Statement on Patrice: The Movie and SSI Enhancements Rolling Out
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: September 30, 2024
All of us at the Social Security Administration want to recognize Patrice Jetter, Garry Wickham, and everyone involved in Patrice: The Movie, a documentary that focuses on the couple’s concerns about losing their disability benefits if they got married.
Our agency stands ready to assist Congress as it works to address outdated laws and to strengthen programs like Supplemental Security Income (SSI) that serve millions of people with disabilities throughout the country. Enacted 50 years ago, the SSI program provides payments to people with disabilities and older adults who have limited income and resources.
Congress imposes limits on SSI applicants and recipients, including asset limits for individuals and married couples that have not been adjusted since 1989. As applied today, that partial 1989 update can make it difficult for SSI recipients to save money and can cause other hardships, as the movie emphasizes.
The movie also highlights how changes to the asset limit and related marriage rules can only be made by Congress because those have been set by statute. For decades, there has been Congressional interest in updating SSI asset limits. Back in 2003, for example, a committee in Congress wanted to update limits (from $2,000 to $3,000 for individuals and from $3,000 to $4,500 for couples) and index those amounts for inflation, and there have been more recent legislative efforts as well. Again, we stand ready to provide expertise to Congress as it discusses and debates this issue.
While only Congress can make some changes, to the extent possible by law SSA is taking steps to update SSI policies administratively to simplify rules, reduce burdens, and better support people with disabilities. For example, as announced earlier this year, today is the effective date for three SSI enhancements that are estimated to lead to new or increased SSI payments for hundreds of thousands of Americans with disabilities.
- The agency no longer includes food assistance from friends and family in calculating eligibility (in-kind support and maintenance). This could increase monthly SSI payments by about $131 per month for over 90,000 people and allow more people to qualify for SSI benefits.
- The agency expands the rental subsidy exception to SSI applicants and recipients nationwide, which was previously applied in only seven states. This could increase monthly SSI payments by about $132 per month for about 41,000 people and allow more people to qualify.
- The agency expands the definition of a “public assistance household” by adding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to the types of public assistance listed and by no longer requiring that all household members receive public assistance to be considered a public assistance household. These two changes could result in increased SSI payments to about 277,000 people and allow more people to qualify, while also reducing reporting burdens for individuals living in public assistance households.
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Angel V.
Es una verguenza que el ajuste de cola para el 2025 sea solo de 24 dolares para los que resivimos ssi tengo 78 anos y me tengo que volver un artista para pagar los biles y comprar comida, ojala el nuevo director se acuerde de nosotros los menos favoresidos gracia Sr director
S.S.
Hi, Angel. For information in Spanish, please visit us at http://www.segurosocial.gov, Administración del Seguro Social http://www.facebook.com/segurosocial. Thanks!
Marcus P.
The fact that poverty is enforced to this date is unconscionable.
For all those elected officials that give lip service to marriage, shame on them
Patrice is an excellent documentary. I encourage everyone to watch it.
As a filmmaker, this is truly Oscar worthy
April 4.
Sounds like being born disabled or in need at 65 is a guarantee you will struggle to save any amount of money for the future, even with all the great new policy changes.
RC
Our government officials should be ashamed. There are so many examples in the movie that could redirect money (allow two people with housing assistance live together would actually save money), incentivize people to save to pay for larger expenses (like a car), don’t treat every situation the same way (yes, some have family assets that should be considered, but others do not). Let’s tap into the population with disabilities to advise Congress. It’s obvious Congress cant figure this out by themselves.
Diane G.
The SSA needs to abolish the work credits thing. I worked my whole life. I took care of my mom. Then I became disabled later on and didn’t have enough current work credits to get SSI when I became disabled. It’s a bunch of BS.
Jennifer T.
I think the SSI rules and regulations should be abolished and changed immediately 52 years of disabled people living in poverty it’s not fair. And I think The Social Security Administration should let us keep our benefits we know you have money stop being stingy with the cost.