Who Qualifies as "Disabled"?

• The USDA has created a list of qualifications to define who is technically "disabled." This definition includes anyone who receives disability or blindness payments from either the federal or state government; a permanently disabled veteran; the permanently disabled spouse or child of a veteran who is receiving veteran's benefits; a permanently disabled retiree; or an individual who is receiving annuity payments from the Railroad Retirement Act and is either disabled or eligible for Medicare.
  
  

Income Exceptions

• When an application is being reviewed by a caseworker at your local Department of Social Services, he examines both gross and net incomes, according to the USDA. Most households must have incomes at or lower than the totals for both, but a disabled person is only subject to net income guidelines. Therefore a two-person household can earn $1,215 in net monthly income or less to qualify, and the amount increases by about $400 for each additional household member.
  
  

Allowed Expenses

• Most households are allowed standard deductions as well as excessive shelter costs, according to the USDA. In addition to this, disabled people are allowed to deduct medical expenses that exceed $35 a month as well as daily care -- such as adult day care costs -- from their gross incomes.
  
  

Allowed Resources

• Households without disabled members can have as much a $2,000 worth of cash, investments, bonds and bank account balances. A household with a disabled member is allowed to increase that regulation to $3,000, according to AGIS. Those receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) don't have their resources counted at all. The only exception to this rule is in California, where SSI recipients also receive assistance from the state in lieu of food stamps.