These options are not exclusive. The poverty rate for a married couple receiving SSI is 45.1 percent compared with 9.8 percent for two SSI recipients who are not a married couple (Koenig and Rupp 2002, Table 10). In examining the way the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program treats marital status, it is also useful to consider how other means-tested programs do so. In most states, the community spouse may only retain 50 percent of the total countable assets of both spouses, up to their state’s maximum CSRA. Second, they can receive a larger allowance if a state Medicaid hearing finds that exceptional circumstances might otherwise cause them extreme financial hardship. However, the exclusion does not apply to each member of a couple. An example of such a relationship is one in which the couple are not legally married but consider themselves as being in a common-law marriage. The second most common exclusion is the earned income exclusion. If you get married while receiving SSI, your payment is likely to be reduced because of your husband's income. Questions about the analysis should be directed to them at 202-358-6012. Under this option, each member of an SSI couple would be entitled to the individual FBR, and income for each spouse would be calculated separately. In making its estimate, CBO assumed that implementation would occur in fiscal year 2005, with estimated savings of $70 million in that year and of $1.345 billion from 2005 to 2013. The remainder of the ineligible spouse's unearned income is combined with any unearned income of the eligible individual, and the remainder of the spouse's earned income is combined with any earned income of the eligible individual. I'm getting married and am over 60 years old. An additional argument is that the economies-of-scale rationale does not work for households that include a disabled child. Benefit Rate Option 4 would maintain the current benefit rate structure but would limit the FBR for couples to married couples. The unmarried recipient will receive the individual federal benefit rate (FBR) of $552. The Medicaid program provides comprehensive medical coverage to seniors (age 65+) and people with permanent disabilities. Any portion of the exclusion not used for unearned income is used for earned income. Two wage earners with one child and each with very low income may have some incentive to marry. In opposition to the proposal, disability advocates argued that many persons with disabilities, especially mental disabilities, live in group homes offering transitional, supported living situations and would suffer from the loss of benefits, which are used to provide services to residents. For eligible couples, some rules for excluding income and resources treat the couple as a unit. The result is then divided equally and paid to the couple in separate checks. Under current law, a portion of the earned income of a child receiving SSI who SSA determines to be a student is excluded when determining his or her benefit. If the ineligible spouse's income is equal to or less than the difference between the couple and individual FBR, there is no income to deem to the eligible individual. Office of Policy, Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics. Actual costs could be somewhat higher because more people would be financially eligible for the program. The treatment of marriage is a frequent consideration in the discussion of government benefit policies. No, you can skip it. Medicaid considers all property owned by a married couple to be joint assets. Because most of your husband's Social Security income will be "deemed" to belong to you. Benefit Rate Option 4: Eliminate the concept of treating as a married couple unmarried persons who represent themselves to the community as husband and wife (the concept of "holding out"). Benefit Rate Option 1: Eliminate the couple rate and treat married SSI recipients 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. Both the poverty threshold and the FBR assume that a couple is better off financially than two individuals with the same total income living alone, but they make different assumptions about the size of the economies of scale. Approximately 38 percent of married recipients are members of eligible couples (both spouses are entitled to SSI), and the rest have ineligible spouses. The specific reduction in the individual FBR for this option would dictate whether it would produce a savings or a cost. Program costs would significantly increase as couples were made better off. When several individuals in one family (excluding married couples) receive SSI, each member is eligible for the full FBR minus any countable income. The Impact of Marriage on Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Exclusion Option 3: Give each member of an eligible couple a separate infrequent and irregular income exclusion. As an entitlement program, SSI benefit is available to anyone who meets its eligibility requirements. Beyond these, your checking account, your retirement, and your other financial assets can’t add up to more than $2,000, and $3,000 for a married couple. This paper was prepared by Richard Balkus and Susan Wilschke, Office of Policy, Office of Disability and Income Assistance Policy. A person who is receiving SSDI could still get premium subsidies … SSA would not need to gather information on household expenses, marital status, or whether a couple was holding out. 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. Consider, for example, a single parent with one child and earnings of $4,000 in 2001. The higher poverty rate for households consisting of a married couple who are both receiving SSI (45.1 percent) compared with those consisting of two nonmarried recipients (9.8 percent) raises a question of benefit equity. 14. The option to provide a living allowance equivalent to the individual federal benefit rate would reduce the countable income to $162.50 and the recipient would receive a monthly benefit of $396.50. 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. Third, to the extent that differences are identified, it offers options for making the program more neutral toward marital status. For example, eliminating the couple rate would increase the maximum benefit rate for a married couple from 83 percent to 110 percent of the poverty threshold, thus creating a wider disparity with the maximum benefit rate for an individual, which represents 70 percent of the poverty threshold. The amount of a recipient's SSI benefit is based on many factors, including one's marital status. SSI Annual Statistical Report, 2000. One is to raise the payments made to eligible couples so that they are on the same level as those made to individual recipients. Baltimore, Md. 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). After deeming, the married recipient receives $371.50 per month, and the unmarried recipient continues to receive $552.00. Simplifying the Supplemental Security Income Program: Challenges and Opportunities. Marriage may affect the household size, but the amount of benefits paid does not vary by marital status. If your husband-to-be has other unearned income of more than about $700, your SSI payment would probably be eliminated altogether. The size of the credit depends on the level of income and the number of children (that is, no children, one child, or two or more children) in the family. Under this proposal, two recipients living together would be eligible to receive 150 percent of the FBR (as is currently the case for couples); three recipients, 210 percent; and four recipients, 260 percent. The SSI program allows a number of exclusions from income in determining eligibility and one's monthly benefit amount. Whether Option 3 would result in a savings or a cost (like Option 2) would depend on the percentages used for the sliding scale. Such concerns have resulted in recommendations to eliminate the concept of holding out and to treat as spouses only those individuals who are legally married (see, for example, Social Security Administration 1992). Like the general income exclusion, a married couple is entitled to only one $65 exclusion per month regardless of whether both members of the couple have earned income. By living together and pooling resources, a couple can live more economically than if each person lived alone. The SSI benefit is the lesser of this amount or the amount from subtracting only the eligible individual's countable income from the FBR for an individual. My husband-to-be is 66 years old and is on Social Security disability and has retirement benefits of less than $500 a month. Deeming Option 2: Provide a living allowance for the ineligible spouse that is equivalent to the. The change, therefore, lessens the impact of the current penalty for some married couples. However, if the eligible individual is working, any earned income from the eligible spouse is not subject to a second $65 exclusion. Exclusion Option 2: Give each member of an eligible couple a separate earned income exclusion. In California, the comparable payment level for an eligible couple is about 1.8 times the total payment level for an individual. For two-person families with one SSI recipient it is 36 percent; for three-person families, 28 percent; and for four-person families, 27 percent.4 Recipients living with a spouse, other relatives, and even nonrelatives benefit from living with others. Testimony before the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the House Committee on Ways and Means, Hearing on Welfare and Marriage Issues. For example, in the 2001 tax year, a one- or two-parent family with two children would not have received a credit if their income had totaled $32,121 or more. One is to treat eligible couples like individual recipients. Past studies of the program have neither recommended eliminating the couple as an eligible unit nor considered doing so a viable option. In June 2002, there were about 90,000 couples with each member having some type of unearned income. However, the use of the couple FBR instead of the individual FBR provides an implicit allowance for the spouse equal to the difference between the two benefit rates. However, in some cases—typically when the spouse has fairly small amounts of income—deeming of spousal income has no effect. And that’s pretty much it. Exclusion Option 4: Eliminate the marriage restriction for the student earned income exclusion. 743, The Social Security Protection Act, as reported by the Senate Finance Committee on September 17, 2003. Make t... Find the best care in the right place at the... Social Security disability explained! That person would be entitled to an EITC of $1,369. All of these things can make an SSI check go up or down. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Food Stamp programs, for example, base benefit amounts on household size rather than marital status. The information provided on this site is not legal advice, does not constitute a lawyer referral service, and no attorney-client or confidential relationship is or will be formed by use of the site. The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program serves as an income source of last resort for elderly or disabled individuals. The federal benefit (FBR) rate for a couple ($829 a month for 2003) equals 1.5 times the FBR for an individual. Assuming some financial responsibility between spouses is consistent with SSI's status as a means-tested program. I’m married and one of use got our check and the other one didn’t. In contrast, no specific deduction is made for the ineligible spouse in the spousal deeming calculation. In some states, the information on this website may be considered a lawyer referral service. Likewise, $65 of earned income and one-half of the remainder is subtracted from the combined earned income. In 2003, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) updated a sliding scale for this option. Annual poverty measures based on Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) data matched to SSA administrative data indicate that the poverty rate for SSI recipients living alone is 78 percent. Surviving spouses of certain deceased veterans may receive dependency and indemnity compensation. For example, an eligible couple, like an eligible individual, can only exclude household goods and personal effects with a total value of up to $2,000. However, the program would also be made simpler to administer by eliminating the need to determine whether an unmarried eligible couple was holding out to the community as husband and wife and by removing the incentive for persons to misrepresent their status as a couple. SSI considers the income and contributions of other household members only in certain situations: spouses and parents (in the case of children) of SSI recipients and when someone in the household provides in-kind support and maintenance to the recipient.

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