Payment calculations

If you are used to receiving your benefit check by paper check, you will soon be advised by SSA to sign up for either direct deposit into a bank account or for a debit card to receive your payment.  Because paper check processing costs over $1 per check vs. about 8 cents for an electronic deposit, SSA estimates it can save $1 billion over the next 10  years.

There are very few exceptions to SSA’s requirements for electronic deposits.  Elderly retirement recipients born before May 1, 1921 will continue to receive paper checks automatically and those without ready access to a bank can apply for a waiver, although SSA’s “800 number” system requires a waiver applicant to navigate through multiple levels of voice mail before it allows you to talk to a live person about a waiver.  In other words, SSA wants to make it very difficult for beneficiaries to continue to receive paper checks. [1. See article from GoErie.com website about waivers.]

There are obvioulsly many benefits to an electronic payment system aside from cost savings to SSA. In theory payment issuance should become more secure and payees can avoid the problems associated with stolen checks and theft of cash. [Read more…] about Paper Checks from Social Security Now a Thing of the Past

Social Security’s two disability programs use the same standard for determining disability but the rules for payments and back pay are completely different.  These rules are confusing and inconsistent and the best way to understand how they work is to look at each program separately the consider examples of how concurrent claims (claims involving both SSI and SSDI) work together.

The SSI Program

First, let’s look at the SSI program.  SSI, which stands for supplemental security income, is essentially a welfare program that pays benefits to claimants who do not have enough earnings to qualify for SSDI.  Unlike SSDI, which looks at what you have paid into the system from taxes to determine your monthly benefit, SSI benefits are set out by Congress.  For 2013, the most an SSI recipient can get is $710 per month.  For 2012, the amount was $698 and for 2011 the amount was $674.

SSI payments are also subject to a variety of offsets, meaning that your monthly benefit payment may be reduced if you are receiving other state or federal benefits, if you receive support from family members or even if you live with someone who is working and who earns more than a set amount. [Read more…] about How Does Social Security Calculate Back Pay for a Claimant Who is Approved for Both SSI and SSDI?