Congress has been working on many different things over the last several months. This includes a COVID-19 relief bill and an infrastructure bill, but another bill that is not getting as much attention would be a huge benefit to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients.
The maximum monthly SSI benefit, which goes to the elderly and disabled individuals with limited income and assets, has been extraordinarily low for too long. The benefit is so low that it does not even get many individuals above the poverty line, but there remains some hope that the SSI legislation may get passed as part of a budget deal being discussed. A recent story posted by CNBC explains how democrats in Congress are pushing for a revamp of the SSI program. Below is a portion of the CNBC story that explains the proposed legislation.
In 2021, the maximum monthly SSI benefit is $794 per individual, or $1,191 per married couple where both individuals qualify for the program.
Those benefits are altered every year with the annual cost-of-living adjustment set by the Social Security Administration.
Still, those maximum benefit amounts are below the federal poverty level. The Senate bill calls for raising monthly benefits to 100% of the federal poverty level — which would result in a 31% increase — and indexing them to inflation.
In addition, it also calls for updating rules that have been in place for decades.
Today, individuals can only have $2,000 in assets in order to qualify for the program, while married couples can have up to $3,000. Those thresholds have not been updated since 1989.
The Senate bill calls for updating those caps to $10,000 for individuals and $20,000 for couples.
The bill also seeks to update SSI’s income rules, which have never been changed since the program was created in 1972. Currently, for every $2 someone earns over $65, they lose $1 of SSI benefits.
The Senate proposal would raise those income thresholds, so individuals will be able to earn up to $399 per month through work and take in up to $123 per month through other government benefits or pension income without having their SSI checks reduced.
SSI beneficiaries would no longer be penalized for working or receiving gifts from friends or family. Moreover, married couples who are both on SSI would no longer take a benefit cut.
About 8 million disabled or elderly Americans currently receive SSI benefits, including more than 1 million disabled children.
Increasing benefit amounts for the SSI program is long overdue. Asking retired individuals and disabled individuals to provide for themselves on the significantly low benefit amounts is something that has to change. The SSI program has remained the same for decades and a change is needed. Asking our most vulnerable individuals to maintain on such modest benefit amounts can’t continue. The question is what are the chances this piece of legislation will eventually be passed is the key question. With so many other things Congress has its attention on many Social Security advocates fear that SSI recipients will once again be left out in the cold.
