POMS Reference

SI 02003: Interim Assistance Payments

Citations:

Social Security Act - Section 1631(g);

Regulations - 20 CFR 416.1901 - 416.1922;

P.L. 108-203

TN 13 (11-10)

A. Description of interim assistance reimbursement

Interim assistance reimbursement is a payment SSA makes to reimburse a State that has provided interim assistance (IA) in cash or through vendor payments to an individual for meeting basic needs.

To participate in the IAR program a State must have an IAR agreement with SSA and a written authorization from the individual allowing SSA to reimburse the State from the individual’s SSI retroactive payment.

SSA can reimburse a State only for months for which the individual receives both an SSI dollar amount and an interim assistance payment.

For information about:

B. Policy for payments that are considered SSI payments for IAR purposes

SSI benefits and any State supplementary payments that are due to the individual at the time SSA makes its first payment for one of the IAR periods described in SI 02003.003 are an SSI payment for IAR purposes.

C. Policy for payments that are not considered SSI payments for IAR purposes

The following benefits are not SSI payments for IAR purposes:

  • Immediate payments issued by the field office (FO) for emergency situations;

  • Emergency advance payments authorized under section 1631(a)(4)(A) of the Act;

  • Presumptive disability or presumptive blindness (PD/PB) payments authorized under section 1631(a)(4)(B) of the Act;

  • Provisional payments under section 1631(p)(7) of the Act; and

  • Interim benefits under section 1631(a)(8) of the Act.

SSA makes the above types of payments to the individual before SSA makes an eligibility determination. SSA deducts the amount of these payments from the retroactive SSI payment before determining the amount of IAR due a State.