Zeljkosantrac | E+ | Getty PicturesThe Social Security Administration has issued a final rule that can stop food assistance from lowering funds to sure beneficiaries.The change applies to Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, which supplies month-to-month checks to adults and youngsters who’re disabled, blind or age 65 and older, and have little or no income or sources.Approximately 7.4 million Americans obtain assist both completely from SSI or together with Social Security.Under the brand new rule, which fits into impact Sept. 30, food will no longer depend towards calculations for eligibility for advantages, recognized as In-Kind Support and Maintenance, or ISM.Currently, assist within the type of food, shelter or each might depend as unearned income for SSI beneficiaries, and due to this fact cut back their funds or have an effect on their eligibility for advantages.More from Personal Finance:
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78% of near-retirees failed or barely passed a basic Social Security quizThe month-to-month most federal SSI quantities in 2024 are $943 for individuals, $1,415 for {couples} and $472 for important individuals, or those that stay with an SSI beneficiary and supply care.To qualify for SSI, beneficiaries should usually earn less than $1,971 monthly from work. They should even have much less than $2,000 in resources per individual, or $3,000 per couple.That usually contains both money or different property that may be became money, such as bank accounts, bonds, property and shares.The new rule means SSI beneficiaries will no longer have to fear that the groceries or meals they obtain from household or buddies might cut back their month-to-month advantages, stated Darcy Milburn, director of Social Security and well being care coverage at The Arc, a nonprofit group serving people with developmental and mental disabilities.The Social Security Administration, in flip, will no longer have to use its restricted sources to doc each time a beneficiary obtained free food after which cut their month-to-month benefit by as a lot as a third, she stated.”It represents a really meaningful step to address one of the most complex, burdensome and inhumane policies impacting people with disabilities that receive SSI,” Milburn stated.The change is the primary of a number of updates the Social Security Administration stated it plans to put in place for SSI beneficiaries and candidates.”Simplifying our policies is a common-sense solution that reduces the burden on the public and agency staff and helps promote equity by removing barriers to accessing payments,” Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley stated in a assertion.The new rule might help present some reduction to SSI beneficiaries as high inflation continues to immediate higher food and grocery bills for all Americans.”People on SSI are one of the most food insecure groups in the United States,” stated Thomas Foley, government director on the National Disability Institute.The new rule may additionally lead to fewer overpayments or underpayments of advantages, and due to this fact increase financial safety for beneficiaries, he stated.Congress might have the chance to enact larger modifications to SSI by a bipartisan bill that may raise the asset limits for beneficiaries to $10,000 for people, up from $2,000, and to $20,000 for married {couples}, up from $3,000.”Disability affects everybody, so it’s a bipartisan issue,” Foley stated.”Restricting asset limits to the $2,000 level really impacts people’s ability to save and build a better financial future,” he stated.In December, bank CEOs together with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon testified before the Senate that they’re in favor of updating SSI’s guidelines.”We have employees who don’t want us to increase their salary because if it goes over a certain amount, they can’t get that benefit which they’re entitled to,” Dimon stated in December.”This definitely should be fixed,” he stated.Don’t miss these tales from CNBC PRO: