SSA Supplemental Security Record

Information needed to administer the federal SSI program resides on the Supplemental Security Record (SSR) file, which in December 2001 contained records for approximately 6.4 million individuals who received a federal SSI benefit for that month. This record provides the information that is needed to calculate and distribute SSI payments. SSA typically creates an SSR record when an individual files an SSI application. Each person's record includes eligibility and payment information, as well as income information about ineligible spouses and parents that is pertinent to establishing and maintaining the individual's eligibility. SSR payments are recorded as disbursed. The SSR includes state SSI supplements if SSA makes the payment on the state's behalf. Thirty-four states, by 2002, had chosen to administer some or all of the supplementation themselves (SSA 2004, 7). Payments made in state-administered SSI supplement programs are not included in the SSR. For the most part, state supplements are small, and some of the largest (California, Massachusetts, and New York, for example) are federally administered (SSA 2004, 7). However, benefits in Alaska, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and a few other states are substantial and state administered. By far the largest state-administered state supplement is Alaska's. In 2002, that state added $362 to the FBR for singles and $528 to the FBR for couples living independently (SSA 2004, 13). SSA approval is required to use this dataset.