SSI Eligibility and Eligibility for Certain Former SSI Recipients
You may qualify for SSI (Supplemental Security Income)/Medicaid, or you may be able to remain eligible for Medicaid after your SSI payments stop if you meet certain eligibility guidelines.
SSI Eligibility
If you qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), you automatically receive Medicaid. SSI makes monthly payments to individuals with low income and few resources that are either age 65 or over or blind or disabled. Blindness and disability are determined using Social Security rules. An application for SSI is filed with the Social Security Administration.
If you have unpaid medical bills in any of the 3 months prior to the month you apply for SSI, you can apply for Medicaid to cover these month(s) by filing an application with the Division of Medicaid.
For more information, see the “Medicaid Eligibility Guide for SSI Recipients and Certain Former SSI Recipients” brochure.
Medicaid Eligibility for Certain Former SSI Recipients
Certain former SSI recipients may continue to receive Medicaid. You must be eligible in one of the groups briefly described below:
- Cost of living (COL) Recipients
People who are currently receiving Social Security (Title II) benefits, who have lost their SSI eligibility due to a Social Security “cost of living” increase(s) which raised them over the SSI income limit. - Disabled Adult Children
Includes disabled individuals age 18 or over who have lost their SSI benefits after July 1, 1987 because they either began to receive Social Security benefits from a parent(s) record, or because of an increase in their Social Security benefits from a parent(s) record. - Widows or Widowers Age 50 to 65
Includes recipients of Social Security Widow(er) Insurance benefits who do not receive Medicare. These widow(er)s must have received SSI but then lost these SSI benefits because he or she began receiving Social Security widow(er) benefits.
Income and Resources
Income Limits
The income limit for SSI and for the three groups of former SSI recipients is the maximum SSI limit for an individual or couple. This income limit is based on whether you are single or married, and the type of income received (earned or unearned). The income limit, which is based on federal guidelines, may change each year.
Resources
Those possessions, which include real and personal property, owned by either an individual or a couple. The resource limit for an individual is $2,000 and for a couple is $3,000. Some resources are not counted in this limit, or are not counted within certain limits. They include:
- Home property: when the person lives in the home or is temporarily absent from the home (meaning he or she plans to return home).
- One automobile
- Personal property with a combined value of not over $2,000.
- Life insurance: when the value of the policy(ies) for each person totals $1,500 or less.
Accepting Other Benefits
Persons must apply for, and accept, all benefits to which he or she may be entitled (such as VA benefits, vocational rehabilitation, etc.) Persons who do not accept these benefits may lose their Medicaid eligibility.
