Supplemental Security Income for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled; Valuation of In-Kind Support and Maintenance With Cost-of-Living Adjustment

These proposed regulations would implement section 13735 of the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1993 (OBRA 1993). This statutory provision amends the Social Security Act (the Act) and requires that the new benefit rate, as increased by a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), be used in determining the value of the statutory one-third reduction and the regulatory presumed maximum value for the computation of Federal supplemental security income (SSI) benefit payments for the first 2 months for which the COLA is in effect. These rules will provide that we will value the statutory one-third reduction and the regulatory presumed maximum value using the benefit rate as increased by a COLA to determine the amount of in-kind support and maintenance received by an individual which is to be counted for those months. This will preclude a decrease in the benefit amount the third month after a COLA, a situation which occurred under the present regulations. The legislation is effective for benefits paid for months after calendar year 1994.