Social Security Adds SNAP Expansion — How New Rules Benefit Thousands of Seniors
By T. Woods,
4 hours ago
eric1513 / Getty Images
With a hotly-contested presidential election just around the corner, it’s only natural to feel a bit of economic anxiety, as the country could take one of two different directions in the coming months. Those seniors who receive Social Security Income (SSI), however, have a reason to breathe a big sigh of relief.
SSI, of course, is a monthly payment that can be received by those over the age of 65 with limited financial means, or those (adults or children) with a serious disability. SSI payments can help pay for medication, food, rent and other basic needs. to qualify for such benefits, one must meet certain low income eligibility requirements. Further, the Social Security Press Office recently announced a number of helpful changes to SSI that will hopefully reduce customer burden during what may become an economically fraught election season .
Martin O’Malley, the Commissioner of Social Security, announced in a press release dated September 30 that “these changes will help more people access crucial SSI benefits. By simplifying our policies, we are making SSI smarter, removing barriers to accessing payments and reducing the burden on the public and agency staff.”
Going forward, the agency will add Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Plan (SNAP) benefits “to the types of public assistance listed in the policy,” and the Social Security agency will no longer require that all household members receive public assistance in order for them to be officially considered a public assistance household. These amended definitions will grant more Americans the ability to qualify for SSI, and will also increase the monthly payment amount for certain SSI recipients.
Additionally, food will no longer be considered in In-Kind Support and Maintenance (ISM) calculations, which will remove “a critical barrier to SSI eligibility than an applicant or recipient might encounter if they get informal food assistance from friends, family and community networks.”
Finally, the agency will be taking a rental subsidy that ensures “people paying at least a certain amount toward rent are not subject to ISM in the form of rental assistance” and expanding it from seven states to the entire nation. All told, the SNAP expansion, coupled with these additional changes, should alleviate a number of financial burdens for America’s seniors .
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