What Is Supplemental Security Income? Congress Aims To Boost Payments With New Bill

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is not among the more commonly tossed around terms in conversations about the U.S. Social Security net. In fact, it has been referred to as the “forgotten safety net” as far back as 1987 despite the valuable role it plays in providing extra income for disabled and elderly Americans.

Two U.S. Senators are hoping to give SSI a much-needed boost after years of neglect. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, have held hearings on the program in the Senate Finance Committee for the first time since 1998 to talk about ways to reform SSI benefits, CNBC reports.

Before going into what the politicians hope to achieve, the first question is: what exactly is SSI?

SSI is a benefit program that was created as part of an amendment to the Social Security Act. As the name suggests, the benefit works by providing an extra stream of income to help disabled and elderly Americans with limited income and resources make ends meet. About 8 million Americans receive monthly SSI benefits, including adults and children with disabilities, with the average monthly payment being $586.

However, there are critics who say the SSI regime is outdated and that makes it difficult for eligible Americans to use it.

The SSI program involves numerous rules, like income limits, which narrow the number of people that these payments can help. If beneficiaries work, they are allowed to only hold on to $65 of their SSI earnings a month. Under the current program, earnings that go above a certain threshold reduce benefits by $1 for every $2 in income.

Sen. Brown's proposed reform, the SSI Restoration Act, hopes to reform the program by increasing benefits by 31% to bring them up to the federal poverty level.

It would also increase the asset caps in the program from $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples to $10,000 and $20,000, respectively. Beneficiaries would then be allowed to earn up to $400 through work and take home up to $123 from other benefit programs.

It was hoped that the SSI Restoration Act would be included in either of the multitrillion-dollar infrastructure pacts under discussion now, but its chances of being included that way appear small. Congress is deadlocked in both chambers over the proposed bills’ price tags and the SSI Restoration Act is estimated to cost $510 billion between 2022 and 2030.