Resource Limits in the SSI Program

 As a program based on need, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) uses the value of a person's resources as one of two “need” criteria in determining eligibility. (The other need criterion is income.)  Resources are cash and other property, including personal property and real property, that an individual owns or has the right to convert to cash.

To be eligible for SSI, an individual’s countable resources must not exceed $2,000 as of the first moment of a given month.  For an eligible couple (two SSI recipients considered to be married to each other) the combined countable resources of the members must not exceed $3,000.  If countable resources are above the limit as of the first of the month, the individual (or couple) is not due an SSI payment or associated Medicaid coverage for that month.

 

Not everything that an individual owns meets the SSI definition of a resource and not all resources count against the statutory limit. Below is a partial list of some types of resources that are excluded under the SSI program. 

 

·         Household goods and personal effects,
·         Medical devices and adaptive equipment,
·         The home in which the beneficiary lives,
·         One automobile per household,
·         Burial funds up to a certain value
·         Student financial assistance received under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA), including Pell grants and Work-Study grants,
·         Some trusts.