Supplemental Security Income is a monthly stipend provided to some citizens by the United States federal government. Individuals who prove to the Social Security Administration that they cannot work and have no other income, such as permanently disabled individuals and long-term cancer patients, may qualify for SSI.
The SSI program provides federal monthly cash assistance of up to USD $564 (as of 2004) to help meet the costs of basic needs of food, shelter and clothing for people who are not able to provide for their own self-support through work because of the severity of a disability. In most states, SSI eligibility usually assures concurrent access to important medical coverage under the various state Medicaid programs.
Supplementalsecurityincome payments are made to persons who have attained age 65 or who are blind or disabled and meet the means-tested and other requirements of the program.
Some mandatory State supplements are required by supplementalsecurityincome law to maintain former State recipients' December 1973 payment levels at pre-supplemental securityincome levels, increased by cost-of-living adjustments, where such payments were higher than the initial supplementalsecurityincome standards.
States paying supplements are required by supplementalsecurityincome law to maintain either their State supplement expenditures or their payment levels when Federal standards are increased.
The SupplementalSecurityIncome program is funded by the general revenues of the Federal Treasury and is intended to provide a minimum level of income to persons who are aged, disabled, or blind and demonstrate economic need.
The Social Security Administration defines disability as the inability to engage in substantial gainful activity (work) by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months or result in death.
The income and/or resources that are set aside under the PASS are not counted when the income and resource test is administered, enabling them to meet this part of the eligibility requirement.
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