I'm disabled and on S.S.I.. I turned 62 on feb.22. I had an appointment with S.S. on 02/15/21 at which time I was told that I would $411.00 from my benefits and $183.00 from my ex wife's benefits whom is still living for a total $594.00 and was told that S.S.I. would make up the difference to bring the amount up to the amount I've been getting from S.S.I of $780.00 and would remain on Medicaid. I received a letter yesterday from S.S. telling me that I would be receiving a check in march for $594.00 and that this is all I'm entitled to period. No mention of S.S.I. or Medicaid. Will S.S.I. automatically make up the difference from the $594.00 to $780.00 and they just failed to tell me or do I need to file for it? I'm having a hard time living on $780.00 a month, No Way can I live on $594.00. Please help and Thank You so much. Don

Hi Don. Your Social Security benefit rate isn't high enough to lower your Supplemental Security Income (SSI) rate to zero, so it sounds like you'll still qualify for SSI. Your SSI payments will be reduced by at least all but the first $20 of your total Social Security benefit rate, so between Social Security and SSI you'll likely end up with either the same total monthly income or perhaps as much as $20 more per month. The adjustment in your SSI payment amount will be automatic. You would only need to reapply for SSI benefits if your benefits were terminated for some reason.

The Social Security award notice you received just refers to Social Security benefits only, not SSI. The wording on the notice telling you that you aren't entitled to any other benefits just means that you aren't entitled to any other Social Security benefits. You should get a separate notice from SSI explaining the effect that your Social Security benefits will have on your SSI payments. Note, though, that I don't have access to your Social Security records, so you may want to give Social Security a call to ask them for confirmation.

Best, Jerry