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266 (07/2026) Chapter 2:Eligibility • Section 5: Financial eligibility Individual married to a spouse who is eligible to receive SSI or TANF If the applicant is married to a spouse who is eligible to receive SSI or TANF, they are in the same financial group. Deductions from the couple’s countable income are made in the following order: • One standard deduction of $20. This is deducted from unearned income first, and if unearned income is <$20, the remaining deduction is applied to earned income (if any). • The following earned income deductions:
$65
An additional deduction for documented impairment-related work expenses
One-half of the remaining earned income
Any income deduction for documented blind work expenses
Any earned income used to fulfill a plan for self-support by the Social Security Administration. If the couple’s adjusted income is below the two-person OSIPM income standard, the individual meets the OSIPM income requirements. Individual married to an ineligible spouse If the applicant is married to an ineligible spouse who is in the household group, the applicant must first be financially eligible as an individual. Compare the adjusted income of the applicant (using the deductions for single individuals above) to the one-person OSIPM income standard. If the applicant is over the one-person standard, the applicant is financially ineligible, and you don’t need to go further. If the adjusted income of the applicant is less than the one-person standard, proceed as follows: • First, we deduct any child support the ineligible spouse pays for any individual outside the household group from the ineligible spouse’s countable income. It is deducted from unearned income first, and any remainder is deducted from earned income. • If the remaining countable income of the ineligible spouse is:
Greater than $497: Combine the countable income of the applicant and the ineligible spouse/ Take the deductions as described above and compare the resulting adjusted income to the two-person OSIPM income standard. If the resulting adjusted income is equal to or greater than the two-person OSIPM income standard, the applicant is not financially eligible.
Equal to or less than $497: Consider only the income of the applicant. As previously calculated in this section, the adjusted income of the applicant is less than the one-person OSIPM income standard. The applicant thus meets the OSIPM income requirements. Individuals who live in the community with children in the HH (not EPD) “Allocation” is an amount deducted from an ineligible spouse’s income for each child not applying for OSIPM who lives in the household. The amount of the allocation is the difference between the couple SSI standard and the individual SSI standard (currently $483 in 2025). “Parental living allowance” is the SSI/OSIPM standard for two if both parents are in the household or for one if one parent is in the household. The following procedures come from the SSA POMS Manual SI01320.400 and SI01320.500.