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How to Identify Eligible PASS Plan Students


To be eligible for PASS plans students must be eligible to receive SSI and have income or a resource that is reducing their monthly SSI check. The easiest examples to spot are students who are already receiving SSI but not at the full Federal Benefit Rate (FBR) of $552 a month (2003).

Question #1: Is the student under 18? If the answer is yes, consider the parents’ income and resources in addition to the student’s income and resources. If the student is 18 or older only their income and resources are considered, even if they are not their own guardian or representative payee.

     Events that could make an ineligible student eligible for a PASS plan:

  • Parent dies, becomes disabled or retires,
  • Student graduates and is working, earning over $85 a month,
  • Parent income of a student under 18 years increases, which causes the student’s SSI check to decrease.

Question #2: Are they currently receiving SSI? If yes, is it less than the 2003 FBR of $552 a month? If they are receiving the full $552 a month they are not eligible right now, but they will be eligible for a PASS plan once they have income or resources which reduce their SSI check.

Question #3: If they are receiving less than $552, ask what other income or resources are being counted? This income or resource might be able to be sheltered in a PASS plan.

Question #4: If they are not receiving SSI ask why not?
Have they applied and been turned down due to:
1. Lack of disability? (Refer them to blue book and see if there are grounds for an appeal)
2. Incomplete application? (Encourage them to appeal or re-apply).
3. Too much income or too many resources? (Encourage them to inquire about the extra income or resources, because they could be sheltered or relocated in a PASS plan to make them eligible for SSI and Medicaid.)

Many students who are eligible for PASS plans are never informed of this resource. Several of the students in this monograph had been eligible for awhile before a project staff person brought it to the family and school’s attention.

 

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