SSI User's Note

This note is applicable to the 1996 panel and all subsequent panels.

There is no way to distinguish between Federal SSI payment amounts and federally administered supplemental payments when a respondent reports receiving SSI payments from both the Federal and State government combined in one payment. As a result, both Federal SSI payments and federally administered supplemental payments are captured in general income code 3 (ER03A, ER03K, RCUTYP03, T03AMTA and T03MATK). When a respondent reports SSI payments from both the Federal and State government in separate payments, state administered supplemental payment amounts are captured in general income code 4 (ESTSSI, ER04, RCUTYP04 and T04AMT).

States decide whether to supplement Federal SSI benefits, as well as whether to pay SSA to determine eligibility and administer payments. Some states opt to have SSA administer some types of supplemental payments and not others. Because of this, the administration of supplemental payments varies across states. The table below provides a brief description of the different ways SSI is distributed.

Federal - All state supplements are included in the Federal SSI payment

Dual - Some state supplements are included in the Federal SSI payment and some state supplements are paid separately by a state or local agency

State - All state supplements are paid separately by a state or local agency

None - In states with no supplements no administration is necessary