What You Need to Know
When You Get Supplemental
Security Income (SSI)
SocialSecurity.gov
What’s inside
Introduction 1
About your payments 1
What you must report to us 4
Things you should know if you get SSI
because you have a disability 17
How and when to report changes 20
Other things you should know 22
Contacting Us 26
1
Introduction
This booklet explains some of your rights and
responsibilities when you receive Supplemental Security
Income (SSI) payments.
We suggest you take some time now to read this booklet,
so you can refer to it in the future.
If you get Social Security retirement or survivors benets,
you should read, What You Need to Know When You
Get Retirement or Survivors Benets (Publication
No. 05-10077). If you get Social Security disability
benets, you should read, What You Need to Know When
You Get Disability Benets (Publication No. 05-10153).
NOTE: To get SSI, you must live in one of the 50 states,
the District of Columbia, or the Northern Mariana Islands
and be a U.S. citizen or national. People who live in
American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S.
Virgin Islands cannot receive SSI.
About your payments
Before you begin receiving SSI payments, we’ll send a
letter telling you when they will start and the amount you will
receive. (We may have enclosed this booklet with the letter.)
We’ll issue your 1
st
SSI payment for the 1
st
full month after
you applied or became eligible for SSI. You may not get
the same amount every month. The amount depends on
your other income and living arrangements. We’ll tell you
in advance whenever we change your payment amount.
We base your 1
st
, 2
nd
, and 3
rd
monthly amounts on your 1
st
month’s income. Sometimes you won’t receive a type of
income in the 2
nd
month that you received in the 1
st
month.
We call this “nonrecurring income.” When this happens,
we base your SSI payment for the 2
nd
and 3
rd
months
on your countable income from the 1
st
month, minus the
nonrecurring income.
2
After that, we usually base your SSI payment amount
on your income from 2 months before. For example, a
recipient living in California gets a $500 Social Security
benet as a surviving spouse and a $463 SSI payment.
In June, they buy a lottery scratch-off card, win $200, and
report that to us. That means in August, we’ll reduce the
SSI payment to $263. In this example, the SSI payment
will return to $463 in September.
Your federal SSI payment may increase each year,
if necessary, to keep up with the cost of living. These
increases usually start with your January payment, which
you’ll receive at the end of December.
If you disagree with a decision we make
If you disagree with any decision we make about your
SSI, you have the right to ask us to look at your case
again. Whenever we send you a letter about your
SSI, we’ll tell you what to do if you disagree. For more
information, go online to read Your Right to Question the
Decision Made on Your Claim (Publication No. 05-10058).
Your right to be represented
You may handle your own SSI case with free help
from us. You also have the right to have someone
represent you. There are rules about who can represent
you and what your representative can do. We’ll work
with your representative as we would work with you.
Ask us if you want to learn how you can appoint
someone to act on your behalf. You can also nd more
information about representation in the Your Right to
Representation (Publication No. 05-10075), or online at
www.ssa.gov/representation.
3
Electronic payments
As required by law, you should have signed up to receive
your payments electronically when you applied for SSI.
Direct deposit is a simple, safe, and secure way to receive
your payments. Sign up for direct deposit by contacting
either us or your bank.
Another option is the Direct Express
®
card program. With
Direct Express
®
, deposits from federal payments are
made directly to the card account. Signing up for the card
is quick and easy. Call the toll-free Treasury Electronic
Payment Solution Contact Center at 1-800-333-1795. Or,
sign up online at www.GoDirect.gov. We can also help
you sign up.
If you don’t receive your electronic payment on its due
date, please call your bank or nancial institution rst.
They may be experiencing a delay in posting your
payment. If you still need to report a missing payment,
call us at our toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213.
If you receive an electronic payment that is not yours,
have your nancial institution return it to the U.S. Treasury
Department. You may face criminal charges if you
knowingly accept payments that aren’t due to you.
Cost-of-living adjustments
Each January, your payments will increase automatically
if the cost of living has gone up. For example, if the cost
of living has increased by 2%, your benets will also
increase by 2%. We’ll notify you in advance of your
new amount.
4
Reviewing your case
The law requires that we review every SSI case from
time to time to make sure you are still eligible for SSI and
are receiving the correct amount. We’ll tell you when it’s
time for your review. Your review can take place by mail,
phone, or in person at a local Social Security ofce.
We’ll ask you the same kind of questions you answered
when you applied for SSI.
We’ll need information about your income, resources,
living arrangements, and bank accounts. Keep the
savings or checking account statements you get from
your bank. You may need them when we review your
case. Also, keep your pay slips if you or your spouse
works. We’ll need their pay slips, too. Don’t wait for your
review to tell us about any changes. You should report
a change as soon as it happens. The section about
reporting changes starts below. If you get SSI because of
a disability, read the section titled, “Things you should
know if you get SSI because you have a disability.”
What you must report to us
You must report any changes to us because they may
affect your eligibility for SSI and your payment amount.
NOTE: If you don’t report changes timely, or if you give
us false information or withhold information, you may be
penalized. The penalty can range from $25 to $100. If
we discover that you gave false information or withheld
information on purpose, we can sanction you by stopping
your payments from 6 to 24 months.
5
The things you must report to us are listed below. If you
live in California, Hawaii, Michigan, or Vermont, read the
section titled, “Special rules for people in some states.”
If you move or change your address page 6
If you change direct deposit accounts page 6
If someone moves into or out of
your household page 6
If you start or stop work page 6
If there’s a change in your income or
the income of family members page 7
If there’s a change in your resources page 11
If you get help with living expenses page 12
If you enter or leave an institution (hospital,
nursing home or prison) page 12
If you get married, separated, or divorced page 13
If you change your name page 13
If you become a parent page 13
If you leave the United States page 14
If you have an outstanding felony
or arrest warrant page 14
If you’re conned to a correctional facility page 15
If you’re a sponsored noncitizen page 15
If you’re age 18 to 22 and start or
stop attending school page 15
If a person getting SSI isn’t able to
manage funds page 16
If a person getting SSI dies page 16
If your immigration status changes page 16
Special rules for people in some states page 17
If you get better page 17
6
If you move or change your address
When you move or change your address, tell us your
new address and phone number as soon as you know
them. Even if you receive your payments by direct deposit
or Direct Express
®
, we must have your correct address
so we can send letters and other important information
to you. We’ll stop your payments if we are unable to
contact you.
Also, tell your post ofce about your new address.
If you change direct deposit accounts
If you change nancial institutions or open a new account,
be sure to let us know. We can change your direct deposit
information over the phone. Have your old and new bank
account numbers on hand when you call us. The account
numbers are printed on your personal checks and bank
account statements. Changing this information takes us
about 30 to 60 days. Don’t close your old bank account
until after you make sure we’ve deposited your SSI
payments into your new account.
If someone moves into or out of your household
Changes in the number of people who live with you can
affect your SSI payment amount. Let us know if there’s a
change in the number of people who live with you. You
must tell us if:
• Someone moves into or out of your home.
• Someone who lives with you dies.
• You or someone who lives with you has a baby.
• Any family members who are getting benets move in
with you.
If you start or stop work
Let us know if you or your family members start or stop
working.
7
If there’s a change in your income or the income
of family members
If you have income other than your SSI, you must tell us
about it. And you should tell us if the amount of your other
income increases or decreases, or if the income stops.
Usually, changes in your income in a month will affect your
SSI payment 2 months later. You should report a change as
soon as it happens, and report wages each month.
You should also tell us about changes in the income of
other family members who live with you. For example:
• You are a noncitizen and have a sponsor, and your
sponsor (or their spouse) starts or stops working. This
applies even if your sponsor doesn’t live with you.
• If you’re married, tell us about any change in your
spouse’s income.
• If you have a child younger than 18 who gets SSI and
lives with you, tell us about any change in:
—The child’s income.
—Your income.
—Your spouse’s income.
—The income of any child in your home who is not
getting SSI.
Also tell us if:
—A child in your home who is not getting SSI gets
married.
—A child who is working, or who is age 18 to 22, starts
or stops attending school full time.
8
What we count as income
Under SSI, income includes cash, checks, and other
things you get that can be used for food or shelter.
Examples of income include:
• Wages from your job, whether in cash or another form.
• Net earnings from your business if you’re self-employed.
• The value of food or shelter that someone gives you,
or the amount of money someone gives you to help
pay for them.
• Department of Veterans Affairs benets.
• Railroad retirement and railroad unemployment benets.
• Annuities, pensions from any government or private
source, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance
benets, black lung benets and Social Security benets.
• Prizes, settlements, and awards, including
court-ordered awards.
• Proceeds of life insurance policies.
• Gifts and contributions.
• Support and alimony payments.
• Inheritances in cash or property.
• Rental income.
• Strike pay and other benets from unions.
Items that do not count as income
Examples of items that aren’t income include:
• Medical care and services.
• Social services.
• Money from the sale, exchange, or replacement of
things you own (though the money may count as a
resource if you retain it until the next month).
• Income tax refunds.
• Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit payments.
9
• Payments made by life or disability insurance on
charge accounts or other credit accounts.
• Proceeds of a loan.
• Bills paid by someone else for things other than food
or shelter.
• Settlement payments to eligible American Indian
landowners whose assets had been mismanaged by
the United States.
• Replacement of lost or stolen income.
• Help you get to weatherize your home.
Some things we normally count as “income” won’t reduce
your SSI payment. For example, under certain conditions,
home energy assistance provided by certain home energy
suppliers isn’t counted as income. Food, shelter, and
home energy assistance provided free, or at a reduced
rate, by private nonprot organizations also aren’t
counted. Even though these items may not count, you
should still tell us about them.
Reporting your earned income
You must report to us all earned income you get from
wages or self-employment, beginning with the date you
led your SSI application.
We’ll need to verify your wages or self-employment income.
Keep all your pay slips, including those for overtime,
vacations, and bonuses. You must promptly report changes
in work activity each month after you have received your
nal payment for the month. You must report changes no
later than the 10th day of the following month. In addition to
reporting your income, you must tell us when:
• You start or stop working.
• Your work hours or rate of pay change.
• You start paying expenses for work because of your
disability.
10
You must report your wages. There are several ways to do it.
• You can report wages using one of the following
automated or electronic options:
—my Social Security – A personal my Social Security
account has a convenient online wage reporting tool
that you can use on your computer or smartphone.
—SSI Telephone Wage Reporting System – A toll-free
automated system. It allows you, your spouse, parents
of a child receiving SSI, and your representative payee
to report the total gross monthly wages for the prior
month to us using our automated prompts.
—The SSA Mobile Wage Reporting application allows
certain recipients, their spouses, parents, and
representative payees to report wages from pay stubs
for the prior month using a mobile device. Wage
reporters can download and install the free application
from the Apple apps or Google Play Stores.
• When you use these options, we prefer you report your
wages by the 6
th
day of each month. Please contact
your local ofce to determine if these options will work
for you and to receive instructions on how to report
wages using these methods.
• Mail, fax, or bring your pay slips to your local Social
Security ofce each month as soon as you receive the
last pay slips for the month. Do this no later than the
10th day of the next month.
If you’re self-employed, notify us of your self-employment
either by phone, mail, or in person. We’ll help you
determine your net earnings from self-employment. There
are a few things you must do:
• Report any change that could affect the amount of your
net earnings from self-employment.
• Maintain business records.
• Provide us with a copy of your federal income tax
return when it becomes available.
11
If there’s a change in your resources
Tell us if there is any change in what you own. A single
person can have resources up to $2,000 and still get SSI. A
couple can have resources up to $3,000 and still get SSI.
Resources we don’t count
We don’t count many of the things you own toward the
SSI resource limit. Your home and the land that it’s on
don’t count if it’s your primary residence. Depending on
how they are used, household goods, personal property,
and a car may not count. Life insurance with a face value
of $1,500 or less per person usually doesn’t count. Up to
$1,500 in burial funds for you and up to $1,500 in burial
funds for your spouse don’t count. Burial plots for you and
your immediate family also don’t count. Even though these
items may not count, you should still tell us about them.
Resources we count
Some of the things we do count are:
• Cash.
• Checking and savings accounts.
• Christmas club accounts.
• Certicates of deposit, also called CDs.
• Stocks and U.S. Savings Bonds.
Any payments that you get from SSI or Social Security for
past months won’t be counted as a resource for 9 months
after the month you get them. If there are any past
payments left over after the 9-month period, they’ll count
as resources.
What you need to tell us
If you’re single, tell us if your resources are more than
$2,000. If you’re living with your spouse, tell us if your
combined resources are more than $3,000.
12
If you have a child who gets SSI, you should tell us about
changes in the things the child owns AND the things you
and your spouse own.
If you agreed to sell property so you could get SSI,
you should tell us when you sell it. If you don’t sell the
property, you may not be able to get any more SSI
payments. You may have to return any payments we
already sent to you.
If your name is on any bank account with another person,
you must tell us about the account, even if you don’t
consider the money to be yours. You must tell us about
the account, even if you don’t use the money or account.
If someone wants to add your name to an account, check
with us rst. If the money isn’t really yours, or if it’s for
a special purpose, we can tell you how to set up the
account so it won’t affect your SSI. A special purpose, for
example, may be medical expenses.
If you (or your spouse) buy, sell, or become the owner of any
real estate, a car, or personal property, you need to tell us.
Call us if you aren’t sure if something counts. We’ll help
you gure it out.
If you get help with living expenses
Let us know if someone gives you money, food, or free
housing. Also, tell us if anyone helps pay for your food,
utilities, rent, or mortgage, or if the amount someone pays
you changes. If you used to get help with expenses and
don’t get it now, tell us that, too.
If you enter or leave an institution (hospital,
nursing home, or prison)
You must tell us if you enter or leave a residential
institution, hospital, skilled nursing facility, nursing home,
intermediate care facility, halfway house, jail, prison,
public emergency shelter, or any other kind of institution.
13
Let us know the name of the institution and the date you
entered or left. If you aren’t able to tell us, ask someone in
the institution’s ofce to help you.
You usually can’t get SSI while in a public institution. If
you enter a medical institution, it’s especially important to
tell us right away. There are special rules if you enter a
medical institution for a stay of less than 90 days. Often,
you can keep getting your SSI if we learn about it right
away. Your doctor must sign a statement about how
long you’ll stay. Also, you must sign a statement that
you still need to pay expenses for your home while you
are in the institution. We need these statements as soon
as possible, but no later than the 90th day you’re in the
institution, or the day you leave, (whichever is earlier).
If your spouse is institutionalized, you must report this
change. If their Social Security benets are redirected to
you to use for household expenses, this counts as income
to you and must be reported to us.
If you get married, separated, or divorced
Tell us if you get married, or if your marriage ends.
Also, tell us if you separate from your spouse. If you’re
separated now, tell us if you begin to live together again.
If you change your name
If you change your name — by marriage, divorce, or court
order — you need to tell us right away. If you don’t give
us this information, your benets will be issued under your
old name and, if you have direct deposit, payments may
not reach your account.
If you become a parent
If you become the parent of a child (including an adopted
child) after you begin receiving SSI payments, let
us know.
14
If you leave the United States
Leaving the United States means leaving the 50 states,
the District of Columbia, or the Northern Mariana Islands.
Usually, if you leave the United States for 30 days or
more, you can no longer get SSI.
If you move to Puerto Rico, you’re considered to be
outside the United States for SSI purposes only. People
who live in American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the
U.S. Virgin Islands cannot receive SSI.
If you plan to leave the United States, tell us before you
leave. We need to know the date you plan to leave and
the date you plan to come back. Then, we can tell you if
your SSI will be affected.
After you have been outside the United States for 30 or
more days in a row, your SSI can’t start again until you
have been back in the country for at least 30 straight days.
There are special rules for dependent children of military
personnel who leave the United States. They may be able
to get or apply for SSI while overseas. There are also
exceptions for students studying abroad.
If you have an outstanding felony or arrest warrant
You must tell us if you have an outstanding felony or
arrest warrant for any of the following offenses:
• Flight to avoid prosecution or connement.
• Escape from custody.
• Flight-escape.
You cannot receive a monthly payment for any month
there is an outstanding felony or arrest warrant for any
of these offenses. If you are due an underpayment, you
cannot receive it if you currently have an outstanding
felony or arrest warrant for any of these offenses.
15
If you’re conned to a correctional facility
Tell us right away if you’re incarcerated or conned to a
correctional facility. You can’t receive a monthly payment
if you’re conned to a correctional facility for a full
calendar month. You can’t receive any underpayment you
may be due if you are currently conned to a correctional
facility for a full calendar month.
If you’re a sponsored noncitizen
You may be an immigrant who is sponsored by a U.S.
resident. If so, we look at the income and resources of the
following people in deciding whether you can get SSI and
how much your payment will be:
• Yourself (including anything you still have in
your homeland).
• Your spouse.
• Your parents if you are under age 18.
• Your sponsor.
• Your sponsor’s spouse.
You must report any changes in the income and resources
of all the above people until you become a U.S. citizen, or
until you work for 10 years. (Work done by your spouse or
parent may count toward the 10 years for SSI.) After that
time, you have to report only changes for yourself, your
spouse, and, if you are younger than age 18, your parents.
If you’re age 18 to 22 and start or stop
attending school
If you’re age 18 to 22, tell us if you start or stop attending
school regularly. It may affect your SSI. Also, tell us the
date your attendance changed.
16
If a person getting SSI isn’t able to manage funds
Sometimes a person is unable to manage or direct the
management of their own funds. If this happens, someone
should let us know. We can arrange to send the SSI
payment to a “representative payee.” A representative
payee is someone who agrees to manage and use the
money for the well-being of the person getting SSI.
For more information, read A Guide for Representative
Payees (Publication No. 05-10076).
NOTE: People who have “power of attorney” for
someone don’t automatically qualify to be the person’s
representative payee.
If a person getting SSI dies
If someone getting SSI dies, you should tell us. If there’s
a surviving spouse who is getting SSI, the amount may be
changed.
Any SSI payments sent after the month of death, or any
payments deposited after death, aren’t due and must be
returned.
If a person’s SSI was being deposited directly into an
account in a bank, the bank also should be told of the
person’s death. The bank will return the money to us.
Any amount sent to the account of a deceased recipient
should not be withdrawn.
If an SSI recipient has a representative payee, and the
payee dies, you should tell us.
If your immigration status changes
Let us know if your immigration status changes. Your
immigration status may affect whether you can get SSI. In
general, if you become a U.S. citizen, you still can get SSI
as long as you meet the other SSI requirements.
For more information, read Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) for Noncitizens (Publication No. 05-11051).
17
Special rules for people in some states
If you live in one of the following states, there are some
other things you must report to us:
• California — Let us know if you regularly ate your
meals away from home and now eat at home. Also, let
us know if you regularly ate at home and now eat out.
• Hawaii, Michigan, or Vermont — Tell us if you live in
a facility that provides different levels of care and the
level of care you get changes. For example, you move
from assisted living to a nursing home.
If you get better
If you get SSI because of a disability or blindness, you
must tell us if your medical condition improves. If you no
longer have a disability, your SSI will stop after a short
adjustment period.
Things you should know if you get SSI
because you have a disability
Reviewing your medical condition
Anyone receiving SSI because they have a disability must
have their medical condition reviewed from time to time.
Your SSI will continue unless there is evidence that your
condition has improved and that you are able to return
to work.
Frequency of reviews
How often your medical condition is reviewed depends
on how severe it is and the likelihood it will improve.
Your award notice tells you when you can expect your
1
st
review.
• Medical improvement expected — If your condition
is expected to improve within a specic time, your
1
st
review will be 6 to 18 months after you started
receiving SSI.
18
• Improvement possible — If improvement in your
medical condition is possible, your case will be
reviewed about every 3 years.
• Improvement not expected — If your medical condition
is unlikely to improve, your case will be reviewed only
about once every 5 to 7 years.
What happens during a review?
We will send you a letter telling you that we’re conducting
a review. Soon after that, someone from your local Social
Security ofce will contact you to explain the review
process and your appeal rights. The representative
will ask you to provide information about your medical
treatment and any work that you have done.
A team consisting of a disability examiner and a doctor
will review your le and request your medical reports. You
may need to have a special examination before we can
decide if you still have a qualifying disability. We’ll pay for
the examination and some of your transportation costs.
When a decision is made, we’ll send you a letter. If we decide
that you’re still eligible to receive SSI, your SSI will continue.
If we decide you’re no longer eligible for SSI, and you
disagree, you can le an appeal. For more information, go
online to read Your Right to Question the Decision Made
on Your Claim (Publication No. 05-10058).
Rules to help you work and keep your SSI
Tell us right away if you go to work — no matter how
little you earn. There are special SSI rules to help you
work. Your SSI may continue while you work if you still
have a disability. As your earnings go up, the amount of
your SSI will go down and eventually may stop. Even if
your SSI stops, you may be able to keep your Medicaid
coverage. Medicaid coverage may continue if you depend
on it to work and you don’t earn enough to pay for similar
medical care.
19
Tell us if you have any special work expenses for items
and services you need to work. Some examples are a
wheelchair, copayments on medications, attendant care
services, Braille devices, certain drugs, and medical
services. The earnings you use to pay for these expenses
don’t count as income, so they won’t lower the amount
of your SSI. You should keep receipts for any work
expenses related to your disability and tell us if your
special work expenses change.
If you work or would like to work and have income other
than SSI or resources above the limit, you may be able
to have a Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS). A PASS
allows you to work toward a career goal. It helps you pay
for college, vocational training, work-related equipment,
transportation to work, or starting a business. Having a
PASS usually means you can keep more of your SSI,
because the money you set aside won’t lower your
SSI amount. As your earnings and resources increase,
developing a plan becomes more important. For more
information, go online for Working While Disabled —
A Guide to Plan to Achieve Self-Support (Publication
No. 05-11017).
Your SSI payments may stop because you have a job. If
at some point in the next 6 years your disability forces you
to quit working, you can begin receiving SSI again without
ling a new application.
You can get more information about all the special rules
to help you work by calling us at 1-800-772-1213 or
by visiting our website www.ssa.gov/work. Read our
publications Working While Disabled — How We Can
Help (Publication No. 05-10095) and Your Ticket to Work
(Publication No. 05-10061).
More detailed information about work incentives can be
found in our Red Book (Publication No. 64-030).
20
Ticket to Work is a free and voluntary program that can
help Social Security beneciaries go to work while keeping
their Medicare or Medicaid. People who receive Social
Security benets because of a disability and are age 18
through 64 may already be eligible for the program. You
can nd more information at www.ssa.gov/work.
Our Work Incentive Planning and Assistance Projects
(WIPAs) help beneciaries with disabilities make informed
choices about work. They support working beneciaries
in making a successful transition to self-sufciency.
Each WIPA project has Community Work Incentives
Coordinators who provide in-depth counseling about
benets and the effect of work on those benets. Find
your local WIPA at choosework.ssa.gov/ndhelp.
How and when to report changes
You can report changes by calling us toll-free at
1-800-772-1213. If you’re deaf or hard-of-hearing, you
may call our TTY number, 1-800-325-0778. When you
call, please have your Social Security number (SSN)
handy. You can also report changes by mail or in person.
If you send us a letter, it needs to show all of these things:
• The name of the person for whom you are reporting
the change.
• The SSN of the person who gets SSI.
• The change being reported.
• The date the change happened.
• Your signature, address, and phone number.
When to report a change
You must report a change within 10 days after the
month it happens. You should report a change even if
you’re late.
21
If you don’t report a change, you may miss out on money
you need if the change means you should receive a
greater amount. Or, you may get too much money and
have to pay it back.
If you don’t report a change, or if you make a false
statement, and get money that you are not due, we will
require that you pay back that amount. It can also result in
a ne, penalty, or imprisonment.
Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Account
An Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) account is
a tax-advantaged savings account for an individual with a
disability. You can use an ABLE account to save funds for
many disability-related expenses. Anyone, including the
account owner, family, and friends can contribute to the
ABLE account. The account owner of an ABLE account
must meet one of the following:
• Be receiving SSI based on disability or blindness that
began before age 26.
• Be in SSI suspense due solely to excess income or
resources and otherwise be eligible for SSI based on
disability or blindness that began before age 26.
• Be receiving disability insurance benets, childhood
disability benets, or surviving spouse’s benets based
on disability or blindness that occurred before age 26.
• Have a certication that disability or blindness occurred
before age 26.
• Have conditions on Social Security’s “List of
Compassionate Allowances Conditions” which are
deemed to meet the requirements for a disability
certication if the condition was present and produced
marked and severe functional limitations before the
date on which the individual attained age 26.
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The money that you have in your ABLE account (up to
and including $100,000) does not count as a resource
under SSI rules. You can use money in an ABLE account
to pay for certain qualied disability expenses, such as
those for education, housing, transportation, employment
training, employment support, assistive technology, and
related services.
To learn more about ABLE accounts, please visit the
Internal Revenue Service’s website at www.irs.gov/
government-entities/federal-state-local-governments/
able-accounts-tax-benet-for-people-with-disabilities.
Please note: Social Security provides this section
as a courtesy to help notify you of ABLE accounts.
However, Social Security is not afliated with and does
not endorse any ABLE account provider or its services.
Other things you should know
How we will contact you
We generally mail a letter or notice when we want to contact
you, but sometimes a Social Security representative may
come to your home or call you. Our representative will show
identication to you before talking about your benets. If you
ever doubt someone who says they are from Social Security,
call the Social Security ofce to ask if someone was sent
to see you. If you receive a suspicious call from someone
alleging to be from Social Security, hang up, and then report
details of the call to the Ofce of the Inspector General
at 1-800-269-0271 or online at oig.ssa.gov/report. Our
employees will never ask you for money to have something
done. Helping you is our job.
Free Social Security services
Some businesses advertise that they can provide name
changes or Social Security cards for a fee. We provide all
of these services for free, so don’t pay for them. Call us or
visit our website rst.
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Online my Social Security account
You can easily set up a secure online my Social Security
account. You can use your personal my Social Security
account to request a benet verication letter, access your
Social Security Statement, check your earnings, and get
your benet estimates.
You can create your personal my Social Security
account if you’re age 18 or older, have an SSN and
a valid email address. To create an account, go to
www.ssa.gov/myaccount.
Social services
People who get SSI may also be able to receive social
services from the state where they live. These services
include free meals, housekeeping help, transportation, or
help with other problems.
You can get information about services in your area from
your state or local social services or welfare ofce.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP) benets
People who get SSI may be able to get help to buy food
through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP), formerly known as food stamps. If everyone in your
home is applying for or getting SSI, we will help you ll out
the SNAP application and send it to the SNAP ofce for you.
People who don’t live in a home where everyone is applying
for or getting SSI must take or send their applications to the
local SNAP ofce. To nd your local SNAP ofce or to apply
online, visit: www.fns.usda.gov/snap/state-directory. You
can also call the SNAP information line at 1-800-221-5689.
For more information, about SNAP, read Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Facts (Publication
No. 05-10101). For more information about other nutrition
assistance programs that may be available to you, read
Nutrition Assistance Programs (Publication No. 05-10100).
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A special note for people with Medicare
If you have low income and few resources, your state may
pay your Medicare premiums and, in some cases, other
Medicare expenses such as deductibles and coinsurance.
Only your state can decide if you are eligible. To nd
out if you are, contact your state Medical Assistance
(Medicaid) ofce.
“Extra Help” with Medicare prescription costs
If you have limited income and resources, you
may be eligible for Extra Help to pay for your
prescription drug costs under Medicare Part D. Our
responsibility is to help you understand how you
may be eligible and to process your application for
Extra Help. To see if you are eligible or to apply, visit
www.ssa.gov/medicare/part-d-extra-help. You can call
our toll-free number to apply over the phone or request an
application.
A special note for people who get SSI because
they’re blind
You can choose how you receive notices from us. Please
let us know which one you prefer:
• Standard print notice by rst-class mail.
• Standard print notice by certied mail.
• Standard print notice by rst-class mail and a follow-up
phone call.
• Braille notice and a standard print notice by rst-class mail.
• Microsoft Word le on a data compact disc (CD) and a
standard print notice by rst-class mail.
• Audio CD and a standard print notice by rst-class mail
• Large print (18-point size) notice and a standard print
notice by rst-class mail.
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To select or change the way you wish to receive
information from us:
• Go to your personal my Social Security account at
www.ssa.gov/myaccount.
• Call us toll-free at 1-800-772-1213, or at our TTY number,
1-800-325-0778, if you’re deaf or hard of hearing.
• Write, or visit, your local ofce.
If we’re unable to approve your request, we’ll send the reason
to you in writing and tell you how to appeal the decision. Visit
www.ssa.gov/people/blind for more information.
If you have a question about a Social Security notice,
you may call us toll-free at 1-800-772-1213 to ask for the
notice to be read or explained to you.
Protection of your personal information
You should keep your Social Security card in a safe place
with your other important papers. Don’t carry it with you
unless you need to show it to an employer or service
provider.
We keep personal and condential information — names,
SSNs, earnings records, ages, and beneciary addresses
— for millions of people. Generally, we’ll discuss your
information only with you. When you contact us, we’ll ask
you several questions to help us verify your identity. If
you want someone else to help with your Social Security
business, we need your permission to discuss your
information with that person.
We urge you to be careful with your SSN and to protect it
whenever possible.
We are committed to protecting the privacy of your records.
Sometimes we’re required by law to give information to
other government agencies that administer health or welfare
programs, such as Medicaid and SNAP. These agencies
aren’t allowed to share that information with anyone else.
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Contacting Us
The most convenient way to do business with us is to
visit www.ssa.gov to get information and use our online
services. There are several things you can do online:
apply for benets; start or complete your request for
an original or replacement Social Security card; get
useful information; nd publications; and get answers to
frequently asked questions.
When you open a personal my Social Security account,
you have more capabilities. You can review your Social
Security Statement, verify your earnings, and get
estimates of future benets. You can also print a benet
verication letter, change your direct deposit information
(Social Security beneciaries only), and get a replacement
SSA-1099/1042S. If you live outside the United States,
visit www.ssa.gov/foreign to access our online services.
If you don’t have access to the internet, we offer many
automated services by telephone, 24 hours a day, 7
days a week, so you may not need to speak with a
representative.
If you need to speak with someone, call us toll-free at
1-800-772-1213 or at our TTY number, 1-800-325-0778,
if you’re deaf or hard of hearing. A member of our staff
can answer your call from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday
through Friday. We provide free interpreter services upon
request. For quicker access to a representative, try calling
early in the day (between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. local time)
or later in the day. We are less busy later in the week
(Wednesday to Friday) and later in the month.
Social Security Administration | Publication No. 05-11011
March 2024 (Recycle prior editions)
What You Need to Know When You Get Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Produced and published at U.S. taxpayer expense
