Federal Benefits

• The Social Security Administration is a U.S. federal agency. As such, it does not issue benefits based on recipients' states of residence. Instead, it issues benefits based on personal financial need and medical history. For this reason, moving your residence from one state to another does not result in any change of payment from the federal government.
  
  

State Supplementary Payments

• In addition to the federal SSI benefit, many states add an additional amount to what SSI beneficiaries receive every month. These additional benefits are called State Supplementary Payments. Because the states themselves decide whether or not they will supplement SSI, as well as how much that supplement will be, the same SSI beneficiary may receive different total benefit amounts depending on his state of residence.
  
  

Relocating

• If you relocate to another state, you must inform the Social Security Administration. Otherwise, you may have trouble collecting future SSI payments. If your former state of residence and your new state of residence have different State Supplementary Payment levels, these changes will automatically take effect.
  
  

State Requirements

• Just as different states offer different amounts in State Supplemental Payments, they also have different requirements for receiving those payments. For this reason, even if a particular state offers State Supplemental Payments, you may not necessarily be able to collect on them.