7 U.S.C. § 2012 - Definitions

• Cite as: 7 U.S.C. § 2012

As used in this chapter, the term:

(a) "Access device" means any card, plate, code, account number, or other means of access, including point of sale devices, that can be used, alone or in conjunction with another access device, to obtain payments, allotments, benefits, money, goods, or other things of value, or that can be used to initiate a transfer of funds under this chapter.

(b) "Allotment" means the total value of benefits a household is authorized to receive during each month.

(c) "Allowable medical expenses" means expenditures for (1) medical and dental care, (2) hospitalization or nursing care (including hospitalization or nursing care of an individual who was a household member immediately prior to entering a hospital or nursing home), (3) prescription drugs when prescribed by a licensed practitioner authorized under State law and over-the-counter medication (including insulin) when approved by a licensed practitioner or other qualified health professional, (4) health and hospitalization insurance policies (excluding the costs of health and accident or income maintenance policies), (5) medicare premiums related to coverage under title XVIII of the Social Security Act [ 42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.], (6) dentures, hearing aids, and prosthetics (including the costs of securing and maintaining a seeing eye dog), (7) eye glasses prescribed by a physician skilled in eye disease or by an optometrist, (8) reasonable costs of transportation necessary to secure medical treatment or services, and (9) maintaining an attendant, homemaker, home health aide, housekeeper, or child care services due to age, infirmity, or illness.

(d) BENEFIT.-The term "benefit" means the value of supplemental nutrition assistance provided to a household by means of-

(1) an electronic benefit transfer under section 2016(h) of this title; or

(2) other means of providing assistance, as determined by the Secretary.

(e) BENEFIT ISSUER.-The term "benefit issuer" means any office of the State agency or any person, partnership, corporation, organization, political subdivision, or other entity with which a State agency has contracted for, or to which it has delegated functional responsibility in connection with, the issuance of benefits to households.

(f) "Certification period" means the period for which households shall be eligible to receive benefits. The certification period shall not exceed 12 months, except that the certification period may be up to 24 months if all adult household members are elderly or disabled. A State agency shall have at least 1 contact with each certified household every 12 months. The limits specified in this subsection may be extended until the end of any transitional benefit period established under section 2020(s) of this title.

(g) "Coupon" means any coupon, stamp, type of certificate, authorization card, cash or check issued in lieu of a coupon.

(h) "Drug addiction or alcoholic treatment and rehabilitation program" means any such program conducted by a private nonprofit organization or institution, or a publicly operated community mental health center, under part B of title XIX of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 300x et seq.) to provide treatment that can lead to the rehabilitation of drug addicts or alcoholics.

(i) EBT CARD.-The term "EBT card" means an electronic benefit transfer card issued under section 2016(h) of this title.

(j) "Elderly or disabled member" means a member of a household who-

(1) is sixty years of age or older;

(2)

(A) receives supplemental security income benefits under title XVI of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.), or Federally or State administered supplemental benefits of the type described in section 212(a) of Public Law 93-66 ( 42 U.S.C. 1382 note), or

(B) receives Federally or State administered supplemental assistance of the type described in section 1616(a) of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1382e(a) ), interim assistance pending receipt of supplemental security income, disability-related medical assistance under title XIX of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.), or disability-based State general assistance benefits, if the Secretary determines that such benefits are conditioned on meeting disability or blindness criteria at least as stringent as those used under title XVI of the Social Security Act;

(3) receives disability or blindness payments under title I, II, X, XIV, or XVI of the Social Security Act [ 42 U.S.C. 301 et seq., 401 et seq., 1201 et seq., 1351 et seq., 1381 et seq.] or receives disability retirement benefits from a governmental agency because of a disability considered permanent under section 221(i) of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 421(i) );

(4) is a veteran who-

(A) has a service-connected or non-service-connected disability which is rated as total under title 38; or

(B) is considered in need of regular aid and attendance or permanently housebound under such title;

(5) is a surviving spouse of a veteran and-

(A) is considered in need of regular aid and attendance or permanently housebound under title 38; or

(B) is entitled to compensation for a service-connected death or pension benefits for a non-service-connected death under title 38, and has a disability considered permanent under section 221(i) of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 421(i) );

(6) is a child of a veteran and-

(A) is considered permanently incapable of self-support under section 1314 of title 38; or

(B) is entitled to compensation for a service-connected death or pension benefits for a non-service-connected death under title 38, and has a disability considered permanent under section 221(i) of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 421(i) ); or

(7) is an individual receiving an annuity under section 2(a)(1)(iv) or 2(a)(1)(v) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 ( 45 U.S.C. 231a(a)(1)(iv) or 231a(a)(1)(v) ), if the individual's service as an employee under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 [ 45 U.S.C. 231 et seq.], after December 31, 1936, had been included in the term "employment" as defined in the Social Security Act [ 42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.], and if an application for disability benefits had been filed.

(k) "Food" means (1) any food or food product for home consumption except alcoholic beverages, tobacco, hot foods or hot food products ready for immediate consumption other than those authorized pursuant to clauses (3), (4), (5), (7), (8), and (9) of this subsection, and any deposit fee in excess of the amount of the State fee reimbursement (if any) required to purchase any food or food product contained in a returnable bottle or can, regardless of whether the fee is included in the shelf price posted for the food or food product, (2) seeds and plants for use in gardens to produce food for the personal consumption of the eligible household, (3) in the case of those persons who are sixty years of age or over or who receive supplemental security income benefits or disability or blindness payments under title I, II, X, XIV, or XVI of the Social Security Act [ 42 U.S.C. 301 et seq., 401 et seq., 1201 et seq., 1351 et seq., 1381 et seq.], and their spouses, meals prepared by and served in senior citizens' centers, apartment buildings occupied primarily by such persons, public or private nonprofit establishments (eating or otherwise) that feed such persons, private establishments that contract with the appropriate agency of the State to offer meals for such persons at concessional prices subject to section 2018(h) of this title, and meals prepared for and served to residents of federally subsidized housing for the elderly, (4) in the case of persons sixty years of age or over and persons who are physically or mentally handicapped or otherwise so disabled that they are unable adequately to prepare all of their meals, meals prepared for and delivered to them (and their spouses) at their home by a public or private nonprofit organization or by a private establishment that contracts with the appropriate State agency to perform such services at concessional prices subject to section 2018(h) of this title, (5) in the case of narcotics addicts or alcoholics, and their children, served by drug addiction or alcoholic treatment and rehabilitation programs, meals prepared and served under such programs, (6) in the case of certain eligible households living in Alaska, equipment for procuring food by hunting and fishing, such as nets, hooks, rods, harpoons, and knives (but not equipment for purposes of transportation, clothing, or shelter, and not firearms, ammunition, and explosives) if the Secretary determines that such households are located in an area of the State where it is extremely difficult to reach stores selling food and that such households depend to a substantial extent upon hunting and fishing for subsistence, (7) in the case of disabled or blind recipients of benefits under title I, II, X, XIV, or XVI of the Social Security Act [ 42 U.S.C. 301 et seq., 401 et seq., 1201 et seq., 1351 et seq., 1381 et seq.], and individuals described in paragraphs (2) through (7) of subsection (j), who are residents in a public or private nonprofit group living arrangement that serves no more than sixteen residents and is certified by the appropriate State agency or agencies under regulations issued under section 1616(e) of the Social Security Act [ 42 U.S.C. 1382e(e) ] or under standards determined by the Secretary to be comparable to standards implemented by appropriate State agencies under such section, meals prepared and served under such arrangement, (8) in the case of women and children temporarily residing in public or private nonprofit shelters for battered women and children, meals prepared and served, by such shelters, and (9) in the case of households that do not reside in permanent dwellings and households that have no fixed mailing addresses, meals prepared for and served by a public or private nonprofit establishment (approved by an appropriate State or local agency) that feeds such individuals and by private establishments that contract with the appropriate agency of the State to offer meals for such individuals at concessional prices subject to section 2018(h) of this title.