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    • Changes will help poor people qualify for Supplemental Security Income
    Tennessee

    Changes will help poor people qualify for Supplemental Security Income

    Eira Gwyneth Posted on

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    For people living in poverty, a number of hurdles, such as food, will soon be eliminated for admission to a Social Security Administration program.

    The Agency is simplifying and expanding its guidelines for Supplemental Security Income benefits for individuals with low or no income and very limited resources.

    Starting Monday, an applicant or recipient of SSI will no longer be denied benefits or have their benefits reduced based on informal food assistance the person may receive from friends, family and community networks. The agency will no longer include food in calculations for benefits in kind and maintenance.

    The change represents a nice boost for those receiving SSI benefits. The agency estimates that monthly SSI payments would increase by about $131 per month for more than 90,000 people. The change would also allow more people to be eligible for benefits.

    “SSI is a program for the poorest of the poor,” Commissioner Martin O’Malley said Friday in an interview with the Detroit Free Press. The program dates back to the 1970s and aims to provide monthly cash assistance to disabled or elderly people with low income and few assets.

    “It’s an income-based program and you have to be very, very low income to qualify,” O’Malley said.

    As of December 2023, approximately 248,300 people were receiving SSI benefits in Michigan, including 31,576 children and youth under the age of 18.

    Social Security notes online that SSI is generally intended for people who earn no more than $1,971 each month from work.

    “The income limit increases for couples and when parents apply for children. We also consider sources of income other than your job, such as disability benefits, unemployment and pensions,” the Social Security Administration said. An online calculator at www.ssa.gov/ssi/eligibility provides some eligibility guidelines for who can receive assistance.

    The maximum monthly SSI benefit in 2024 is $943 for an individual and $1,415 for a couple. Some people receive less than this maximum amount due to their income, the income of certain family members, their living situation and other factors.

    “It’s a lifeline for millions of Americans,” O’Malley said. “And we just made regulatory changes that have made it better for all beneficiaries and made it possible for many others to be helped who did not apply for the program in the past.”

    These new rules would no longer reduce your benefits by the amount of food you would receive in kind in the home where you live, he said.

    The goal is to simplify SSI, including administering the program, he said. The upcoming changes would make the process easier, he said.

    “We want people to be able to work. We want people to be able to make a living. But with programs that have income limits, like SSI does, you lose eligibility for the program pretty abruptly,” O said. “Malley said.

    “The advocates of people who work in this area are very, very happy that we will no longer count food that you may receive if you live with another person or in a family against your benefits,” O said ‘Malley.

    Such measures could also increase administrative burdens, he said.

    “It puts our service members, our technicians and our agents in the field offices and enables them to be food, rent and housing detectives to manage the program,” he said.

    More: Latest estimates show that social security contributions could rise by 2.5% in 2025

    A second change concerns rent. Starting Monday, the agency is expanding a complex rental subsidy exemption to all SSI applicants and recipients nationwide that was previously only available in seven states. Michigan was not one of the states. The policy previously applied in Connecticut, New York, Vermont, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Texas.

    It is estimated that, according to the agency, this change could increase monthly SSI payments for about 41,000 people by about $132 per month and allow more people to qualify for SSI.

    A third change concerns nutritional support. Starting Monday, the agency will add Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits to the types of public assistance listed in the policy. As a result, the agency no longer requires that all household members receiving welfare be considered a welfare household when applying for SSI benefits.

    The expanded definition of welfare will allow more people to qualify for SSI, increase some monthly payment amounts, and reduce reporting burdens for those living in households on welfare. It is expected that around 277,000 people could benefit from increased payments.

    If someone is found to be living in a welfare household, the agency assumes that they are not receiving assistance from other household members that would otherwise be considered income. This important change means more people will qualify for SSI and, in some cases, receive a higher SSI payment.

    SSI benefits apply to adults and children with a disability or blindness, and to adults age 65 and older who have limited income and resources. The benefits help cover basic needs such as rent, food, clothing and medication. Individuals applying for and receiving SSI must meet eligibility requirements, including income and resource limits.

    Contact Susan Tompor, personal finance columnist: [email protected]. Follow her on X (Twitter) @Tompor.

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    Eira Gwyneth
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