Son's SSI benefits fluctuating, all of a sudden

[porcelina68]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana

My 8 year old autistic son has been receiving SSI benefits since October of 2006. I work full time, and receive 26 paychecks per year. Every six months, there are 3 paydays in the month. On those months, historically, my son did not receive any benefits. In other words, for 10 months each year, my son receives the full benefit for SSI, which is $674 per month.

Last year, a new person "took over" his case. Ever since then, his payments are never right. There is only one variable - in 2009, my company began including quarterly bonuses in our regular paychecks, which are never more than $250-$300. I knew that I could expect changes for those months, but it seems like each month now, his payment is different.

She has asked me for my pension records (which are not payable to me until I am no longer working for my company), I have even gotten an overpayment notice, which I am still waiting on an answer from an appeal. She counts the credits that my company offsets my insurance premiums with as income, even though I do not get those as cash if I opt out of insurance.

Is there anything I can do about this? There were never any problems before she took over his case.

 

[Onderzoek]

It would be really nice for both you and the claims rep if the SSI rules allowed SSA to pay nice and neat SSI payments like you have been getting. Unfortunately, the rules don't allow for that.

SSI has computer matches that create alerts for the staff to resolve if the posted wages don't match the data provided by your employer to the state tax collector every quarter. If you have what is called a cafeteria plan from your employer and you can shop for benefits, some of that is taxable income and some is not. Only the taxable income is supposed to be considered income for SSI benefits. The claims rep has to first determine the gross income, then exclude the cafeteria plan exclusions so only the taxable gross is used in the computation. It has created what could have been a simple process to a complicated process. And upper management is looking at this closely. The prior claims rep was probably not doing their job properly because it was easier to not follow the complicated rules.

You also now have quarterly bonuses, so your income no longer is the same for 10 months, but 6 months. Add the computation method of Retrospective Monthly Accounting in which income from one month generally determines payment two months later (except for the common exceptions), and there is no wonder that your son's check changes every month.

Ask the claims rep about how to use Telephone Wage Reporting system. Not sure it will work for you, but it is worth a try.

 

[porcelina68]

I submit check stubs

I submit my check stubs each month, like I'm supposed to, and sometimes, it STILL comes back that she estimates my wages. I have had check stubs returned by her, with underlines under the income portion - which includes the non-taxable income credits for my insurance.

I sent her a letter from my HR the other day, stating that those credits are not taxable income. Hopefully, that will take care of it. If not, I will request an informal hearing, I guess, and spend half the day downtown.