Having first hand knowledge of the beneficiary's needs and condition;

Applying the Social Security Disability Benefit payments only for the beneficiary's use and benefit;

Notifying SSA of any change in the beneficiary's circumstances that would affect performance of the Representative Payee's responsibilities; and

Reporting to SSA any event that will affect the amount of benefits the beneficiary receives and to give SSA an annual accounting of how  the benefits were used.
 
Essential Needs:
 
A Representative Payee must apply the payments for the use and benefit of the entitled individual. The funds should be spent on the beneficiary's current and reasonably foreseeable needs. The needs should be immediate and essential.
 
Examples of properly disbursed benefits are:

 Food
 Clothing
 Shelter
 Utilities
 Medical care and insurance
 Dental care
 Personal hygiene
 Education
 Rehabilitation expenses
 
If there are funds left over once the beneficiary's current needs are met, the representative payee must save and/or invest the remaining funds in trust for the beneficiary.
 
What Representative Payees Should NOT Do:
 
Representative Payees cannot:
 

Use a beneficiary's funds for their own personal expenses, or spend funds in a way that would leave the beneficiary without necessary items or services (housing, food and medical care);

Commingle the beneficiary's Social Security funds in the Representative Payee's or another person's account;

Keep funds once he or she is no longer a Representative Payee for the beneficiary; and

Charge the beneficiary a fee for services unless authorized by the Social Security Administration to do so.
 
Reporting Violations:
 
If you feel that a Representative Payee has in some way misused the benefits being issued for a beneficiary, you should contact the Social Security Fraud Hotline at 1-800-269-0271.

If you are entitled to Medicare Part A based on disability or permanent kidney failure, contact the Department of Defense to find out how this may affect your TRICARE benefits. You may need to be enrolled in Medicare Part B to keep your TRICARE coverage. For general information about TRICARE, please visit www.tricare.mil/mybenefit/ProfileFilter.do.
 

Individuals who are awarded retroactive Social Security disability benefits may also become entitled to Medicare Part A for months before they receive their disability award notice.

Effective October 2009, TRICARE beneficiaries who are awarded retroactive benefits based on disability or permanent kidney failure do not have to pay for Part B for those months in the past in order to keep TRICARE.  You should, however, contact the Department of Defense to find out whether you would now need to enroll in Medicare Part B in order to keep your TRICARE.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 provides for a 12-month Medicare Part B special enrollment period for TRICARE beneficiaries who are entitled to Medicare Part A, but did not enroll in Medicare Part B during their initial enrollment period. The Department of Defense will notify eligible individuals about this period.

For more information about TRICARE and recent changes in the law, please visit:

 www.socialsecurity.gov/legislation/tricareinfo.html
 

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