The Social Security Administration will no longer include food in calculations used to determine the eligibility of a person to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Social Security on Wednesday announced that it will no longer consider food as a barrier to assessing the benefits of Supplemental Security Income payments for older adults and disabled individuals. The rule will go into effect on September 30. the agency further announced that it will continue to share the updates in the coming weeks.
Removal Of Food From Criteria To Calculate ISM Is Only The First Of Several Updates
On March 27, 2024, the Social Security Administration announced a final rule that eliminated food from in-kind support and maintenance calculations (ISM).
Generally, SSI beneficiaries are aged more than 65 or have any disabilities or blindness. The SSI payments are expected to meet the expenses such as food, clothing, rent, and medicine. Under the previous rule, informal food items from friends, and family as well as other community networks were considered unearned income and hence, they were used to reduce a person’s eligibility amount. However, under the new rule, kind support and maintenance including the food items from the aforementioned class of people, or ISM items will be calculated out of SSI. In other words, the new policy will no longer include food in ISM calculations.
According to disability advocate Darcy Milburn, the beneficiaries will no longer have to worry that the meals they receive from their family or well-wishers will reduce their monthly benefits. Also, Milburn said that the agency will not longer have to put in extra effort to use its limited resources to record every time a beneficiary receives food so that they could cut their monthly benefits.
According to Milburb, the recently implemented change “represents a really meaningful step” to resolve one of the “burdensome and inhumane” laws impacting old adults and disabled people.
Following the Wednesday announcement, Martin O’Malley, the Commissioner of Social Security said: “ A vital part of our mission is to help people access the crucial benefits.” He believes that simplifying the policies is a common solution that can reduce the burden on the public as well as the agency staff, while also helping promote equity by removing “unnecessary” barriers to accessing payments.
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A rep from the Social Security Administration said that the new policy would be much easier for the applicants, agency employees, and, recipients to understand than before. It is thought to reduce the month-to-month variability in the payments and therefore, the payment accuracy is expected to increase. The change is the first of several updates that are to be implemented by the agency for the benefit of its applicants, recipients, and agency employees.
The monthly maximum SSI amounts in 2024 are $472 for essential persons or individuals who provide care or live with SSI beneficiaries such as adults over the age of 65 or disabled people, $1,415 for couples, and $943 for individuals. To qualify for SSI, the applicant must generally earn at least $1971 per month from his/her work. They must also produce proof to show they have a minimum of $2,000 in resources per individual and $3,000 for couples. Here, the resources refer to either money or assets that can be liquified at any time such as properties, bonds, bank accounts, and stocks.