An emblematic Social Security welfare program is about to celebrate its 50th anniversary in this year 2024, the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program turned 50 this year, announced the Social Security Administration (SSA) on Tuesday, June 4, promoted by President Richard Nixon in 1972, the national benefit for citizens of the United States, who have a disability without income or with reduced income, made its first payments in 1974.
SSI is a benefit provided by the federal government, it provides monthly payments to adults and children with visual impairment or who have a qualified disability, often, the purpose of these payments is to increase the income of people claiming Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) payments that may not meet basic needs.
The Positive Impact of SSI on Beneficiaries and Their Lives
The SSA said that the program is a vital resource for the over 7.5 million people who receive the financial assistance in form of benefit, which is 2% of the population of the United States. Among those who receive monthly payments from SSI, 1 million are children with disabilities, in low-income households
“SSI benefits can help pay for basic needs such as rent, food, clothing and medicines, reducing the number of people in extreme poverty and relieving the burden on other family members,” The SSA indicate in the press release.
“SSI helps those in need, and has done for the past 50 years, thanks to the hardworking and dedicated employees of SSA, SSI is an effective but complicated program, and SSA employees make every effort to ensure that payments are accurate and timely,” Martin O’Malley, Commissioner of Social Security Administration, said in the press release that was issued on June 5. “Recently, we made great strides in strengthening the SSI program by simplifying the rules and helping more people access these benefits. As we celebrate 50 years of SSI, we will continue to look for ways to improve the program and remove barriers.”
SSA’s Commitment to Accurate Payments
Earlier this year, the Social Security Administration made an announcement that would simplify access to SSI benefits by removing household spending on food from the calculations of support and maintenance in kind.
The government agency had said that the change that would be made in the month of September of this year means that applicants and beneficiaries will have to submit less information in order to calculate the benefit amounts and that it would reduce the variability every month in the amounts of payments and payment errors.
Redefining What Public Assistance Homes Are
Another change on the way on the 50th anniversary of SSI is an update of the definition of a public assistance home. According to the new guidelines, a public assistance home is no longer defined solely by each member who receives public income maintenance (PIM) benefits, such as Social Security, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or Help for Families with Dependent Children, as previously requested.
Now, a public assistance home can include anyone who receives payments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and households where not all members have some kind of government benefit, for example, a household in which one member receives SSI and another receives any other type of PIM payment are now eligible as a public assistance home and can receive higher payments.
