When an eligible individual and an eligible spouse are living together (or separated
less than six months and have the same living arrangement) they are treated as a single
unit for the purpose of computing the payment amount. Consider all the income received
by the unit in a calendar quarter to find the countable income. Subtract the countable
income from the FBR due that unit for that quarter. It is immaterial that income is
received by only one member of the unit or that it is used by only one member of the
unit. The computation steps are the same as for a quarterly computation for an individual,
but with the additional step of dividing the monthly amount due the couple in half
to determine the amount due each member.
NOTE: If an eligible couple completes its six-month separation period during a quarter
see SI 02009.025. If one member of the eligible couple is living in the household of another throughout
one or more months in the quarter see SI 02009.030. If one member of the couple is in a medical treatment' facility throughout one or
more months in the quarter and Medicaid is paying over 50 percent of the cost of care,
see SI 02009.035. If the monthly payment amount results in a fraction of a cent, see SI 02009.005 for rounding. If one member of the couple becomes eligible later than the other member,
see SI 02009.025 for the division of the payments due the couple.
Example:
Virginia and Peter Carroll are an eligible couple. They applied for SSI payments on
January 2, 1981. Virginia has earned income of $100 per month. Peter will have earned
income only in the month of January in the amount of $195. In addition, they each
receive a social security benefit of $110 per month. Compute their payment for the
first quarter of 1981 as follows:
$1071.00
|
Quarterly FBR
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$ 750.00
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Countable income (3 x $110 = $330; 3 x $110 = $330; $660 –
|
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60 = $600 countable unearned income; $195 + (3 x $100) = $495 - $195 = $300/ 2 = $150
countable earned income)
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$ 321.00
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Quarterly payment amount
|
|
|
$321.00/3
|
|
$107.00
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Monthly payment amount to the couple
|
$ 53.50
|
Monthly payment amount to each member
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