State Assistance Programs for SSI Recipients, January 2009

New Jersey

State Supplementation

Mandatory Minimum Supplementation

Administration: Social Security Administration.

Optional State Supplementation

Administration: Social Security Administration.

Effective date: January 1, 1974.

Statutory basis for payment: New Jersey Statutes Annotated, 44:7-86.

Funding

Administration: State funds.

Assistance: State funds.

Passalong method: Maintaining payment levels.

Place of application: Social Security Administration field offices.

Scope of coverage: Optional state supplement provided to all aged, blind, and disabled recipients, including children, except those in publicly operated community residences or facilities where Medicaid pays less than 50 percent of the cost of care. Supplementation provided to recipients in approved residential facilities.

Resource limitations: Federal SSI regulations apply.

Income exclusions: Federal SSI regulations apply.

Recoveries, liens, and assignments: None.

Financial responsibility of relatives: None.

Interim assistance: State participates.

Payment calculation method: Not provided by state.

Payment levels: See Table 1.

Table 1. Optional state supplementation payment levels, January 2009 (in dollars)
Living arrangement State code Combined federal and state State supplementation
Individual Couple Individual Couple
Congregate care facility a A 824.05 1,629.36 150.05 618.36
Living alone or with others B 705.25 1,036.36 31.25 25.36
Living alone with an ineligible spouse C 1,036.36 . . . 362.36 . . .
Living with an essential person C 1,036.36 . . . 25.36 . . .
Living in the household of another D 493.65 767.09 44.31 93.09
Medicaid facility G 40.00 80.00 10.00 20.00
Residential health care facility b I 884.05 1,749.36 210.05 738.36
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Office of Income Security Programs.
NOTE: . . . = not applicable.
a. State supplement includes a $100 personal needs allowance per person residing in a boarding home.
b. State supplement includes a $110.50 personal needs allowance per person residing in a residential health care facility.
DEFINITIONS:
A: Congregate care facility.
Includes recipients in:
  • Residential heath care facilities who are under the supervision of the Department of Human Services.
  • Recipients in residential facilities for children and adults under the supervision of or placement by the Division of Developmental Disabilities or the Division of Youth and Family Services and supervised or placed by the Department of Human Services.
  • Recipients in assisted living residences and in comprehensive personal care homes licensed by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services.
B: Living alone or with others.
Includes recipients residing in a federal Code A or C living arrangement who do not meet the definitions of other state living arrangements. Includes persons in:
  • The Transitional Residency Program when their placement is through the Division of Mental Health and Hospitals, Department of Human Services,
  • Room and board facilities licensed by the Department of Community Affairs, and
  • Persons in medical facilities who reside in a federal Code A living arrangement on the basis of their eligibility under section 1611(e)(1)(E) of the Social Security Act.
C: Living alone or with an ineligible spouse.
  • Applies to recipients who live with their ineligible spouse only or with their ineligible spouse and foster children only.
  • Uses federal criteria. Recipient currently has an essential person living in the household and in December 1973 was receiving assistance under an approved state plan that covered the needs of an essential person.
D: Living in the household of another.
Includes recipients residing in a federal Code B living arrangement.
G: Medicaid facility.
Includes recipients residing in a federal Code D living arrangement.
I: Residential health care facility.
Includes facilities that have been approved by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and are either free-standing or attached to a nursing home, an assisted living residence, or a comprehensive personal care home approved by DCA.

Number of recipients: See Table 2.

Table 2. Number of persons receiving optional state supplementation, January 2009
Living arrangement State code Total Aged Blind Disabled
Adults Children
All recipients   162,187 34,632 1,607 93,072 32,876
Congregate care facility A 4,740 427 47 3,650 616
Living alone or with others B 124,214 22,359 1,242 72,044 28,569
Living alone with an ineligible spouse or essential person C 5,790 2,837 58 2,895 0
Living in the household of another D 21,685 8,023 217 10,409 3,036
Medicaid facility G 4,270 897 43 2,690 640
Residential health care facility I 1,488 89 0 1,384 15
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.

Total expenditures: The Social Security Administration reported expenditures of $87,843,395 for calendar year 2008 in federally administered payments to SSI recipients.

State Assistance for Special Needs

Administration

State Department of Human Services, Division of Family Development.

Special Needs Circumstances

Emergency assistance for catastrophic events and burial and funeral payments. Eligibility for payments based on meeting requirements for mandatory minimum or optional state supplementary payments.

Medicaid

Eligibility

Criteria: SSI program guidelines (Title XVI).

Determined by: Social Security Administration.

Medically Needy Program

State provides a program for the aged, blind, and disabled medically needy.

Unpaid Medical Expenses

The Social Security Administration obtains this information.