State Assistance Programs for SSI Recipients, January 2011

North Carolina

State Supplementation

Mandatory Minimum Supplementation

Administration: State Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Aging and Adult Services. Payments are made under the State/County Special Assistance program.

Optional State Supplementation

Administration: State Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Aging and Adult Services. Payments are made under the State/County Special Assistance program.

Effective date: Adult care homes, January 1, 1974.

Statutory basis for payment: General Statutes of North Carolina 108A.40 through 108A.47 and chapter 143B-139.5.

Funding

Administration: 100 percent county funds.

Assistance: 50 percent state funds; 50 percent county funds.

Passalong method: Maintaining payment levels.

Place of application: County Department of Social Services.

Scope of coverage: Optional state supplement provided to all aged, blind, and disabled adults living in adult care homes. Children who are legally blind may be eligible for optional supplementation.

Resource limitations: Federal SSI regulations apply.

Income exclusions Federal SSI regulations apply.

Recoveries, liens, and assignments: None.

Financial responsibility of relatives: None.

Interim assistance: State participates (2 counties).

Payment calculation method: The federal SSI payment and any countable income are deducted from a standard amount set by the North Carolina General Assembly. The remainder is the state supplementation.

Payment levels: See Table 1.

Table 1. Optional state supplementation payment levels, January 2011 (in dollars)
Living arrangement	Combined federal and state		State supplementation
Living arrangement	Individual	Couple	Individual	Couple
Adult care home
Basic (aged, blind, and disabled) ^a	1,228.00	b	554.00	b
Special care unit (aged, blind, and disabled)	1,561.00	b	887.00	b
SOURCES: Social Security Administration, Office of Income Security Programs; state information.
a. An additional $20 income exclusion is allowed. In addition, a $46 personal needs allowance is included in the optional supplementation.
b. Couples residing in these living arrangements are treated as individuals.
DEFINITION: Adult care home. Includes recipients residing in an assisted living residence in which the housing management provides 24-hour scheduled and unscheduled personal care services to two or more residents either directly or, for scheduled needs, through formal written agreement with licensed home care or hospice agencies. Recipients residing in a special care unit for Alzheimer's in an adult care home are eligible for a higher payment amount. Recipients residing in their own home may be eligible for some of these personal care services.

Number of recipients: See Table 2.

Table 2. Number of persons receiving optional state supplementation, January 2011
Living arrangement	Total	Aged	Blind	Disabled
All recipients	23,671	11,687	. . .	11,984
Adult care home
Basic	21,378	9,553	. . .	11,825
Special care unit	2,293	2,134	. . .	159
SOURCE: State information.
NOTES: Includes some non-SSI recipients who meet state eligibility criteria, but do not meet federal SSI eligibility guidelines.
. . . = not applicable.

Total expenditures: The state reported expenditures of $79,107,294.04 for calendar year 2010 in state-administered payments to SSI recipients.

State Assistance for Special Needs

State does not provide assistance for special needs.

Medicaid

Eligibility

Criteria: SSI program guidelines (Title XVI).

Determined by: Social Security Administration.

Medically Needy Program

State provides a program for the aged, blind, and disabled medically needy.

Unpaid Medical Expenses

The Social Security Administration does not obtain this information.