Supplemental Security Income
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a means-tested program that provides cash payments to disabled children, disabled adults, and individuals aged 65 or older who are citizens or nationals of the United States.[1] SSI was created by the Social Security Amendments of 1972 and is incorporated in Title 16 of the Social Security Act. The program is administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) and began operations in 1974.
Not to be confused with Social Security Disability Insurance.
Individuals or their helpers may start the application for SSI benefits by completing a short form on SSA's website. SSA staff will schedule an appointment for the individual or helper within 1–2 weeks and complete the process.[2]
SSI was created to replace federal-state adult assistance programs that served the same purpose, but were administered by the state agencies and received criticism for lacking consistent eligibility criteria. The restructuring of these programs was intended to standardize the eligibility requirements and level of benefits.[3] Although administered by SSA,[4] SSI is funded from the U.S. Treasury general funds,[5] not the Social Security trust fund. As of July 2022, the program provides benefits to approximately five million Americans.[6]
Benefit details[edit]
Amounts[edit]
The SSI program (or Title XVI of the Social Security Act 1611) provides monthly federal cash assistance of up to $914 for an individual and $1,371 for a couple (as of 2020)[58] to help meet the costs of basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing.
In most states, SSI eligibility usually assures concurrent access to important medical coverage under the various state Medicaid programs and sometimes access to Section 8 housing benefits. In some states, supplemental payments are made by the state, increasing the cash assistance available through SSI. For example, the state of California (through its State Supplementation Program or SSP) increases the cash assistance, making the total 2020 SSI benefit for an individual $943.72 per month.[59]
Amount calculation
SSI takes the income and resources of the applicant or recipient into consideration when calculating their benefit amount. Resources are determined at the first of the month. If an individual reduces their countable resources below the limit through investing in excluded resources, they will remain eligible.[60] Excluded resources are resources such as: household goods, personal effects, up to one vehicle, and the home the applicant lives in.[60]
An individual's monthly benefit will be calculated by subtracting their "countable income" from the maximum benefit amount.[61] "Countable income" is an individual's income after applying any appropriate exclusions.[62] It includes earned, unearned, in-kind, and deemed income.
Total beneficiaries as of 2019: 8,076,867[82]
Payee assignment[edit]
Generally, the person qualifying for benefits is determined to be capable of managing their own financial affairs, and the benefits may be disbursed directly to them. In the case of persons who have a diagnosed mental impairment which interferes with their ability to manage their own finances, the Social Security Administration may require that the person assign someone to be their representative payee. This person will receive the benefits on behalf of the disabled individual, and disburse them directly to payors such as landlords, or to the disabled person, while providing money management assistance (help with purchasing items, limiting spending money, etc.). The representative payee generally does not charge a fee for this service, especially if the payee is a friend or relative. Social service agencies who are assigned as payee are prohibited from charging a fee, though some private payee agencies do provide the service for a small fee. Some states and counties have representative payee agencies (also called substitute payee programs) which receive the benefits on behalf of the disabled person's social worker, and disburse the benefits per the social worker's instructions.
Almost all children eligible for SSI have representative payees (typically a parent or other family member). Among disabled adults receiving SSI, about 34 percent have representative payees. Disabled adults with mental disorders, such as autistic disorders, developmental disorders, and intellectual disabilities, commonly have representative payees. About 10 percent of SSI recipients 65 or older have representative payees.[85]
The Social Security Advisory Board commissioned a study of the Social Security Administration's representative payee program and held a policy forum in 2020 on the topic. The study noted the difficulty SSA field staff face in determining the need for representative payees and finding suitable payees particularly when family members are not available.[86] In addition, the large size of the payee program (6 million payees for Social Security and SSI beneficiaries) combined with limited agency resources makes selection and monitoring of payees challenging for SSA. Among its recommendations, the authors of the study concluded SSA needed additional staff to effectively run the payee program. The authors also suggested SSA pilot a program where some field staff specialized in representative payee workloads.
Once an individual qualifies for Supplemental Security Income they automatically become eligible for several other assistance programs as allowed by Federal and State law. An SSI recipient can receive benefits from all programs listed and they serve as a safety net for those on the program.
In addition, SSI recipients who are eligible for Medicare receive assistance in covering out-of-pocket medical expenses through the Medicare Savings Programs and the Extra Help Program.[87]
Recent legislative and regulatory proposals[edit]
The Biden administration has proposed legislative changes[88] that would raise the maximum federal benefit under SSI to at least the poverty threshold for the United States (about $1,084 per month in 2020). Under current benefit amounts, about 3.3 million SSI recipients are poor.[89] The administration has also proposed increasing the resource limits in SSI by changes in the price level in the United States. Under current resource limits, to qualify for SSI, individuals must have resources below $2,000 and married couples must have resources below $3,000. These limits have been fixed in dollar amounts since 1989. The administration's proposal would increase these to about $4,300 and $8,600 in 2021 (reflecting price growth since 1989 and setting the couple rate at twice that of an individual). Amounts would be automatically increased for future price growth. The Biden administration has further proposed to eliminate benefit reductions due to "in kind" support received by SSI recipients and to set the couple rate under SSI to twice that of the individual rate.
The Trump administration proposed legislative changes to disregard earnings of disabled students for purposes of calculating SSI benefits, which would allow students to increase earnings without a loss in SSI benefits.[90] The Trump administration also proposed legislative changes to reduce total SSI benefits in cases where more than one person in the family qualified for SSI.[91] These proposals were not acted upon by Congress.
A regulation implemented by the Trump administration removed the inability to speak English as an educational factor to be considered in SSI and Social Security disability determination. The regulation is projected to "result in a reduction of about 6,500 OASDI [Social Security] beneficiary awards per year and 4,000 SSI recipient awards per year on average over the period FY 2019-28, with a corresponding reduction of $4.6 billion in OASDI benefit payments and $0.8 billion in Federal SSI payments over the same period."[92] The Trump administration argued communicating in English is no longer "a reliable indicator of an individual's educational attainment or the vocational impact of an individual's education." Disability advocates, however, questioned the validity of this argument and provided comments arguing against the regulation.[93]
The Trump administration proposed a regulation to conduct an additional 1.1 million full disability reviews over the 2020-2029 period of individuals receiving Social Security and SSI disability.[94] The regulation would have terminated Social Security and SSI benefits for a number of individuals and, based on a number of comments in the federal register, was controversial. Trump administration officials argued the rule would encourage labor force reentry among disabled persons. However, organizations expressed concern that many disabled individuals would not have representation when their cases were reviewed and would face onerous administrative challenges that would ultimately prevent them from continuing to receive benefits even though they were still disabled.[95] The proposed regulation was withdrawn by the Biden administration.
In addition, the Trump administration developed a proposal that would have made it more difficult for older workers to qualify for Social Security or SSI disability. The Social Security Act requires SSA to consider a person's education and age when making disability decisions. Officials in the Trump administration argued that older workers in the current economy no longer face the same difficulties as in the past with regard to meeting the occupational requirements of work and therefore tighter standards were necessary.[96] Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives strongly opposed the proposal, arguing the disability requirements were already strict and the regulation would prevent severely disabled individuals from receiving benefits.[97] Leaked documents to the press indicated that as many as 500,000 individuals would not receive Social Security or SSI if the regulation was implemented.[96] The Biden administration withdrew consideration of the regulation.
Recent legislative proposals in Congress have included proposed changes to child benefits, eligibility requirements, and benefit amounts.
The School Attendance Improves Lives (SAIL) Act in 2015 proposed reducing SSI benefits for children ages 16–17 if they were not attending school. The goal of the legislation was to increase school attendance among SSI recipients, although the legislation was criticized by some as being unnecessary.[98] The legislation was not enacted.
Some members of the House and Senate, including the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Ron Wyden, have requested the Biden administration include legislative proposals to increase SSI benefits to the poverty level and to adjust resource limits under SSI as part of the administration's "American Families Plan."[99]
Improving outcomes for disabled youth[edit]
Disabled youth transitioning to adulthood have been a focus of policymakers. Upon turning 18, a child's disability is re-evaluated using SSA's definition of disability for adults. In about one-third of the cases, SSI benefits are terminated.[100] Policymakers have been concerned that these youth, who have a history of health problems, are unprepared to support themselves in adulthood. As a result, Congress has created special provisions in the law and funded large-scale research studies to test ways to improve outcomes for youth on SSI. In addition, federal agencies have made some attempts to improve outcomes through better practices.
A special provision of the Social Security Act, called Section 301, allows disabled youth to retain benefits at age 18 so long as they are working in an approved program to prepare for employment in adulthood. For example, youth participating in programs run by state Vocational Rehabilitation agencies may continue to receive benefits even if they do not meet the adult disability definition. Because many families are unaware of the protections under Section 301, SSA began mailing information to families with disabled youth to inform them of this provision and provide other information to help youth successfully transition to adulthood.[101]
Congress has funded two large-scale studies to test ways to improve outcomes among disabled youth on SSI. The Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) tested service and other interventions in several states. Findings from the demonstration were mixed, with some interventions improving outcomes (employment, lower contact with the juvenile justice system) and some interventions not having statistically significant effects.[102] YTD was followed by the Promoting Readiness in Minors in SSI (PROMISE) demonstration. Interim impact results found positive employment and other outcomes from "case management, employment-promoting services, benefits counseling, financial education, and parent training and information about youth’s disability."[103]