Deeming

A child under the age of 18 with a disability may not be eligible for SSI due to deemed income from the parent (s). Social Security considers some of the parent’s income and resources to be available to the child because they are living in the same household. Depending on how much is deemed, this could affect whether or not the child can get SSI benefits and how much. This process of determining how much income and resources will be used by the child is called deeming.

It is possible to use deemed income to fund a PASS for a child and thereby allowing him/her access to SSI and Medicaid. If a child is at least 16 years of age and has an educational or occupational goal, the PASS might be a great way to assist in reaching that goal. The deemed income is counted as a form of unearned income by Social Security when they are determining SSI eligibility and
monthly payment amounts. The calculation below shows how a PASS could be beneficial; assuming the parent’s resources are below $2000 and the child does not have any other wages at the time of application. In this example we have a single ineligible parent with one child, a monthly income of $3000.00 and no unearned income:

	Deeming with no PASS	Deeming with a PASS
Parent gross monthly income:	$ 3000.00	$ 3000.00
Less $20 unearned income exclusion:	- 20.00	- 20.00
	$ 2980.00	$ 2980.00
Less $65 earned income exclusion:	- 65.00	- 65.00
	$ 2915.00	$ 2915.00
Divided by 2:	$ 1457.50	$ 1457.50
Less SSI FBR for 2009:	- 674.00	- 674.00
Deemed income to Child	: $ 783.50	$ 783.50
Less $20 child unearned income exclusion:	- 20.00	- 20.00
Child’s countable unearned income:	$ 763.50	$ 763.50
Subtract for PASS:	- 00.00	- 763.50
Child’s countable unearned income:	$ 763.50	$ 00.00
(after PASS deduction)
Federal Benefit Rate 2009:	$ 674.00	$ 674.00
Less child’s countable unearned income:	- 763.50	- 00.00
SSI payment amount:	$ 00.00	$ 674.00

In the first calculation it is evident that the parent’s income is too high for the child to qualify for SSI benefits. In the second example, putting the money that is deemed to the child ($763.50) into a PASS, it makes them eligible for a full SSI payment and Medicaid.