SSI/insurance questions

Hi,
I'm trying to find out a few answers and don't even know what to search to find out or how to beginning or how to inform of my changes.

If anyone could give their insight or answers to any of the questions it would be GREATLY appreciated ^-^
btw, i live in Texas.

I have been getting SSI for a year and one month now. I've been living with my roomate and we were just making it with the bills, and now food is a problem, and even the bills (rent, phone, and electric) are going half done because I'm not getting enough. (and this is the LOWEST rent anywhere within a 150 mile distance.

1.) can I add my roomate on my ssi, would that help any? And she does have a job, but they are talking about closing it down, so therefore she would be out of a job (because a bigger store came in and took 85% of the buisness). She doesn't have consistant hours but she makes approx 600-800 a month, sometimes as low as 400 a month.

2. Who do i call to inform changes of my disability status? And would crohn's be something I should tell them about? (the reason why i'm on ssi is for a mental disability. but i surely can't work while on all the meds i'm currently on, hence 4 of them knock me out asleep for most of the day. (im' sure it will be a lot better when it goes into remishion).

3. if my roomate is put on my ssi too, would she get medicaid like i do?

4. Is there a way to get food stamps without having to goto the place every month with proof of things? My problem with this is, I was accepted, but I had to get my last work place to send them an paper stating i was no longer working there, and then come back in with proof of things from my landlord and bills and income and such. But I have no ride to get these things done. And my ex workplace is a small family owned buisness so even when i begged and pestered them to fax the info over to the food stamp lady they said they would, but never got around to it. and it got to where they were like "you need to call this number and ask them to fax it over" and i called and called and called for repeatedly over the period of time I had to get it there (i think it was a week). But I have no way to do this every month. Especially since i couldn't even get it done once. And it's not like i know people who can take me, nor do i have money to pay for the gas every time i need a ride, and no one wants to wait around, or drive. Is there anyway i could get around this a diffrent way?
Thanks!

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No, you can't add anyone to your SSI, your roommate would have to apply for herself.

I don't think you can get food stamps except by actually following their rules. If that's a hassle, I'd look for local charities/food banks that might help you?

http://www.endhungerintex.org/

Thanks
I went to that site. got confused and lost, (mostly because I couldn't find my county on the list) But It helped a lot! It lead me to a place on the internet where i could fill out for food stamps online, and there was a place to set up a in home interview ^o^!

Is there any purpose for naming her under me since she can't get it? Is it just their way to know who all lives somewhere?

again thanks, the site helped me a lot!

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Hi Lexi,

Are you living in subsidized housing? If not, I'd definitely recommend looking into availability ASAP.

Disability Linkage Line was an enormous help to me in my beginning. 1-866-333-2466 They have all sorts of information! As I recall, it isn't easy to get through. Leave a message and they will call you back within 24 hours (on weekdays).

Regarding you last Q, about why: government wants to know who's living in subsidized housing, their disabilities, how much they make, etc. Reasoning is that the government can take their income into account & pay less for your housing.

SSI does take variable income into account as well. Every month, you should receive a print out stating how much you earned in May, subtract $90 (or something like that) from earned cash. Divide by 2, and then subtract that amount from $674. The difference is the amount you'll receive from SSI in August. Subsidized housing works kind of the same. They'll take your total income (earned & SSI) for whatever month, subtract medical fees paid, and divide difference by three. They do take income from other adults into account ~ I'm unsure how it works from there. I do know non-disabled adults that live with disabled in subsidized housing, so it can be done...but don't know the percentages.

Hope that i haven't confused you. Give DLL a call tomarrow!

Nope, not yet. But i'm trying to get into something like that. There's HUD apts right acrossed the hwy/street from us. They are more expensive than here, but I think that they add all the bills in it or something? I dont' really understand how hud works, or how all the other housing options work.

Okay, thank you so much! I will give them a call! :-)

oh yikes... so its a more of a negitive thing than a good one huh? ... huh... v.v .. well.. okey. hopefully they wont pay less because i'm stretched as i am right now, and can't even make my full electric bill. (if i can't find any of the resources they gave me (3 places) to help me with the remainder of my bill, i wont have electricity by the end of this month. which means i wont be able to use my breathing machiene, or keep my meds in the right conditions (one of my meds is a federal law that it has to be kept in a certain degree, and atmosphere).

Thanks again! this is really helpful!

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