Understanding Supplemental Security Income
Expedited Payments2008 Edition

We can start payments more quickly than usual in four different types of situations:

	presumptive disability or blindness payment;
	emergency advance payment;
	immediate payment; and
	expedited reinstatement cases.

  PRESUMPTIVE  DISABILITY  OR  BLINDNESS  PAYMENTS  

We may make presumptive disability or blindness payments available for up to six months, if you applied for SSI benefits because of a disability or blindness and are waiting for the Disability Determination Services (DDS) to make a final decision.

We will base the amount of these payments on your countable income. See our chapter on SSI INCOME for an explanation of countable income.

You may be eligible to receive SSI benefits right away on the basis of a presumptive disability or blindness determination if you have one or more of the following medical conditions:

	amputation of a leg at the hip;
	allegation of total deafness;
	allegation of total blindness;
	allegation of bed confinement or immobility without a wheelchair, walker, or crutches, allegedly due to a longstanding condition––excluding recent accident and recent surgery;
	allegation of cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, or muscular atrophy and marked difficulty in walking (e.g., use of braces), speaking, or coordination of the hands or arms;
	allegation of Down syndrome;
	an applicant filing on behalf of another individual alleges severe mental deficiency for claimant who is at least seven years of age;
	Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection;
	allegation of a stroke (cerebral vascular accident) more than three months in the past with continued, marked difficulty in walking or using a hand or arm;
	infants who weighed less than 1200 grams at birth, or less than 2000 grams at birth and they were "small for gestational age" (For example, they weigh at least two standard deviations below the mean, or below the third growth percentile, for gestational age.) and have not yet attained age one;
	allegation of inability to ambulate without the use of a walker or bilateral hand–held assistive devices more than two weeks following a spinal cord injury with confirmation of such status from an appropriate medical professional;
	a physician confirms by telephone or in a signed statement that an individual has a terminal illness with a life expectancy of 6 months or less OR a physician or knowledgeable hospice official confirms that an individual is receiving hospice services because of a terminal illness;
	end stage renal disease with ongoing dialysis, and the file contains a completed CMS–2728 End Stage Renal Disease Medical Evidence Report–Medicare Entitlement and/or Patient Registration;
	allegation of severe mental deficiency made by another individual filing on behalf of a claimant who is at least seven years of age; or
	allegation of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease).

If we are not able to make a presumptive disability or blindness determination, sometimes the DDS will make a presumptive disability or blindness determination based on one of the medical conditions listed above, or on the basis of another severe condition, if a final approval seems likely.

WHAT HAPPENS TO PRESUMPTIVE DISABILITY PAYMENTS IF WE LATER DENY YOUR SSI ELIGIBILITY?

We do not ask you to repay these presumptive disability payments, even if you are later found not to be disabled or blind. However, if you received an overpayment for other reasons, we may ask you to repay some of the presumptive disability payments.

  EMERGENCY  ADVANCE  PAYMENT  

We may be able to make an emergency advance payment to new applicants, who face a financial emergency and who are due SSI benefits that are delayed or not received. We can only pay one such advance payment.

The maximum emergency advance payment you may receive is the smaller of:

	the SSI Federal benefit rate (plus any federally administered State supplement);
	the total amount of the benefits due; or
	the amount requested for the financial emergency.

WHO CAN RECEIVE AN EMERGENCY ADVANCE PAYMENT?

People who are:

	due SSI benefits (including presumptive disability or blindness payments) that are delayed or not received; and
	facing a "financial emergency"––which means they need money right away due to a threat to health or safety, such as not enough money for food, clothing, shelter or medical care.

HOW DO WE RECOVER AN EMERGENCY ADVANCE PAYMENT?

We will subtract the emergency advance payment from the payments already due you and pay you the difference. If you are not due past payments, we will subtract the emergency advance payment from your current monthly benefits in up to six monthly installments.

  IMMEDIATE  PAYMENT  

We may be able to make an immediate payment to new applicants and those already receiving SSI benefits, whose benefits are delayed or not received and who face a "financial emergency". The immediate payment cannot be higher than $999.00.

WHO CAN RECEIVE AN IMMEDIATE PAYMENT?

People who:

	are initially applying for SSI benefits, or already receiving benefits; and
	are due SSI benefits (which may be presumptive disability or blindness payments) that are delayed or not received; and
	are facing a "financial emergency"––which means they need money right away due to a threat to health or safety, such as not enough money for food, clothing, shelter or medical care.

HOW DO WE RECOVER AN IMMEDIATE PAYMENT?

We will subtract the immediate payment from the first regular payment due you.

The decision to issue an immediate payment is up to us. You do not have formal appeal rights if we decide you are not eligible for any of these payments.

If your benefits ended because you worked and had earnings, you can request to have your benefits started again without having to complete a new application. We call this process expedited reinstatement.

You can request that your benefits start again if you:

	stopped receiving SSI benefits because of earnings from work;
	are unable to work or do substantial gainful activity because of an impairment(s) that is the same as or related to the impairment(s) that allowed you to get benefits earlier; and
	make the request within five years from the month your benefits ended.

If we approve your request for expedited reinstatement of your SSI benefits, your provisional (temporary) benefits will begin the month after your request. You may be eligible for Medicaid coverage.

We can give you provisional benefits for up to six months while we determine whether you can get benefits again. These benefits include Federal payments and Medicaid coverage.

If we decide that you cannot get benefits again, we usually will not ask you to repay the provisional benefits.