APD > SSA Announces Economic Recovery Payments

The federal Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced a one-time $250 payment to go to Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients beginning in May 2009. No action is required to receive the payment, which will be sent separately from the individual's regular monthly SSA/SSI check. If the individual has a representative payee, this one-time payment will go directly to the representative payee of record.

In order to receive the payment, individuals must be eligible for Social Security or SSI during the months of November 2008, December 2008, or January 2009. Adults and children who receive SSI will receive the payment. However, Social Security recipients must be over 18 to receive the payment. People receiving Social Security or SSI should not contact the SSA unless a payment is not received by June 4, 2009.

In most cases, the following groups of individuals will not receive the one-time payment:

Individuals whose benefits have been suspended for giving false or misleading statements
Social security recipients who are minor children
SSI recipients who receive $30 per month reduced benefit and reside in a nursing home, hospital, medical treatment facility, or intermediate care facility for developmental disabilities (ICF/DD) because Medicaid pays over 50 percent of the cost of care
Individuals who receive Medicare only
Prisoners, probation violators, and parole violators

According to the Social Security Administration, the one-time payment will not count as income or a resource for SSI in the month it is received or for the following nine months. If the payment has not been spent after the ninth month, it will be counted as a resource as of the next month and could affect eligibility for SSI.

For more information about the one-time payment, visit www.socialsecurity.gov or contact the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213. For questions pertaining to Floridians with developmental disabilities, contact Terri McGarrity, Agency for Persons with Disabilities, at (850) 414-7452.