The SSI program makes cash payments to people who are aged, blind, or have developed a disability (including children) and who have limited income and resources. The federal government funds SSI from general tax revenues. Many states pay a supplemental benefit to people in addition to the federal payments. Some of these states have arrangements with us to combine their supplemental payment with the federal SSI payment into 1 monthly check. Other states manage their own programs and make their payments separately. Title XVI of the Social Security Act authorizes SSI benefits.
NOTE
To get SSI, you must live in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, or the Northern Mariana Islands and be a U.S. citizen or national. People who live in American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands cannot receive SSI.