The first $65 of earned income plus one-half of the remainder is excluded from the eligible individual's or eligible couple's countable earned income. This situation raises the question of how married couples should be treated compared with other multirecipient households. Overall, almost 1.9 million recipients, or 30 percent of all SSI recipients not living in an institution or a board and care facility, live in a multirecipient household: 30 percent of those 65 or older, 28 percent of those aged 18 to 64, and 38 percent of those under 18.3. How will this affect my SSI payments? Regulations define a household as comprising an individual living alone; an individual living with others but customarily purchasing food and preparing meals for home consumption separate and apart from others; or a group of individuals who live together and customarily purchase food and prepare meals together for home consumption. The earnings are subject only to the second part of the exclusion, which disregards one-half of the combined earnings above $65 per month. Forty-four states supplement federal SSI payments, and, in some of them, policies regarding the treatment of marriage for supplemental payments differ from the federal policy (Social Security Administration 2001a). Or, in case your husband-to-be has income besides Social Security (you didn't say), your SSI payment would be reduced even more. An additional argument is that the economies-of-scale rationale does not work for households that include a disabled child. Surviving spouses of certain deceased veterans may receive dependency and indemnity compensation. In 2003, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) updated a sliding scale for this option. For instance, if your husband-to-be also was receiving $300 from another source (not counting any money from an IRA or company pension), you would have to subtract that from the couple's income limit as well, leaving you with an SSI payment of only $395. An argument made for not including children is that considering the parents' income in determining the amount of the child's benefit recognizes that parents have financial responsibility for their children and that their children's benefits are, therefore, already adjusted for the economic support the parent provides. Disabled children have special financial needs that negate any savings assumed from the economies of scale. SSI eligibility is restricted to people with limited income and resources, and recipients' countable income reduces their benefit amount. Testimony before the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the House Committee on Ways and Means, Hearing on Welfare and Marriage Issues. The calculations are shown below (in dollars): It is also useful to compare the rules for spouse-to-spouse deeming and those for parent-to-child deeming, which differ in several ways. NOTES: Data exclude households identified in the, Income of unmarried partner does not count toward recipient's SSI benefit. The assets or resources that are counted by SSI include money in the bank, investments of any kind, real estate other than a primary residence, and personal property and household goods over certain limits. The attorney listings on this site are paid attorney advertising. That is, TANF does not distinguish between married and unmarried couples, but there are some differences in the rules for two-parent and one-parent families. The change, therefore, lessens the impact of the current penalty for some married couples. The majority of the experts recommended its elimination. Unmarried persons who are both eligible and holding out as husband and wife would no longer be subject to the couple rate and would be financially better off than if they were married. Under this option, spousal deeming would be calculated in the same manner as parent-to-child deeming. After deeming, the married recipient receives $371.50 per month, and the unmarried recipient continues to receive $552.00. Two-parent families face higher work participation rates, and 17 states (and the District of Columbia) have retained eligibility rules that make it harder for two-parent families to receive assistance. An agency workgroup charged with evaluating proposals for simplifying the program had made the same recommendation 2 years earlier. The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program serves as an income source of last resort for elderly or disabled individuals. Benefit Rate Options 1 and 2 would have additional payoffs by simplifying the SSI program and should result in better payment accuracy. The first three options reflect different approaches to setting SSI benefits for married couples relative to other recipients and would make the program more neutral toward marital status. In some states, the information on this website may be considered a lawyer referral service. Taking money out of a retirement plan? You then subtract $20 from that amount, and what’s left is the spousal income that is deemed to you ($480). Within that context, this paper examines SSI policy toward marital status. Compare two Supplemental Security Income recipients: one is married and living with an ineligible spouse; the other is unmarried and living with a partner (Situation 1). Therefore, students who are married do not qualify for the exclusion. (This is the amount that Social Security presumes is necessary for your spouse's own food and shelter needs, believe it or not.) The Food Stamp program pays benefits based on household size. And that’s pretty much it. The treatment of marriage is a frequent consideration in the discussion of government benefit policies. People receiving SSI benefits automatically receive Medical Assistance. Office of Policy, Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics. However, in some cases—typically when the spouse has fairly small amounts of income—deeming of spousal income has no effect. The distinction made in the SSI program somewhat parallels that of the EITC. For example, how do married couples fare compared with other two-person households? The fourth option would not neutralize the role of marital status, but it would address issues associated with the policy of applying the FBR for couples to unmarried persons living together. The act defines a child as an unmarried individual who is not head of a household and is under age 18, or is under age 22 and a student regularly attending school in preparation for gainful employment. Although the Social Security Act requires SSA to consider the income of ineligible spouses and parents, the actual rules for deeming income are determined by regulation. The rate for a veteran receiving a pension based on disability varies depending on the number of dependents, which would include the veteran's spouse. The calculations are shown below (in dollars): This option would eliminate differences that currently exist between different deeming arrangements. Deeming Option 2: Provide a living allowance for the ineligible spouse that is equivalent to the. Benefits would continue to decrease for additional children. Are single persons and couples treated fairly relative to each other? SSA would no longer need to determine household expenses, payment toward these expenses, and the value of any help from outside the household. For Options 2 and 3, marital status would not be material in determining benefit amounts for two married SSI recipients but would still be relevant for resource determinations. If an eligible individual lives with another person and they are not married or are not representing themselves as husband or wife, the eligible individual's SSI benefit is determined without considering the income from the other person. The previous section illustrates how marital status determines whether a person receives benefits under the individual or couple rate. When several individuals in one family (excluding married couples) receive SSI, each member is eligible for the full FBR minus any countable income. For a family with no countable income, the first child would receive $552 (the FBR), the second would receive $333 (40 percent less), and the third would receive $291 (47 percent less). 5. The regulations (38 CFR 3.1(j)) define marriage as a marriage valid under the law of the place where the parties resided at the time of marriage, or the law of the place where the parties resided when the right to benefits accrued. 14. 1996. Likewise, $65 of earned income and one-half of the remainder is subtracted from the combined earned income. My husband-to-be is 66 years old and is on Social Security disability and has retirement benefits of less than $500 a month. Unlike the benefit rate options, the options for changing the exclusions and deeming are not mutually exclusive. If the couple is determined to be living in someone else's household and receiving in-kind support and maintenance (food and shelter) from within the household, the couple FBR is reduced by one-third. A married couple (eligible individual and eligible or ineligible spouse) is entitled to only one $20 exclusion per month regardless of whether one or both members have income. Let's say your joint income is $500, since you mentioned your husband-to-be's Social Security check is around $500 (I assume your husband's disability payments have recently converted to retirement payments, since you can't receive Social Security disability payments after full retirement age). Do Not Sell My Personal Information, Nolo's Guide to Social Security Disability. Benefit Rate Option 4 would maintain the current benefit rate structure but would limit the FBR for couples to married couples. Therefore, under this proposal, program costs for current beneficiaries would increase annually by about $20 million. Some representatives coach their clients not to give the appearance that they are living as husband and wife.5 In fiscal year 2000, an estimated $26 million in overpayments was attributed to issues of reporting of marital status, confirming the difficulty in determining the marital status of two persons living together. Second, they can receive a larger allowance if a state Medicaid hearing finds that exceptional circumstances might otherwise cause them extreme financial hardship. In contrast, no specific deduction is made for the ineligible spouse in the spousal deeming calculation. 2001b. This website is produced and published at U.S. taxpayer expense. Welch, Karen. [citation needed] SSI was created by the Social Security Amendments of 1972 and is incorporated in Title 16 of the Social Security Act. So after subtracting $480, the $695 remainder is what your new monthly benefit would be. SSA also deems the income and resources of parents of SSI applicants and beneficiaries under age 18 and the income and resources of sponsors to noncitizens. The eligible individual's own income is subtracted from the individual FBR to determine the benefit amount.7. It follows the rationale that all people living together and sharing household expenses can live more efficiently than people living alone. Exclusion Option 5: Expand the life insurance exclusion by treating both members of a couple as individuals. The allowance for one parent equals the FBR for an individual, and the allowance for two parents equals the FBR for a couple. Therefore, this option may be viewed as providing a financial gain for couples who do not marry. All of these things can make an SSI check go up or down.
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