Social Security - SSI

The Title 16 Supplemental Security Income or SSI program was created in the 1960’s to offer a modest disability benefit to individuals who did not have enough work credits to qualify for Title II Disability.

Your SSI payment can be reduced by a number of factors. For example, if you receive food and housing assistance, Social Security may assign a dollar value to that assistance and reduce your SSI accordingly. In addition, SSI claimants may only have limited assets - currently, you may only own assets worth $2,000 (individual) or $3,000 (married couple).

If you are found eligible for SSI, you will also automatically be eligible for Medicaid benefits. For many people, the Medicaid coverage is more important than the cash benefits.

SSI also differs from Title II Disability in that you can only collect benefits as of the date you apply. By contrast, in a Disability case you can collect retroactive benefits up to 1 year prior to the date of your application. As is the case with Disability, there is no harm in filing for SSI and it has no cost to you. However, if you are not insured for Title II Disability, you should learn as much as you can about the offsets that may apply to you so that you will avoid a nasty surprise at the end of your case.