Millions of people across the United States are set to benefit after the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced it was going to remove a key component it uses to calculate a person's eligibility to receive support. It will also affect how much they qualify to collect.
The SSA said on Wednesday that it will remove food as part of its in-kind support and maintenance (ISM) calculations, which is part of how the agency determines the eligibility and the amount people may receive in supplemental income support. The move could benefit millions of Americans who are recipients of supplemental security income (SSI) support from the agency.
In response to Newsweek's request for comment, an SSA spokesperson said that the SSI program provides cash assistance to approximately 7.5 million people with limited income and resources.
Averaging nearly $700 a month, it is geared towards children and adults with disabilities and those aged at least 65 years with low incomes.
These benefits are meant to augment people's spending on housing, food, clothing and medicine. To qualify, the agency in the past would take into consideration food support someone may receive from friends or family, for example.
"People applying for and receiving SSI must meet eligibility requirements, including income and resource limits. Under our old rules, ISM includes food, shelter, or both a person receives—the agency counts ISM as unearned income, which may affect a person's eligibility or reduce their payment amount," the SSA said in a statement.
Starting on September 30, food will cease to be a part of ISM calculations, the agency said. The move will help make it easier for applicants to apply for SSI.
"A vital part of our mission is helping people access crucial benefits, including SSI," Martin O'Malley, commissioner of the SSA, said in a statement. "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."
The SSA said that because of the rule change it will now not count food support an applicant receives as part of their income.
"The new policy removes a critical barrier for SSI eligibility due to an applicant's or recipient's receipt of informal food assistance from friends, family, and community networks of support," the agency said in its statement.
The SSA said that the old process created volatility in the amount of support that recipients may have received. By removing the food part of the ISM calculation, it will help clarify what applicants are eligible to receive in terms of support.
"The new policy further helps in several important ways: the change is easier to understand and use by applicants, recipients, and agency employees; applicants and recipients have less information to report about food assistance received from family and friends, removing a significant source of burden," the SSA said in its statement.
"Reducing month-to-month variability in payment amounts will improve payment accuracy; and the agency will see administrative savings because less time will be spent administering food ISM," the agency added.
Update 03/27/24 4:38 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the Social Security Administration.
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