Social Security Administration to expand access to benefits under major overhaul

The Social Security Administration is about to implement new rules that will make it easier for eligible Americans to access certain benefits — and increase payments for some.

The change will apply to Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a means-tested program that provides monthly checks to more than 7 million disabled Americans and seniors over age 65.

The new rules will expand the definition of what qualifies as a household for government assistance – the first change since 1980.

Currently, food assistance can count as unearned income for those receiving SSI, meaning their payments could be reduced or their eligibility affected.

Those receiving payments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will be included in the definition of public assistance households under the new rules that will take effect September 30.

The new policy will also expand the definition to include households where not all members receive government assistance, which was previously a requirement.

A household on public assistance is now defined as a household with both an SSI applicant or beneficiary and at least one other member receiving one or more forms of means-tested public income maintenance payments. CNBC reported.

“By simplifying our policies and including an additional program targeted at low-income families, like SNAP, we are removing important barriers to accessing SSI,” Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley said in a statement .

“These changes promote greater equity in our programs.”

Currently, the maximum monthly SSI benefit is $943 per individual, and $1,415 for an individual and eligible spouse.

The definition of a household on public assistance has not been updated in decades, Darcy Milburn, director of social security and health care policy at nonprofit The Arc, told CNBC.

“I would characterize this as just good policy and common sense changes to update this definition,” Milburn said.

The change could make more Americans eligible for SSI, or current beneficiaries could see higher payments.

It comes after the Social Security Administration announced earlier this week that there is expected to be a shortage of funds by 2035.

“By simplifying our policies and including an additional program targeted at low-income families, like SNAP, we are removing important barriers to accessing SSI,” Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley said in a statement .

An aging population drives up the cost of the Social Security program because a smaller share of people pay into it, and expenses exceed revenues.

The last year report from the Social Security Board of Trustees found that the program will only be able to pay out full benefits for the next eleven years — which is a year later than previous estimates.

Social Security is primarily funded through payroll taxes that are deducted from paychecks, which are then used to pay retirement and disability benefits.

If the trust funds on which the Social Security Administration depends are depleted, that doesn’t mean the payments will suddenly disappear.

Instead, the Trustees predict that beneficiaries will face a reduction in their monthly checks, causing them to lose 17 percent of their current benefits.

This could be of great importance to millions of disabled Americans, and to those who rely on Social Security as their sole income in retirement.

However, it is a slight improvement from last year’s estimates, which projected that funds could be exhausted by 2034 – at which point only 80 percent of planned benefits could be covered.

It comes as experts also warn of a growing group of financially vulnerable Americans known as ‘ALICEs.

An ALICE – or Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed – is someone who makes enough money from their work to disqualify them from government assistance, but struggles to meet day-to-day expenses.

The term was coined by the nonprofit United Way in its publication United for ALICE program. It classifies ALICEs as Americans who earn more than the federal poverty level of $15,060 for an individual or $31,200 for a family of four but are unable to make ends meet.

About 29 percent of U.S. households are ALICE, according to the latest data from United for ALICE, while 13 percent are below the federal poverty level.

Many ALICEs are workers whose salaries are not enough to meet basic needs, meaning they could be forced to sacrifice health care to meet rent payments, for example.