Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 16 May 1996 — Page 22

The Muncie Times, May 16,1996, Page 22

►SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security wants to identify inmates

William D. Brown (U, am divorced Can , quali(y )or Manager.Muncie widow’s benefits on my deceased Social Securitg husband’s Social Security earnings?

State corrections officials have been requested to give Social Security a list of all prisoners in their jurisdictions to facilitate the timely suspension of benefits to which the inmates are not entitled. The request is one of several measures Social Security is taking to identify, at the earliest possitie point, any prisoners who may be erroneously receiving benefits. Under current law, priscners are not entitled to Social Security benefits if they have been convicted of a crime which is punishable by more than one year in prison, regardless of the actual sentence imposed. Benefit suspension also applies to Supplemental Security Income recipients who are incarcerated for a full calendar month. Social Security’s primary means of enforcing the prisoner provisions is through a national computerized matching program to identify imprisoned individuals. Under existing agreements with the Federal Bureau of Prisons and with all the stales, Social Security receives computer tapes listing the names and Social Security numbers of inmates which are then matched against Social Security records. The matching information, however, does not include data on all prisoners. A small percentage of prisoners are housed in county penal facilities. Certain states do not maintain centralized data at the state level on prisoners incarcerated in non-state facilities. Computer records also may be unsuitable for matching because of missing or invalid Social Security numbers, fictitious names or incorrect dates of birth. The scope of the Social Security Administration’s intensified effort to track inmates goes beyond the federal and state level. Social Security managers are now working with local penal facilities to establish prisoner reporting agreements and to ensure that accurate and timely reporting takes place. Any information about individuals who are incarcerated in local facilities will trigger an immediate investigation to determine whether they are beneficiaries whose checks should be suspended. Social Security has made the identification of prisoners and required suspension actions a top priority. r > SOCIAL SECURITY TOLL-FREE 1-800-772-1213 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday - Friday

Only if you have been married at least 10 years.

11 am receiving widow’s benefits and I am older than 60.1 want to get married again. What will happen to my benefits? Your benefits will not be affected, but you should check to see if you could get a higher benefit on your new

husband’s earnings.

Ilf I die, who will be eligible for survivors’ benefits on my Social Security

record?

Survivors’ benefits could be paid to a widow(er) 60 or older (50 or older if disabled) or any age if caring for your child under 16 or disabled; your children if they are unmarried and under 18, (under 19 if still in elementary or secondary school), or 18 or older but disabled; and, your parents if you were their primary means of support.

I applied for Social Security disability benefits. If I’m eligible, when

will my benefits begin?

If Social Security determines that you are disabled, your monthly benefits will begin with the sixth full month of your

disability.

[Hj I am dividing my life between home ana periods of work. How can I be sure to protect my disability insurance? You need recent work under Social Security to qualify for disability benefits. After age 30, you need five years of work

out of the last 10 years.

|l receive a pension from government work that is not covered by Social Security. What should I expect? Your spouse’s benefit may be offset by the government pension. The government pension offset applied only if you receive a pensionas a retired government worker for work not covered by Social Security and are also eligible for Social Security benefits as a spouse or widow. The offset may reduce your spouse or widow’s benefit by up to two-

thirds.

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