planning. Prior to starting Solutions for Special Needs Families, Barbara was the Director of Admissions, at Marbridge Foundation in Austin for eight years. She traveled across Texas and the United States to visit other programs and learn of the people they serve.
At Solutions for Special Needs Families, we listen to family concerns for their loved one's current and future needs, discuss the family’s immediate needs and long-term goals. Solutions will then determine how we can assist the family in obtaining their goals and provide hope for the future. Some families need help by assisting with an SSI application, appealing a denial of SSI benefits, receiving the maximum SSI benefit, and what happens if their disabled adult child is working and ways to keep from losing benefits and other family needs. We meet the family where they are on their journey.
512-217-7468 8900 Oak Valley Rd, Austin, TX 78737
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