Economic Stimulus Payments Not Counted as Income for
SSI or Part D Help
A person whose sole source of income is SSI is not
eligible to receive a stimulus payment
By ElderLawAnswers.com
March
24, 2008 - The special economic stimulus payments authorized by Congress
in February will not affect the benefits of persons receiving
Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Food Stamps, the Medicare Part D Low
Income Subsidy or other federal benefits.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has issued
instructions explaining that the stimulus payments, amounting to as much
as $600 for individuals and scheduled to be sent to tax filers over the
next several months, do not count as income in determining SSI
eligibility and will not count as a resource for two months following
the month in which they are received. SSA has also said that the same is
the case for those benefiting from the Low Income Subsidy for the
Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit.
A person whose sole source of income is SSI is not
eligible to receive a stimulus payment, but many SSI recipients who have
at least $3,000 in other annual income, such as Social Security
benefits, are eligible to receive the payments. However, as we
previously noted, an income tax return must be filed in order to
receive a stimulus payment.
Deceased Spouses Also Eligible
Individuals who died in 2007 or 2008 are also
eligible for stimulus payments if they earned at least $3,000 in 2007.
The surviving spouse or personal representative must file a tax return
and the stimulus payment can be made payable to the surviving spouse.
For an earlier ElderLawAnswers article on the
stimulus payments,
click here.
