Social Security Administration: SSDI & SSI Disability Resources; Representative Payee Programs (SSA and DFAS)

Social Security Administration

• Social Security Handbook
• SSA Period Life Table
• Social Security Program Rules (Current statutes, regulations,  Commissioner rulings, and employee operating instructions)
• Social Security Disability Rules for Children Disabled Before Age 22
• SSA Program Operations Manual System (“POMS”)
  • Emergency messages
  • Recent POMS changes
  • SSI Menu
• Questions and Answers From SSA Online
• Appointment of Agents to Apply for Benefits and to Manage SSA Benefits.
  • Persons to help in application process.
    • How to appoint a person to help apply for Social Security disability (SSDI / SSI) benefits.
    • Form for appointment of a person to help apply for Social Security disability benefits, NOT to manage benefits as representative payee)
  • Persons to manage existing SSA benefits under the Social Security program (all benefits) for impaired recipient.
    • The Social Security Representative Payee Program
    • FAQ.
    • Application Form (SSA-11BK) 
• DFAS Rep Payee materials (DFAS (Defense Finance and Accounting Service) Military Pension Representative Payee Program. Download the DFAS Form 9415 along with helpful tools (how-to checklist and how-to video) to complete form).
• Legal Resources – Opinions and Searching Tools
• Apply for SSDI and SSI online.  Medicare Waiting Period (24 months) for SSDI.
• Current and historical SSI Payment Limit Amounts.

Supplemental Security Income for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled and Related Poverty Levels

• Understanding SSI
• Understanding the SSI “One Third Reduction” Rule in the context of housing arrangements contributed by third parties (such as parents, friends, and special needs trustees)
• Income and Resource Guidelines
• SSI Regulations
•  Virginia Medicaid Eligibility Category – 80% Federal Poverty Level (Fed Reg – 2016)
• SSI Current Federal Payment Amounts (and Limits)
• SSI Program Operations Manual Systems (POMS)
• Table of Excluded Resources
• Statistics and Characteristics of SSI Recipients
  • By State and County (Virginia)
  • Characteristics and Employment (See special Virginia Medicaid rule here)
  • Who receives SSI?
    • The majority were female (52 percent).
    • Fourteen percent were under age 18, 58 percent were aged 18 to 64, and 28 percent were aged 65 or older.
    • Most (86 percent) were eligible on the basis of blindness or a disability.
      Six out of 10 recipients under age 65 were diagnosed with a mental disorder.
    • Fifty-seven percent of SSI recipients had no income other than their SSI payment, and the average monthly payment in December 2019 was $566
    • Thirty-three percent of SSI recipients also received Social Security benefits.
    • Of the people receiving SSI benefits, 1.5 percent were residing in a Title XIX institution where Medicaid was paying more than half of the cost.
    • Despite their disabilities, about 342,000 recipients (4.9 percent) were working in December 2019.

Social Security SSI Transfer of Assets and Trust  Rules   (42 US 1382b)

• SI 01120.200 Information on Trusts, Including Trusts Established Prior to January 01, 2000, Trusts Established with the Assets of Third Parties, and Trusts Not Subject to Section 1613(e) of the Social Security Act.
• Notice of Reconsideration Denying Eligibility
• United States Magistrate’s opinion in Thompson v. Barnhart, Commissioner (regarding doctrine of worthier title and deemed revocability of otherwise valid special needs trust)(applying West Virginia law).