From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:
The Trump Administration is preparing to propose a rule to cut Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits and strip eligibility for hundreds of thousands of low-income older people and severely disabled adults and children.
Under the rule, nearly 400,000 SSI beneficiaries living with family or friends experiencing their own financial struggles likely would have their benefits cut — typically by hundreds of dollars per month — or lose eligibility altogether. …
Currently, very low-income disabled or older people who receive SSI can have their benefits reduced by up to one-third (about $300 a month) if they receive “in-kind support and maintenance,” including a place to stay. Similarly, SSI recipients can have their benefits reduced based on the income of their parents (if they are under 18) or spouse, under the assumption that they will contribute to an SSI beneficiary’s living expenses. However, these reductions don’t apply to beneficiaries who live in a household that receives “public assistance,” including food assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). That’s because households financially precarious enough to qualify for those benefits can’t afford to financially support SSI recipients. These rules help families support their elderly or disabled relatives, including by allowing them to live in their homes, reducing the likelihood that they experience homelessness or need institutional care. …
Under the anticipated Trump Administration proposal, it’s expected that receiving food assistance from SNAP would no longer be enough to qualify a family as a “public assistance household.” …
7 comments:
The cruelty IS the point.
That was a mighty fine Executive Order #47 signed a couple weeks ago, effectively criminalizing those that are the most vulnerable adults and children in our country. Some claimants don't have family or friends. They'll end up homeless and possibly be arrested and placed in institutions for an indefinite amount of time, effectively rewinding our country to the 1950's and '60's. These people have the nerve to call themselves "Christian's". It isn't just the government either, there are people that want the "unsightly" people of this country out of their communities, but yet still claim they obey the Bible in which they obviously, based on their actions, have never read. The hypocrisy is palpable.
Still remember Phony Joni Ernst telling people if they are truly needy to go to a church and ask for help instead of getting a government handout...Just waiting for Joel O$teen to sell his 10 million dollar mansion to do what Ernst says...
Cruel ideas have no expiration date. 20 years ago the OIG asked SSA to consider doing what they are doing to SNAP, only to group homes for the disabled. Was all about the equity of it and the cost savings. Sorry if I put this idea back out there.
I have mixed feelings on the changes that occurred. By eliminating deeming based on food stamp status, we are taking a federal benefit and are allowing payment to be determined by/dependent upon receipt of food benefits, which is a program run by states. So essentially, you have a higher chance of not having your SSI docked by your spouse’s/parent’s income if you live in a more forgiving/welfare-generous state. Whereas if you live in a state with more stringent snap guidelines, your SSI will be reduced by the other household income. We should be trying to eliminate outcomes like this. I understand that one could say that there are other public assistance benefits that are administered based on guidelines that vary state to state. But food stamps are much more universal. The agency’s ability to verify food stamps also varies greatly state by state. And each state’s food stamp review cycle doesn’t necessarily match with how SSI benefits are reviewed. There are even examples of claimants going in and out of eligibility between food stamps and SSI, back and forth.
“The Trump Administration will not cut Scial Security…President Trump himself has said it over and over again.” -White House website. Didn’t take long to break that promise.
SSI isn’t social security
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