111.1 Purpose

Maryland Human Services Article §5–501 requires that if a household includes an individual who is at least 60 years old and receives a federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit in an amount less than $50 per month, the State shall provide a supplement to increase the total benefit to $50 per month.

Example: A MSS eligible household whose federal SNAP allotment is $30 would receive $20 in MSS equaling a total of $50 per month.

111.2 Process

The supplemental benefit automatically posts to the customer’s Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) account. Customers do not need to complete a new or separate application to apply for the supplemental benefit.

At the end of each month, the E&E System automatically identifies households eligible for the Minimum State Supplement (MSS) and determines the total amount of State Supplement benefits each household is eligible to receive for the next calendar month.

On their SNAP benefit issuance day of each month, the eligible households receive their State Supplement benefits along with their regular SNAP benefit in their EBT account. It appears as a separate additional SNAP benefit on the same issuance date.

111.3 Special Circumstances for Case Processing

If a household has an outstanding overpayment claim in recoupment, E&E supplements the difference between the grant amount (what the household would be receiving if not for the claim recoupment) and $50, not the difference of the benefit amount (what the household is actually receiving with the amount of the claim recoupment taken into account) and $50.

Example: If a household has a grant amount of $23 but an outstanding overpayment claim in recoupment that is recouping $10, the household's current benefit amount (the amount they actually receive) is $13. $50 less the $23 grant amount equals a MSS benefit of $27. The household will receive $13 in federal SNAP, $10 of the federal SNAP will be collected for recoupment of the existing claim, and $27 MSS for a total of $50, though $40 is the amount that will be issued to the customer.