The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently took a deep look at the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, examining how effective it is and suggested ways to improve the program for the 8.1 million Americans who try to survive off it.
About 86 percent of all SSI beneficiaries are disabled, the rest are elderly, but all of them tend to have extremely low incomes, which is a requirement for the program. The recipients can’t qualify for benefits if their assets are more than $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples. Even if they do meet the requirements for SSI the payoff is meager at best. The maximum monthly benefit for SSI beneficiaries in 2020 will be $783.
The word supplemental is defined as “provided in addition to what is already present or available to complete or enhance,” but more than 50 percent of adults age 18-64 who collect SSI have no other source of income. The same is true for Americans over the age of 65. This is why, although SSI is a crucial program, many SSI recipients are well below the poverty level even after qualifying for SSI payments. Luckily some states supplement the SSI benefit and most people on SSI automatically qualify for Medicaid and other human services like food assistance and housing assistance, but SSI needs to be improved.
One way to improve the program is to allow more people to qualify for it by updating the asset and income limits. The CBPP reports that the asset limits have been frozen since 1989. Another solution to strengthen the program would be for Congress to increase the SSI benefit.
The SSI program was established as a safety net for the poor who could not qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits or who have no or a very low retirement benefit, but if there is a hole in the safety net it doesn’t do much good.
