Supplemental Security Income benefits for many people with disabilities will surpass $1,000 per month for the first time next year making it even harder for beneficiaries to save without exceeding the program’s asset limits.
The Social Security Administration said this month that the maximum federal SSI benefit for individuals will climb to $1,029 per month. The rise comes as a result of an annual automatic cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, that’s tied to inflation.
Despite the change, however, the agency said there will be no rise in the strict asset limits that beneficiaries must adhere to in order to maintain eligibility for the program. That means that individuals with disabilities receiving SSI can have no more than $2,000 to their name, a cap that’s been in place since the 1980s.
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“When that limit first took effect, it equaled more than five months of benefits. In January, it will equal less than two,” said Michelle Uzeta, executive director of the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund.
Uteza said the so-called resource limit is causing real hardship for people with disabilities.
“The consequences of these policies are real and quite harsh,” she said. “A disabled person who saves for a security deposit, a car repair or a wheelchair part risks losing SSI and, in most states, the Medicaid coverage that comes with it.”
For years, advocates have been pushing Congress to update SSI’s asset limits. A bill known as the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act would increase the cap to $10,000 for individuals and ensure that it adjusts for inflation going forward. The measure has bipartisan support and is backed by disability groups and the influential U.S. Chamber of Commerce, but it has not yet received a hearing this session on Capitol Hill.
As a result, advocates say that the much-needed COLA comes with baggage.
“The benefit increase to SSI recipients to slightly above $1,000 should be welcome news,” said Maria Town, president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities. “That this good news just creates more cause for concern shows how unsustainable current SSI asset limits are.”
Meanwhile, another bill — the SSI Restoration Act — would address a separate limit known as the earned income disregard, which has also been unchanged for decades. Under that requirement, SSI beneficiaries who are employed see their benefits reduced after earning just $65 a month.
“Not adjusting this amount for inflation has resulted in one of the most extreme work penalties that exist in a federal program today,” said Darcy Milburn, director of Social Security and healthcare policy at The Arc of the United States.
The SSI Restoration Act also has not received a hearing in either the Senate or House of Representatives this session.
Heather Sachs, policy and advocacy co-director at the National Down Syndrome Congress, said it’s incumbent on Congress to update the SSI program and her group had hundreds of advocates in Washington just weeks ago asking lawmakers to take action.
“We should be encouraging people with disabilities to save and become more financially independent, not penalizing them for doing so,” she said.
