Social Security Administration will expand access to certain benefits through several upcoming changes

O Social Security Administration is set to implement new rules to make it easier for beneficiaries to access certain benefits and increase the payments some can receive.

The new changes affect Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, which provides monthly benefit checks to more than 7 million Americans. These benefits are for seniors aged 65 and over, or adults and children who are disabled or blind and have little or no income or resources.

“We already know that the benefit amounts available to people receiving SSI are incredibly low,” said Lydia Brown, director of public policy at the National Institute on Disability.

“They’re not as high as they could be to fully account for people’s needs,” Brown said.

The maximum federal monthly SSI benefit is currently $943 per eligible individual and $1,415 for an eligible individual and eligible spouse.

The changes, which are set to take effect Sept. 30, are a “positive move in the right direction,” Brown said.

Updates to the definition of a family on public assistance

The agency announced a new rule Thursday to expand the definition of a family on public assistance. Now, families that receive payments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and those where not all members receive public assistance will be included.

With the change, more people may qualify for SSI, current beneficiaries may receive higher payments, and individuals living in households on public assistance may have fewer reporting requirements, according to the Social Security Administration .

The previous policy required all household members to receive public assistance.

A household on public assistance will be defined as one with an SSI applicant or recipient, as well as at least one other member who receives one or more forms of means-tested public income maintenance payments.

“By simplifying our policies and including an additional program targeted at low-income families, like SNAP, we are removing significant barriers to accessing SSI,” Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley said in a statement. “These changes promote greater equity in our programs.”

The definition of a household on public assistance hasn’t been updated in a long time, according to Darcy Milburn, director of Social Security and health care policy at The Arc, a nonprofit that serves people with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

“I would characterize this as just good policy and common-sense changes to update this definition,” Milburn said.

What’s more, there are many ways in which SSI still operates under rules designed in the 1980s, said Brown of the National Institute on Disability.

SNAP is the first public income maintenance benefit to be added to the definition of a public assistance household since 1980, according to the Social Security Administration.

Other rule changes to help beneficiaries

The Social Security Administration is also working to address outdated practices through two other rules that are set to take effect on September 30.

A change will expand the SSI Rent Subsidy Policy to decrease the likelihood that discounted rent or other rental assistance will affect the beneficiary’s SSI eligibility or monthly payment amount. This policy, which was already available in seven states, will be applied nationally.

Another change will make the SSA no longer receives food assistance for support beneficiaries receive from other parties that may reduce their SSI benefit amounts.

The Social Security Administration tracks the resources SSI beneficiaries receive outside of their federal benefits, formally known as in-kind support and maintenance, or ISM.

The goal of ISM is to reduce SSI benefits if a beneficiary receives support from family and friends, treating it as unearned income, Milburn said.

This support can reduce an individual’s monthly benefit by up to a third, Milburn said. And because SSA monitors that support every month, it’s a lot for the agency to monitor, she said.

When the changes take effect this fall, SSI beneficiaries should find they will have less paperwork to fill out, receive more accurate monthly payments and face fewer administrative burdens, Milburn said.