Supplemental Security Income, known simply as SSI, is a cash assistance program created to support low-income seniors and people with disabilities. It is a means tested program in which individual recipients won’t qualify if they have assets that exceed $2,000 in value, $3,000 for a couple.
The limits on assets for SSI beneficiaries are unfair to individuals and families alike. SSI recipients can’t have much of anything in cash, bank accounts, retirement accounts, whole life insurance policies, investments, and certain types of personal property to be eligible for the benefit, which keeps them stuck in a life of poverty. They often prevent family members from seeking promotions, accepting new jobs, or saving money for fear that their loved one will lose their benefits.
It also keeps people with disabilities from getting married because of the punitive SSI rules that disqualify married people if their combined savings exceed $3,000.
In September of 2023, Senators Brown (D-OH) and Cassidy (R-LA) and Representatives Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Higgins (D-NY) introduced the bipartisan SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act, which would increase the asset limit from $2,000 to $10,000 for an individual and $3,000 to $20,000 for a couple, and it would exclude retirement savings from the countable assets.
During a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing with many of the nation’s largest banking executives in December, Senator Brown (D-OH) asked all the executives if they would support the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act. All of them said they would, with JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon testifying:
“...we have employees who don’t want us to increase their salary because if it goes over a certain amount they can’t get [the SSI] benefit, which they’re entitled to. Or, they can’t have assets over [$2,000], so it definitely should be fixed and we fully support it, and we’ll try to be as helpful as we can.”
This legislation is supported by six out of ten Americans as well as major business and religious groups. The momentum for this game changer is there. It’s time for Congress to take action!
Click “Start Writing” to send a direct message to Congress demanding they pass the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act today.