Here is the short answer: if you are hospitalized in a medical treatment facility for 30 days, your SSI benefits may be cut to $30 per month.

Now, here is the long answer:

You are not eligible for SSI benefits for any month throughout which you are a resident of a “public institution.” A “public institution” means an institution that is operated by or controlled by the Federal government, a State, or a political subdivision of a State such as a city or county.

As a side note, if you apply for SSI while you are a resident of a public institution, you cannot be eligible for payment of benefits (even though you meet all other eligibility requirements) until the “first day of the month following the day of your release from the institution.”

Basically, your benefits will not start until the month after your release. If you were released on January 1st, your benefits would start February 1st. If you are released January 31st, your benefits still start on February 1st. The first day of the month following the day of your release from the institution.

However, this does not include a publicly operated community residence which serves 16 or fewer residents. What is a community residence?

To be a community residence, a facility must provide food and shelter. In addition, it must make available some other services. For example, the other services could be-

(i) Social services;
(ii) Help with personal living activities;
(iii) Training in socialization and life skills; or
(iv) Providing occasional or incidental medical or remedial care.

Serving no more than 16 residents. A community residence serves no more than 16 residents if-

(i) It is designed and planned to serve no more than 16 residents, or the design and plan were changed to serve no more than 16 residents; and
(ii) It is in fact serving 16 or fewer residents.

Publicly operated. A community residence is publicly operated if it is operated or controlled by the Federal government, a State, or a political subdivision of a State such as a city or county.

Facilities which are not a publicly operated community residence. If you live in any of the following facilities, you are not a resident of a publicly operated community residence:

(i) A residential facility which is on the grounds of or next to a large institution or multipurpose complex;
(ii) An educational or vocational training institution whose main function is to provide an approved, accredited, or recognized program to some or all of those who live there;
(iii) A jail or other facility where the personal freedom of anyone who lives there is restricted because that person is a prisoner, is being held under court order, or is being held until charges against that person are disposed of; or
(iv) A medical treatment facility (defined in §416.201).

Citations:

• 20 CFR §416.201 General definitions and terms used in this subpart.
• 20 CFR §416.211 You are a resident of a public institution.
• 20 CFR §416.212 Continuation of full benefits in certain cases of medical confinement.
• 20 CFR §416.414 Amount of benefits; eligible individual or eligible couple in a medical treatment facility.

You, or your child, are on Social Security, when out of the blue, you get a letter:

Your benefits will cease as of …

or

An overpayment was detected due to your failure to notify Social Security of your spouse’s income …

or

Since turning 18 years of age, we have determined that you are no longer disabled under our rules …

You may be thinking, “this is clearly a mistake;” “I go in every year with my spouse’s paystubs;” or “nothing has changed in my condition.”

So, you call Social Security to clear this up. Maybe you make an appointment to go in. Maybe you speak to an understanding soul who says it is all a mistake. You think to yourself:

The letter said I could appeal, but I don’t need to do that, I will just get it cleared up.

Watch out!

There is almost certainly a clock running.

In many circumstances, Social Security gives you 60 days to file your appeal after your receive a notice from them (Social Security assumes you recieve the notice 5 days after the notice’s date).

In some circumstances, you only have 30 days to appeal; and you only have 10 days to request the benefits continue during an you appeal if Social Security plans on stopping your benefits.

Ok, so there is a deadline. Who cares? I am just going to get this taken care of.

There is nothing wrong with trying to resolve a problem with Social Security informally. In fact, it is almost certain that if you are able to resolve the issue informally, this will be a lot faster that getting pursuing an appeal.

Here is the catch, if you do not resolve the problem before the appeal deadline, unless you qualify for an exception, you lose the right to challenge Social Security’s action through an appeal.

Sixty days may seem like a lot of time to get your problem solved, but it can quickly slip away:

• You schedule an appointment, but when you arrive at Social Security, they do not have you down for the appointment, or the person is running behind and cannot see you, or has left for the day, or is on vacation. You schedule another appointment, but there is another reason why you cannot be seen.
• You speak with Person A at Social Security who is very understanding and genuinely wants to help you. However, weeks pass and you hear nothing from Social Security. You call, but you cannot reach Person A. You leave messages, but you never get called back. You call again and speak to Person B. Person B cannot find any record of your conversation with Person A and is unwilling to do what Person A promised.

I have seen too many cases where an individual was “strung along” by Social Security until the deadline passed and the appeal window closed.

I do not think Social Security is intentionally trying to string you along, mislead you, or take away your appeal rights. The vast majority of people working at Social Security are honestly trying their best. But, Social Security is greatly over-worked, under-staffed, and under-funded.

Delays happen, misunderstandings occur, instructions can be miscommunicated, misdirected, or simply buried under a pile of other tasks. All the while, tick-tock, the appeal deadline rapidly approaches.

So, here is what it all boils down to:

1. You can try to resolve your problem with Social Security informally, but always remember the deadline to file a formal appeal. If it turns out that you do have to file a formal appeal, make sure you get a receipt!
2. No matter what anyone at Social Security tells you or promises you, it is not a done deal until you have it in writing. If you are told that the problem will be fixed and you will receive a letter “shortly.” Ask for a date that you should receive it by, and the direct extension number to the person you are working with. Make sure the date is before the deadline. If you do not receive the letter by the time promised, contact the Social Security worker immediately.
3. If you cannot get written confirmation that the problem will be resolved, file the appeal.

Pursue every avenue you can to resolve a problem, but keep the appeal deadline in mind. The appeal is the only way to preserve your rights if you cannot resolve the problem informally with Social Security.

A child may be entitled to receive Social Security child’s benefits if a parent dies. These are called survivor’s benefits.  

However, under Social Security Regulations (20 CFR 404.352), the entitlement to child’s benefits may end for any of the following reasons.

1. You turn 18 years old and are not disabled or a full time student. Benefits end the month before the month in which you became 18 years old. Why does Social Security has to say, “the month before the month” rather than 2 months before? I have no idea.
2. You are 18 (or older) and your disability ends. Benefits end with the second month following the month in which the disability ends. Exception: your benefits may be continued after your impairment is no longer disabling if you are participating in a program of vocational rehabilitation services, employment services, or other support services and you meet other requirements described at the bottom of this page.
3. You turn 19 and are not disabled. If you have not yet gotten your diploma or certificate, benefits can be paid until the last month of the semester or quarter in which you turned 19. Actually, Social Security’s language is even more hairy. The regulation says the entitlement ends, “With the last month you are a full-time student or, if earlier, with the month before the month you become age 19, if you become 18 years old and you qualify as a full-time student who is not disabled. If you become age 19 in a month in which you have not completed the requirements for, or received, a diploma or equivalent certificate from an elementary or secondary school and you are required to enroll for each quarter or semester, we will find your entitlement ended with the month in which the quarter or semester in which you are enrolled ends. If the school you are attending does not have a quarter or semester system which requires reenrollment, we will find your entitlement to benefits ended with the month you complete the course or, if earlier, the first day of the third month following the month in which you become 19 years old.” Got all that?!
4. You are married. Benefits end “the month before the month” you marry. Exception: your benefits will not end if you are age 18 or older, disabled, and you marry a person entitled to child’s benefits based on disability or a person entitled to old-age, divorced wife’s, divorced husband’s, widow’s, widower’s, mother’s, father’s, parent’s, or disability benefits.
5. [omited - this reason for stopping benefits deals with cases of entitlement to child's benefits not when a parent is dead, but when a parent is alive and receiving either old-age or disability benefits. Since this article only deals with why child's benefits paid because of a death of a parent may terminate, this reason is beyond the scope of this article.]
6. If you die.

If you were disabled, but your impairment is no longer disabling, your benefits may be continued if you meet the following requirements. Note: I am quoting directly from the regulations here.

1. “You are participating in an appropriate program of vocational rehabilitation services, employment services, or other support services, as described in §404.327(a) and (b);
2. “You began participating in the program before the date your disability ended; and
3. “Social Security has determined under §404.328 that your completion of the program, or your continuation in the program for a specified period of time, will increase the likelihood that you will not have to return to the disability benefit rolls.”

If you qualify to continue to receive child’s benefits after your disability ends (as described above), Social Security may continue to pay your benefits until—

1. “The month in which you complete the program; or
2. “The month in which you stop participating in the program for any reason (see §404.327(b)); or
3. “The month in which Social Security determines under §404.328 that your continuing participation in the program will no longer increase the likelihood that you will not have to return to the disability benefit rolls.”

If you are 18 years old or over and disabled, and drug addiction or alcoholism is a material factor in the determination of your disability, there are special rules which may terminate your eligibility for child’s benefits. See §404.352(c).

Updated 04/30/09.

If a parent dies, the surviving spouse may be eligible for benefits if he or she is caring for a the deceased’s child and the child is under 16 years old or disabled. These are called Mother’s and Father’s benefits.  See 20 CFR Section 404.339 for more information.

Mother’s and Father’s benefits are separate from the survivor’s benefits the child may be entitled to due to the death of a parent. This is a little known subset of Social Security benefits.

There are a number of ways these benefits may stop:

1. You remarry. The exception to this is if you remarry someone entitled to old-age, disability, wife’s, husband’s, widow’s, widower’s, father’s, mother’s, parent’s or disabled child’s benefits. See. 20 CFR 404.341.
2. The child turns 16 (if the child is not disabled).
3. The child is 16 or older and Social Security decides that the child is no longer disabled (you do not actively supervise his or her activities and you do not make important decisions about is or her needs; or, it is not necessary for you to perform personal services for him or her such as dressing, feeding, and managing money that the child cannor do alone because of a disability). See 20 CFR 404.348.
4. The child is no longer in your care. See 20 CFR 404.349.

For more information see 20 CFR 404.339.

I thought children could get benefits until age 18 or 19?

Yes, that is true.  Children’s benefits due to a death of a parent continue until age 18 or 19 (depending on whether the child is in school).  However, mother’s or father’s benefits may end when the child turns 16. See 20 CFR 404.350

This also means that while the mother’s or father’s benefits may have ended, the child may still be eligible for children’s benefits for a few more years.

Updated 04/30/09.