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SSI Administration Handbook Release 11-01 February 16, 2011 |
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SSI Administration Handbook Release 11-01 February 16, 2011 |
The purpose of the state Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Supplement is to provide a cash supplement to all Wisconsin residents who receive federal SSI. State SSI Supplement payments are authorized by state statute at Wis. Stats. (exit DHS), Ch. 49.77 and 49.775.
Most SSI recipients receive both federal and state SSI payments. However, in Wisconsin about 10% of SSI recipients receive only a state SSI payment.
This policy manual is intended to assist your understanding of the policies and procedures that guide the DHS in its administration of the state SSI Supplement.
Supplemental Security Income guarantees cash assistance to low-income persons aged 65 and older and to persons who have not yet reached age 65 who are blind or disabled and unable to engage in substantial gainful activity (SGA).
Supplemental Security Income was authorized nationally in 1972 as Title XVI of the Social Security Act and became effective in 1974. Federal SSI has uniform nationwide financial and nonfinancial eligibility requirements.
Federal SSI payments are administered by the federal government through the Social Security Administration (exit DHS) (SSA). Any person may apply for Federal SSI at an SSA district office by calling the SSA’s toll-free number 1-800-772-1213 or applying online at http://www.ssa.gov/ .
Refer to https://secure.ssa.gov/apps6z/ FOLO/fo001.jsp (exit DHS) to locate any SSA district office by zip code.
Federal law gives states the option to administer their own state SSI Supplement or to contract with the SSA to administer the payment for the state.
Beginning January 1, 1996, Wisconsin began to administer its own state SSI Supplement. At the same time, eligibility for the state SSI Supplement for new applicants who were not eligible for a federal SSI cash payment was eliminated from state law.
Approximately 17,000 recipients of SSI who were receiving only a state SSI payment at that time were granted "grandfathered eligibility status."
Currently, the only means by which a person who is not among those who maintain their grandfathered status may begin to receive a state SSI Supplement is by first obtaining eligibility for federal SSI cash benefits.
If a person is found eligible for federal SSI, he or she is automatically eligible for state SSI and information about the person’s eligibility is transferred from the SSA to the Department of Health Services (DHS) to begin the state SSI payment.
The reader is advised that while the Department of Health Services administers its own state SSI payment, it does so in concert with the federal SSA.
Especially as it pertains to eligibility determinations, maintenance of payment and identifying information and terminations and appeals for recipients who receive both federal and state SSI payments, information sharing is constant.
Electronic communication of information occurs weekly via the state Data Exchange.
Payment levels for the state SSI Supplement are based on a combination of factors, including:
Marital status.
Living arrangement.
Income.
Additionally, some state SSI recipients are certified by county agencies for increased payment amounts under the SSI- Exceptional Expense Supplement or Caretaker Supplement provisions of state law.
The state SSI Supplement, unlike federal SSI, is not indexed annually to reflect a cost of living adjustment. State SSI payment levels are found in 4.1.7 SSI Payment Levels.
DHS contracts with HP Enterprise Services, a private data processing firm, to maintain state SSI Supplement recipient files and produce monthly state SSI payments and related client notices.
HP Enterprise Services also provides a toll-free Member Services line 1-800-362-3002 to respond to recipient inquiries. Member Services is open between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
This manual is divided into two main sections:
2.1 Federal and state SSI Recipients
This page last updated in Release Number: 11-01
Release Date: 02-16-11
Effective Date: 02-16-11