WSR 20-23-053
PERMANENT RULES
DEPARTMENT OF
SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES
(Economic Services Administration)
[Filed November 13, 2020, 11:46 a.m., effective January 1, 2021]
Effective Date of Rule: January 1, 2021.
Purpose: Amendments to WAC 388-478-0055 How much do I get from my state supplemental payments (SSP)?, decrease the monthly state supplemental payment (SSP) from $40.00 to $38.25 for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients who have an ineligible spouse, are age sixty-five or older, or are blind. This change is necessary to maintain the yearly total amount of state supplemental benefits spending at the same level each calendar year, without increase or decrease, as required by federal law (20 C.F.R. § 416.2095 through § 416.2099). The amendments also clarify the SSP rate paid to SSI recipients in medical institutions.
Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 388-478-0055.
Other Authority: 20 C.F.R. § 416.2095 through § 416.2099.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 20-19-118 on September 21, 2020.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: November 13, 2020.
Katherine I. Vasquez
Rules Coordinator
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 18-24-032, filed 11/28/18, effective 1/1/19)
WAC 388-478-0055How much do I get from my state supplemental payments (SSP)?
(1) The SSP is a payment from the state to certain SSI eligible people as described in WAC 388-474-0012.
(2) If you converted to the federal SSI program from state assistance in January 1974 because you were aged, blind, or disabled, and have remained continuously eligible for SSI since January 1974, the department calls you a grandfathered client. Social Security calls you a minimum income level (MIL) client.
A change in living situation, cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), or federal benefit rate (FBR) can affect a grandfathered MIL client. A grandfathered MIL client gets a federal SSI payment and a SSP payment, which totals the higher of one of the following:
(a) The state assistance standard set in December 1973, unless you lived in a medical institution at the time of conversion, plus the federal COLA since then; or
(b) The current payment standard.
(3) The monthly SSP rate standards for eligible persons under WAC 388-474-0012 and individuals residing in an institution are:
SSP eligible persons | Standard |
Individual (aged 65 and older) | (($40.00))$38.25 | |
Individual (blind as determined by SSA) | (($40.00))$38.25 | |
Individual with an ineligible spouse | (($40.00))$38.25 | |
Grandfathered (MIL) | Varies by individual based on federal requirements. Payments range between $0.54 and $199.77. |
Medical institution | Monthly SSP Rate |
Individual | $40.00 | |
(4) We may adjust the SSP rate standards at the end of the calendar year to comply with WAC 388-478-0057.
(5) The medical institution SSP rate is based on increasing the federal SSI personal needs allowance (PNA) up to the current Washington state institutional PNA standard described in WAC 182-513-1105. The state rate may be adjusted by the percentage of the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for old-age, survivors and disability social security recipients as published by the federal social security administration. This adjustment is subject to state legislative funding. The current PNA rule used in institutional apple health is located at https://www.hca.wa.gov/health-care-services-supports/program-standard-income-and-resources.