State Assistance Programs for SSI Recipients, January 2004
Minnesota
State Supplementation
Mandatory Minimum Supplementation
No recipients.
Optional State Supplementation
Administration: Local county offices of the state Welfare and Human Services Agencies (state-supervised). Payments are made under the Minnesota Supplemental Aid Program.
Effective date: April 1, 1974.
Statutory basis for payment: Minnesota Statutes Annotated, sections 256D.33-256D.54 and 256I.01-256I.06.
Funding
Administration: County funds; except state expenses, which are state-funded.
Assistance: State funds.
Passalong method: Maintaining payment levels.
Place of application: County Welfare and Human Services Agencies.
Scope of coverage: Optional state supplement provided to all SSI recipients and to persons who, except for excess income, would be receiving SSI. It is also provided to those who have maintenance needs based on the December 1973 state standards that exceed their income from federal SSI and other sources and who would otherwise have qualified for benefits under former state assistance programs for the aged, blind, and disabled. Blind children are eligible for supplementation; disabled children under age 18 are not eligible for supplementation.
Resource limitations: Federal SSI regulations apply.
Income exclusions: Federal SSI regulations apply.
Recoveries, liens, and assignments: None.
Financial responsibility of relatives: Spouse for spouse; parent for blind child under age 18.
Interim assistance: State participates.
Payment levels: See Table 1.
| Living arrangement | Combined federal and state |
State supplementation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual | Couple | Individual | Couple | |
| Living independently | ||||
| Entitlement prior to January 1, 1994 | 645.00 | 952.00 | 81.00 | 106.00 |
| Entitlement January 1, 1994, or later | 645.00 | 957.00 | 81.00 | 111.00 |
| Living in the household of another | ||||
| Entitlement prior to January 1, 1994 | 487.00 | 889.00 | 111.00 | 325.00 |
| Entitlement January 1, 1994, or later | 487.00 | 645.00 | 111.00 | 81.00 |
| Nonmedical, group residential facility a | 1,141.36 | b | 557.36 | b |
| Medicaid facility | 74.00 | 148.00 | 44.00 | 88.00 |
| a. Includes $69 a month for clothing and personal needs. | ||||
| b. Couples are treated as two individuals starting with the month after leaving an independent living arrangement. | ||||
DEFINITIONS:
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Number of recipients: See Table 2.
| Living arrangement | Total | Aged | Blind | Disabled | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adults | Children | ||||
| All recipients | 27,704 | 6,508 | 139 | 21,054 | 3 |
| Living independently | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Living in the household of another | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Nonmedical, group residential facility | 6,758 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Medicaid facility | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| NOTE: -- = not available. | |||||
State Assistance for Special Needs
Administration
Local county offices of the state Welfare and Human Services Agencies (state-supervised).
Special Needs Circumstances
Amounts of assistance for items not covered by the mandatory state standards are determined on the basis of need in each case.
Diets: Specified modified diets, when prescribed by a physician, are allowed at designated rate.
Guardianship fees: Five percent of gross monthly income (including SSI) up to a maximum of $100 per month.
Representative payee services: Ten percent of gross monthly income, up to a maximum of $25, for services provided by an agency that meets the requirements under SSI regulations to charge a fee for payee services.
Housing and major repairs: Nonrecurring payments for catastrophic situations for homeowners who live in their homes.
Furniture and appliances: Nonrecurring payment for necessary repairs and replacements.
Shelter needy provision: A supplemental payment, equal to the maximum Food Stamp allotment for an individual, for participants in the Minnesota Supplemental Aid Program relocating from an institution into the community if their shelter costs exceed 40 percent of their income. Recipients of the shelter needy special need must apply for subsidized housing.
Medicaid
Eligibility
Criteria: State guidelines.
Determined by: Local county offices of the state Welfare and Human Services Agencies (state-supervised).
Medically Needy Program
State provides a program for the aged, blind, and disabled medically needy.
Unpaid Medical Expenses
The Social Security Administration does not obtain this information.