Frequently Asked Questions

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) helps people with low income and limited resources who also have a disability, are blind, or are over 65. If you qualify, SSI gives you a monthly cash payment to help pay for basic needs, and you also get NC Medicaid health coverage. A single person can get up to $967 per month in benefits. Learn more about SSI.

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) gives cash benefits to people with disabilities who have low income and low resources. You do not need to have worked in the past to get SSI. Learn more about SSI.
• Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) gives cash benefits to people with disabilities who worked in the past. Learn more about SSDI.

Both programs are run by the Social Security Administration (SSA), and some people get both SSI and SSDI at the same time. If you get benefits from Social Security, but aren’t sure which ones you get, open a free my Social Security account or order a free Benefits Planning Query (BPQY) at your local Social Security office or by calling 1-800-772-1213 or 1-800-325-0778 (TTY).

If you have questions about Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and need to talk with somebody, call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or 1-800-325-0778 (TTY) or visit your local Social Security office.

If you want to ask about how work might affect your SSI benefits, call the Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842 or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY). Depending on where you live in North Carolina, they can refer you to free benefits planning services from:

• Employment and Independence for People with Disabilities (EIPD) at 1-800-689-9090, or
  
• Employment Source, at 1-910-401-5495.

To qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, you must:

• Be a U.S. citizen or qualified alien
• Have a disability that meets Social Security’s standards or be 65 years old or older, and
• Have low resources and low income.

Learn more about SSI.

Even if you have never had a job you can get cash benefits from Supplemental Security Income (SSI) as long as you have low income and limited resources, and also have a disability, are blind, or are over 65. SSI gives you monthly cash payments to help pay for basic needs. A single person can get up to $967 per month in SSI benefits. Learn more about SSI.

For your disability to meet the Social Security adult disability standards:

• You must be able to show medical reports that confirm that you have a severe physical or mental disability.
• The disability must be life-threatening or have lasted or be expected to last at least a year.
• The disability must prevent you from doing Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) for at least a year.

Learn more about how Social Security decides whether you have a disability.

To get Supplemental Security Income (SSI) monthly benefits, you cannot have more than $2,000 in resources ($3,000 for couples). Resources include money you have and property you own. The home you live in and one vehicle are not included in those limits. Certain other resources are also not included.

If your disability began before you turned 26, you can open an ABLE account where over time you can save up to $100,000 in resources and not have them counted by SSI. Learn more about ABLE accounts.

You can apply for Supplemental Security Income (SSI):

• Online (which starts the application process immediately)
• By calling Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or 1-800-325-0778 (TTY) to make an appointment to apply either:
  • Over the phone, or
  • In person at your local Social Security office.

Note: If you are approved, you get SSI benefits for the entire time since the date you applied, so apply as soon as possible. If you don’t have everything ready for your application, you can still apply and send any missing information as soon as possible.

The SSI application process can take four months or longer. If you’re approved, Social Security will pay you for benefits going all the way back to the date you applied. That’s why it is important to apply as soon as you can.

Yes. Your Department of Social Services (DSS) office may be able to help you get FNS (Food Stamps), NC Medicaid health coverage, Work First (WF), and emergency cash and housing assistance, if you need them. You can also apply for these programs online with North Carolina ePASS.

Yes. If you feel that Social Security’s decision is incorrect, you can appeal:

• File your appeal quickly. After you get a denial letter, you have 60 days to file an appeal. If you don’t appeal within 60 days, you may not be able to appeal.
  • If you were already on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and are appealing a change in your benefits amount or an overpayment notice, appeal within 10 days. If you do, you might keep getting your original SSI benefits amount until Social Security makes a decision about your appeal.
  • Note: Social Security figures that you get a letter within five days after they sent it.
• You can file your appeal online or call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or 1-800-325-0778 (TTY) and ask them to send you an SSI appeal form. If you file online, you need to mail or deliver any new information about your situation to Social Security.
• You have the right to have a lawyer or other qualified person (who is familiar with you and with the SSI program) represent you during the appeal process. Or you may choose to deal with it yourself.

Note: If your application for SSI benefits is denied and you disagree with the decision, file an appeal. Do not just fill out the application forms again — that would be refiling. If you appeal and win, your benefits will be paid back to your original application date. If you refile, Social Security will start all over and you will not get any past benefits you might have gotten.

Learn more about appeals.

To find a lawyer or other representative who can help with your appeal, contact Disability Rights North Carolina or the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR).

You can keep getting Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits as long as you have a disability and meet the income, resource, and other requirements.

From time to time, Social Security checks to make sure you still qualify. A medical Continuing Disability Review (CDR) checks if you are still medically disabled. A redetermination looks at your income, resources, and living arrangements.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) will look at your income when they decide whether you qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and, if so, how much you should get in SSI benefits.

Your sources of income can include:

• Earned income, which is money you get from work you do, including salaries, wages, tips, bonuses, professional fees, or other amounts you get in exchange for work.
• Unearned income, which is anything else, including Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), short or long-term disability insurance; VA benefits; workers’ compensation; and income, dividends, or profits from a trust or investment.

When they look at your income, Social Security will calculate that you should be spending some of it on your basic needs. The part of your monthly income that SSI expects you to spend on basic needs is called your countable income. The more countable income you have, the less you get in SSI benefits.

Social Security doesn’t count all of your income. For example, they will only count half or less of your earned income. That means that you could be earning quite a bit and still have countable income below the limit.

The bottom line: You usually end up with more money if you work while you are getting SSI benefits.

Learn more about how Social Security counts your income.

Special Assistance is a North Carolina program for people who need extra care due to their disabilities. It helps pay for the costs of a residential facility, or for expenses that let you live in your own home instead of a residential facility. And, since Special Assistance has a higher countable income limit than SSI, you might get Special Assistance even if you don't get SSI.

To qualify for Special Assistance, you must need a high level of care. You may qualify if:

• You live in a residential facility approved by the Department of Social Services (DSS), like an adult care home, assisted living, family care home, mental health group home, or other type of group home; or
  
• You live in your own home or apartment and get in-home services from care providers that help you stay at home instead of moving into a residential facility.
  

With Special Assistance, you can get up to $462 per month in Special Assistance benefits, in addition to the up to $967 you get in SSI. However, you don't keep all this money:

• If you live in a residential facility, all of your SSI and Special Assistance are used to pay the facility, except for a $70 personal needs allowance, which you can spend on other things you need or want.
• If you live in your own home, you use your SSI and Special Assistance to pay for things that let you keep living in your own home instead of a facility: things like rent, personal assistance services, and food.

If you have other income, you get a lower combined amount of SSI and Special Assistance benefits, so Special Assistance doesn't cover all your rent and care, and you have to use some of your other income to help pay for them. But only about half of earned income is countable for the SSI and Special Assistance programs, so if you work, you'll always have more money after you pay for rent and care services to spend on stuff you want.

Note: People who need care for Alzheimer's or dementia can get up to $846 in Special Assistance (including the $70 personal needs allowance) along with up to $967 in SSI.

Get more information about Special Assistance or contact your local Department of Social Services (DSS) office.

If you live in a medical facility, such as a hospital or nursing home, you probably can’t get full Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits:

• If NC Medicaid pays for more than half the cost of your care in the facility, the most you can get in SSI benefits is $30 per month.
• If NC Medicaid does not pay for more than half of your care in the facility, you cannot get any SSI benefits.
• If your doctor says you will be in the facility for less than 90 days and you can show that you need your SSI benefits to keep your home or living arrangement, you may continue to get your full SSI benefits.
  • Note: If you’re expecting to stay for less than 90 days, you need to get the doctor’s note and documentation about your need to Social Security right away. The facility’s admissions office can help you.

If your earned income, unearned income, marital status, or living arrangements change, even slightly, you must report the change to Social Security at the start of the month after the change. You can report:

• In person, by phone, or by fax during the first 10 days of the next month.
• Using the SSI Telephone Reporting System, the SSI reporting app, or my Social Security during the first 6 days of the next month.

If you think an SSI overpayment wasn’t your fault and you can’t pay it back because you need the money to pay for living expenses, you can ask for a waiver of the overpayment. To get the waiver form, call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or 1-800-325-0778 (TTY) and ask for Form SSA-632. If the waiver is granted, you won’t have to repay the overpayment.

If you think the amount of your overpayment is incorrect or that you do not have any overpayment, you have the right to appeal. If you appeal within 10 days of the date the notice was sent, your benefits may continue until Social Security decides on the appeal. Learn more about appeals.

To find a lawyer or other representative who can help with your appeal, contact Disability Rights North Carolina or the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR).

Roughly speaking, for every dollar you earn at work, your Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits amount only goes down by fifty cents. That’s why most people on SSI who go back to work end up better off. Learn more about how Social Security counts your earned income.

If you get Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, you automatically qualify for NC Medicaid health coverage. If you go back to work, you can usually keep NC Medicaid even if your earnings cause your SSI benefits amount to go down to zero.

Depending on your income and resource levels, NC Medicaid coverage can continue either through SSI’s 1619(b) rule or through Health Coverage for Workers with Disabilities (HCWD).

If you lose your NC Medicaid coverage, there should be another health coverage option you can get, such as employer-sponsored coverage or private individual coverage. And, if you can’t afford the individual coverage, the government may help you pay for it through tax credits.

The bottom line: There is a coverage option for almost everybody. Do not worry that getting a job will leave you without health coverage.

If you stop getting Supplemental Security Income (SSI) because you have a job, but then you lose your job and your income goes down, you may not have to reapply for SSI benefits.

If it has been less than 12 months since your last SSI payment, you can get your SSI benefits started up again by reporting to your local Social Security office that you are no longer working.

If it’s been more than 12 months, you can ask for Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) if:

• Your SSI benefits amount went down to zero because of your income
• You can’t work at the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) level because of your disability
• Your current medical impairment is the same as the one that originally made you eligible for SSI, and
• You stopped getting SSI benefits less than five years ago.

If you get EXR, you can get up to six months of temporary SSI benefits while Social Security checks to make sure you still qualify for the program.