Eligibility

GA is for people who fall into well-defined categories. If you fall into one of these categories, GA looks at how much money you have. If GA decides that you have enough money to pay for basic needs, you won’t get help from GA.

Eligibility Categories

In general, GA is for people who can’t work. You can get GA if you are:

• Permanently ill or disabled
• Temporarily ill or disabled
• Taking care of someone with a disability or illness
• In a mental, physical, or drug rehabilitation facility
• Unemployable
• Applying for SSDI or SSI
• Waiting to hear back on an SSDI or SSI appeal
• Over 55 and can’t work
• A person with a learning disability
• A person with a drug or alcohol addiction
• A full time student and displaced homemaker
• Doing court ordered services
• A person attending high school and English isn’t your first language
• Under 18 and not living with your parents

If you’re in one of those categories, GA then looks at your asset and income levels.

Assets

GA looks at how much you own. Things you own are called assets. If your assets are high enough, GA believes that you can use them to pay for basic needs.

GA Asset Limits

The GA asset limit is $10,000 for both individuals and married couples.

There are some things that GA realizes that you can’t use to pay for basic needs. GA doesn’t include these things when they count your assets.

Assets that GA doesn’t count are called exclusions. If your assets, after exclusions, are over the limit, you can’t get GA.

Income

GA will look at money you get from work, benefits, or other sources. This money is called income. There’s a limit to how much income you can have.

GA Income Limits

The amount of income you can have depends on your living situation:

How GA Counts Your Income

GA doesn’t count all of your income when they check to see if it’s over the limits. They’ll take your total income and subtract the income in certain categories that they don’t count. If your income, after these subtractions, is over the income limit, you can’t get GA.

Application

Apply for GA online with MNbenefits. You can also fill out the Combined Application Form and turn it in to your county or tribal human services office. When you apply for GA, you must also apply for any other benefits you could be eligible for, including disability benefits, unemployment, workers’ compensation, retirement benefits, or other benefits.

After you submit your application, you’ll be interviewed. You should hear back within 30 days after you apply.

Rules for People with Disabilities

If you have a disability, when you apply for GA you also have to apply for SSI and SSDI. The Department of Human Services has people who can help with your application. You can’t be on both SSI and GA at the same time, but you can get GA while you’re waiting for SSI to decide on an application or appeal.

When you are approved for GA, you’ll get a notice telling you when your benefits will begin and the amount you’ll receive.

You will get monthly payments from GA. In certain situtations you can get payments on a weekly basis.

In some cases your GA benefit goes directly to other people. For example, the money might go directly to your landlord for rent. The money could also go to someone who will manage it for you. This person is called a protective payee.

The Benefit Amount

GA takes the income limit and subtracts the amount of your income that they count. The number that they come up with is the amount of money you get each month.

For example, if you are a married couple and you have $175 in income from working:

Sample GA Calculation (married, working):

Your Income	$175
Minus the First $65 of Earned Income	- $65
Divided by two	÷ 2
The Amount of Your Income that GA Counts
Your Maximum GA Benefit Amount (married)	$350
Minus the Amount of Income that GA Counts	-
Your GA Benefit Amount

Other Minnesota Benefit Programs

If you get GA, you should also apply for SNAP at the same time. You probably can also get Medical Assistance (MA) health coverage, but you have to apply for it separately at your county or tribal human services office or by using MNsure.

Amanda's Story

Amanda has muscular dystrophy. For years, she was able to work. But then she started getting weaker, and realized that she would no longer be able to hold down a job. She didn’t have much money in savings, and knew that she was going to have a hard time making ends meet. After a few months of trying to get by, she went online to apply for General Assistance using MNbenefits. This program helps Minnesotans without children.

She also applied for health coverage and SNAP. Because she had a disability and had worked in the past, she applied for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Less than a month later, she was approved for General Assistance. She was able to receive General Assistance because she couldn’t work and was waiting to hear back on an SSDI application. Since she lived alone and didn’t have any income, she got the maximum GA benefit of $350 a month.

With this money, along with help from other Minnesota programs like SNAP, she was able to get by until her SSDI application was approved the following year.