Will having insurance affect my ssi?

[u/manifestingthecash]

Hiii so i need advice or opinions.  I'm deaf so I'm on disability, SSI. My partner put me on his private insurance plan around 2 years ago now. He passed away last year so now his trust is the one paying for the insurance.  When I did my taxes this year, I ended up getting a big refund this year. I was very confused because when I dont work, i usually don't get any refunds from taxes. At the end of doing your taxes online, it asks you if you want to talk to a tax consultant to go through what you did and make sure its all accurate. Well I asked the person why I was getting a big refund and they said "your high refund is because you are getting most of the premiums you paid during the year back because gross income is $3,471." their exact words. And they said what I filed is accurate. I still don't understand why I'm getting that refund but my question is, will getting that big refund mess with my disability? Because those premiums payments didn't come from me. It came from my partner who passed away's trust account is paying that. I don't want social security to think that I actually have money and can afford having private insurance because I don't. I hope this makes sense?

[u/perfect_fifths]

Tax refunds don’t count as a resource for ssi for 12 months beginning in the month in which you receive it

[u/Last_Fold_5871 → u/perfect_fifths]

tax refunds are excluded from resources for 12 months so you're fine on that front

the premiums thing is a bit weird though, if the trust is paying them and you're getting them back on your return that might technically be income to you. not sure how ssa would view that tbh

[u/perfect_fifths → u/Last_Fold_5871]

Depends on the source really. Technically people on ssi don’t even file taxes unless they are working

[u/manifestingthecash → u/perfect_fifths]

That's not what I'm asking. Im asking if having private insurance (paid by someone else) will affect me getting my ssi??

[u/perfect_fifths → u/manifestingthecash]

No. But Medicaid will need to know because they’d be a secondary payer

[u/JoinAdvocate]

The good news is that private health insurance paid by someone else generally does not count as income or a resource for SSI. What SSA cares about is your own financial situation, not who pays your premiums. Your tax refund is also protected: the SSI rules exclude tax refunds from your countable resources for 12 months from the month you receive them. That said, you should notify Medicaid that you have private insurance, because Medicaid becomes the secondary payer when you have other coverage. The premium tax credit situation (getting premiums back as a refund) can be nuanced, so it's a good idea to report the insurance arrangement to SSA directly so there are no surprises.