Social Security for Newborns

• A newborn may receive monthly social security benefits if the parent receives social security retirement or disability benefits. To avoid loss of benefits, parents should not wait to receive the birth certificate before filing. Parents make an appointment to file by calling SSA's toll free number 800-772-1213. The first potential month of eligibility is the month after birth, or the month of birth for babies born on the first day of a month.
  
  

Parent is Deceased

• A newborn may receive benefits on the record of a deceased parent who paid into social security. The first month of eligibility is the month of death. If the parent is the father who died prior to birth, SSA assumes paternity if the child is born within 287 days of the father's death. If the date of birth falls outside this limit, the SSA office will obtain evidence of relationship, such as statements of the deceased's relatives, and refer the case to the SSA regional attorney. The newborn would qualify for benefits the month after the month of birth unless born on the first.
  
  

Newborn Benefit Amount

• The benefit for the child of a retired or disabled parent is 50 percent of the parent's full benefit amount. The rate for the child of a deceased parent is 75 percent of what the deceased would have received if she had become disabled the year of death. The percentage may be smaller if other dependents are eligible on the same parent's record. Total benefits payable on the same social security record have a maximum limit, usually 150 to 180 percent of the parent's benefit. For example, if the retired parent receives a benefit of $1,000, the family maximum is approximately $1,800. Instead of 50 percent of $1,000 two dependents would receive $400 each due to the maximum. The new baby would result in available benefits being divide three ways---each dependent receives $267.
  
  

Disabled Newborns

• If the newborn has a serious disability, the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program may pay a benefit. Since SSI is a neediness program, parents' income and resources affect eligibility. However, if the child must stay in the hospital after birth or returns to the hospital for at least 30 days, the parents' income and resources do not affect eligibility during the hospitalization. The SSI benefit rate while hospitalized is only $30 as of 2010. However, eligibility automatically qualifies the child for Medicaid coverage in most states, which will help pay hospital and doctor bills.
  
  

Premature Infants

• Newborns automatically meet SSI's definition of disability if their birth weight is below thresholds set according to the gestational age at birth. The threshold ranges from 2,000 g (4 lbs. 6 oz.) for a full-term infant---37 to 40 gestational weeks---to 1,325 g (2 lbs. 15 oz.) at 33 gestational weeks. A weight below 1,325 g at any gestational age is automatically eligible. The child must also meet SSI's income and resource limits. The parents' income and resources affect eligibility beginning the month after the month of discharge from the hospital. Upon discharge, the basic benefit amount is offset by the parents' income.