State Assistance Programs for SSI Recipients, January 2009
Pennsylvania
State Supplementation
Mandatory Minimum Supplementation
Administration: Social Security Administration.
Optional State Supplementation
Administration: Social Security Administration; State Department of Public Welfare.
Effective date: January 1, 1974.
Statutory basis for payment: Article IV, section 432(2), and Pennsylvania Public Welfare Code.
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 every aged, blind, and disabled person who is eligible for SSI payments (or would receive them except for excess income) and who reside in the specified living arrangements. Persons residing in public institutions or in certified medical facilities where Medicaid is paying more than 50 percent of the cost of care are not eligible for supplementation. Blind and disabled children are eligible for optional supplementation, except those living in domiciliary care and personal care homes where they must be aged 18 or older.
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: The state supplementation is added to the federal payment. Countable income is deducted first from the federal payment. Any income that remains to be counted after the federal payment has been reduced to zero is then deducted from the state supplementary payment.
Payment levels: See Table 1.
Living arrangement | State code | Combined federal and state | State supplementation | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Individual | Couple | Individual | Couple | ||
Living alone a | . . . | 701.40 | 1,054.70 | 27.40 | 43.70 |
Living in the household of another b | . . . | 476.74 | 717.70 | 27.40 | 43.70 |
Living with an essential person b | C | 1,055.70 | 1,417.05 | 43.70 | 68.05 |
Living with an essential person in the household of another a | D | 718.37 | 967.39 | 43.70 | 68.05 |
Domiciliary care facility for adults | G | 1,108.30 | 1,958.40 | 434.30 | 947.40 |
Personal care boarding home | H | 1,113.30 | 1,968.40 | 439.30 | 957.40 |
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Office of Income Security Programs. | |||||
NOTE: . . . = not applicable. | |||||
a. State now administers payment for this living arrangement. | |||||
b. Applies only to cases converted from former state assistance programs. | |||||
DEFINITIONS:
|
Number of recipients: See Table 2.
Living arrangement | State code | Total | Aged | Blind | Disabled | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adults | Children | |||||
All recipients | 339,445 | 42,287 | 582 | 245,219 | 51,357 | |
Living alone or in the household of another | . . . | 328,777 | 38,205 | 568 | 238,651 | 51,353 |
Living with an essential person | C | 6 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
Living with an essential person in the household of another | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Domiciliary care facility for adults | G | 1,058 | 214 | 2 | 841 | 1 |
Personal care boarding home | H | 9,604 | 3,868 | 12 | 5,722 | 2 |
SOURCES: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data; state information. | ||||||
NOTE: . . . = not applicable. |
Total expenditures: The state reported expenditures of $4,461,091 for calendar year 2008 in state-administered payments and $44,312,000 in federally administered payments to SSI recipients.
State Assistance for Special Needs
Administration
State Department of Public Welfare.
Special Needs Circumstances
Burial expenses: Up to $750 in absence of other resources to meet cost.
Moving expenses: Up to $200 may be paid (once in a 12-month period) if moving is required because of eviction or for health and welfare reasons.
Medical transportation expenses: Provides transportation expenses to and from medical appointments for those who need assistance.
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.