SSI Eligibility

• To qualify for Social Security Income benefits, you must have been lawfully living in the United States on August 22, 1996 and be blind or disabled, and you, your parents or spouse must have a total of 40 work credits. Income limits vary by state but in all states the following does not count when calculating income eligibility: the first $20 of most income you earn; the first $65 of wages you earned from working and half of what you earned over $65; food stamps; shelter provided by a non-profit; and most home energy assistance. Resources are also considered, excluding the home you live in and the land it sits on, life insurance policies under $1,500, burial plots and funds for burial up to $1,500.
  
  

CPI

• The Consumer Price Index is the average of the change in prices consumers pay for a basket of consumer goods and services. There are two groups of people whose spending is tracked--all urban consumers and consumers who attribute more than one-half of their income to clerical or wage occupations. The CPI-W, the index used for SSI COLA raises, represents approximately 32 percent of the U.S. population.
  
  

COLA

• COLA is an automatic cost-of-living adjustment to SSI benefits paid to beneficiaries. Its purpose is to ensure that beneficiaries can maintain sufficient purchasing power. Each year, the CPI-W from the third quarter of the last year a COLA was applied, is compared to the CPI-W of the third quarter in the current year. If the CPI-W has increased, a COLA will be applied to your SSI benefits, and you will receive a raise.
  
  

COLA 2011

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics has determined that the last COLA increase for SSI was in 2008. From the third quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2010, there has been no increase in the CPI-W and therefore there is no COLA increase due for beneficiaries of SSI in 2011. The maximum monthly payment to SSI recipients in 2011 is $674 for single recipients and $1,011 for couples. Check with your state to see if you are entitled to additional benefits from the state SSI program.