Social Security Region 4
Good news! One of the tasks of our Florida Bar Elder Law Section’s Special Needs Committee which I co-chaired this year, was to petition the Social Security Administration to change the Atlanta Regional POMS on Trusts. Specifically, we wanted recognition that the Doctrine of Worthier Title no longer applied in
The four major programs fall nicely into a Matrix: the two columns are the monthly SSA payments (either RIB/DIB or SSI) which trigger the two major medical programs, Medicare and Medicaid. The two rows indicate which two programs are insurance-based (RIB/DIB and Medicare) and which two are welfare programs with monthly means-testing for income
If you’ve ever wondered how the Social Security Administration decides whether a person is disabled, look here.
If you’ve wondered what are the steps to get disability, look here, and note the length of time between each step.
If you’re absolutely bewildered by the length of time it takes to get a hearing
On May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages. The ruling took effect on June 17, 2008. On June 6th, the Social Security Administration issued EM-08061, an Emergency Message telling the 61,000 member staff to "wait for instructions" before answering any questions about the effect of the ruling on certain Social Security benefits
The first week of July, we will be presenting a "webinar" (an Internet Seminar) for members of the Academy of Special Needs Planners on the POMS and how to use them. "POMS" is an acronym for the "Program Operations Manual System," the Social Security Administration’s staff manual for its 61,000 employees. In preparation for the
…at least for a couple of months.
The general rule for SSI financial eligibility is that an item of income received, is "income in the month received, and becomes a resource (asset) on the first of the following month" if still retained by the disabled or elderly SSI recipient.
However, EM-08029, an Emergency Message
It won’t come up often, but will certainly help in certain situations. The general rule is that eligibility for SSI disability payments, and SSI-related Medicaid, for minor children depends on the income and assets of the parents, which are "deemed" to be available to the child. "Parents" include "step-parents." But only the income and assets
Our 18 page booklet, titled "What every personal injury attorney needs to know about SSI, Medicaid and Special Needs Trusts" in Question and Answer format, has been revised to include the latest 2008 federal benefit figures, and developments in Social Security and Florida Medicaid law.