SSI Expedited Payments

Posted January 19, 2018 by Premier Disability Services, LLC®

Expedited SSS Payments

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program provides monthly income to individuals who are low income and do not have the requisite working credits for Title II Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. The Social Security Administration (SSA) can start payments more quickly than usual in four different types of situations:

1.Presumptive Disability (PD) or Presumptive Blindness (PB) payments.
If your claim is for SSI benefits for disability or blindness, the SSA may make PD or PB payments for up to 6 months while you are waiting for the Disability Determination Services (DDS) to make a final decision. The decision to grant PD or PB payments is based on the severity of your condition and the likelihood that your claim will be ultimately approved, and is not based on your financial need. If you are later denied SSI benefits, you do not have to repay your PD or PB payments; however, if you received an overpayment for other reasons then you may be asked to repay some of the PD or PB payments.

2.Emergency Advance Payments.
The SSA may be able to make an emergency advance payment to new applicants who face a financial emergency (meaning you need money right away due to a threat to health or safety, such as not enough money for food, clothing, shelter or medical care) and who are due SSI benefits that are delayed or not received. The SSA can only pay one such advance payment. The maximum emergency advance payment you may receive is the smallest of: the SSI Federal benefit rate (plus any federally administered State supplement); the total amount of the benefits due; or the amount requested for the financial emergency. These payments are later recovered when the SSA subtracts your emergency advance from the payments already due to you. If you are not due past payments, the amount is subtracted form your current monthly benefits in up to 6 monthly installments.

3.Immediate Payments.
The SSA may be able to make an immediate payment to new applicants and those already receiving SSI whose benefits are delayed or not received and who face a financial emergency (see above). The immediate payment cannot be higher than $999.00. Immediate payments are entirely discretionary on the part of the SSA and you do not have formal appeal rights if the SSA determines you are not eligible for an immediate payment. Immediate payments are later subtracted from the first regular payment due to you.

4.Expedited Reinstatement cases.
If your benefits ended because you worked and had earnings, you can request to have your benefits started again without having to complete a new application. This process is called “expedited reinstatement”. You can request that your benefits start again if you: stopped receiving benefits because of earnings from work; are unable to engage in substantial gainful activity because of an impairment(s) that is the same as or related to the impairment(s) that allowed you to get benefits earlier; and make the request within 5 years from the month your benefits ended.

The SSA can give you provisional benefits for up to 6 months while they determine whether you can get benefits again. These benefits include Federal payments and Medicaid coverage. If the SSA decides that you cannot get benefits again, they usually will not ask you to repay the provisional benefits.

If you or someone you know is unable to work due to a medical condition, please contact us for a free evaluation of your claim!

Source: SSA.gov/ssi/text-expedite-ussi.htm

By: Joyce Trudeau of Premier Disability Services, LLC®