(1) SSI is a federal cash benefit program administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) under Title XVI of the Social Security Act.

(2) You can get SSI if you have limited income and resources and if you are:

(a) Aged (sixty-five and older);

(b) Blind; or

(c) Disabled.

(3) The SSI program replaced state programs for aged, blind and disabled persons beginning in January 1974. If you received state assistance in December 1973 and you became eligible for SSI in January 1974, you are called a grandfathered client by the state and a mandatory income level (MIL) client by SSI. You must continue to meet the definition of blind or disabled that was in effect under the state plan in December 1973. These definitions can be found in the SSA program operations manual system (POMS), see http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf.

(4) If you are needed in the home to care for an eligible person, you are called an essential person. You are also called a grandfathered client.

(5) If you are an essential person you must have lived continuously with the eligible person since January 1974.

(6) If you are an SSI recipient and you have a spouse who does not qualify for SSI in their own right, you may be eligible for a state supplemental payment for your spouse (also referred to as an ineligible spouse).