Bobby gets around $8,000 per year, so that makes roughly $13,000 for both of us, and the poverty level for 2 people is over $16,000; so even counting both of us, we are under the FPL amount. Bobby applied for SSI benefits also because the VA sent him a letter and said he should qualify for extra SS benefits. The Social Security lady said he could get up to $25 per month increase, if he qualified, which he didn’t; so he got the same letter as i did that stated he also had too much income. We had no idea we were so rich !
I would follow up on that...at least once...doesn't seem right to me. Do you count what you get before of after Medicare is taken out...part B? I get about $16,488 a year in widows benefits but that's before they take out the $125 for part B. Here I'm eligible for a 20% discount on my PG&E bill. Also my supplemental is free but Ive not tried for anything else so don't know.
We have Medicaid because we are low-income, so we do not have a Medicare Part B. We have a Medicare Advantage plan that goes along with Medicaid. There are still co-pays, but I think that they are probably lower, too. It would not do me any good to follow up with SS because they have stated that I have too much income to qualify, and I don’t want to lose my medical benefits by trying to appeal. I need the heart meds, and the doctor visits, so it is better just to take what little I have and not fuss about it, I think. We have an organization here called TARCOG, which is the regional agency for aging, and it might be that they would let me talk to an attorney that does SSI benefits, and see if he says I should appeal or not. I am going to look into at least asking them for help, and see what they say.
Hopefully TARCOG can help and yes, I agree...you do not want to lose the benefits you do have. Still...it sucks and doesn't seem right to me. Both of us are lucky with our daughter's helping and to be honest with the prices in California I'd be homeless even with the money I get. I was looking at studio appts for rent in CA and I couldn't afford any. Maybe get on a long waiting list for low income housing.
Yes, but it doesn’t really say much except that my income was too much for me to qualify for SSI help. I can appeal but I am afraid to, because if they think my income is too high for SSI, I might lose my medical benefits, too.
It amazes me that some folk can get assistance, yet other can not. The whole thing is fraud to me. Just like their so call increase in SS...seriously , why bother to tell us about increase, when the medicare is also increased. Every friggin penny to be sucked out of you.
https://www.benefitscheckup.org/ This website may be able to help tell you what assistance is available in your State and zip code area.
Well we got a $13 raise on my husband's SS check for 2018. That won't even cover the excess on the electric bill with all this cold weather we're having. But then again...something is better than nothing.
Actually, we both may have gotten more than the $13 raise since we were paying $120 something for our Medicare before and now we are paying I think $134....so I guess they took the rest of our raise and applied it to our Medicare payments...and then gave us the $13 that was left.
Reading that the projected COLA for Social Security 2019, will be about 2.8 %. We might actually see an increase in our checks because Part B Medicare will only increase by $1.50 per month, up to $135.50 Last year it was a $25.00 per month increase. Every little bit helps. Both my Military Retirement and VA Disability checks are also tied to this percentage. Guess we will see where it finally lands on October 11, 2018.