[Nfbf-l] SSI, People With Disabilities, and Reaching the Federal Poverty Level.

[Alan Dicey]

Dear Friends,
I thought some might get something out of this article, and perhaps send it around.
With Best Regards,
Alan
Miami, Florida

SSI, People With Disabilities, and Reaching the Federal Poverty Level.
Information Bulletin #366 (11/2012)
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is basically a federal program for
people who are disabled (and older Americans).

As of 2011, there were about 6.7 million people with disabilities who
received SSI (another 1 million recipients were over 65).  These people
are the poorest of all the disabled people in the country.  Most of them
do not qualify for either Social Security or Medicare; some receive both
SSI and Social Security, but combined only to the SSI level.

Throughout the recent election campaign and well before that, there has
been virtually no discussion, mention or let alone a moral outrage
addressing a basic minimal, basic, livable support for people who struggle
to survive on SSI.

The current monthly federal SSI grant is $698 a month ($8,376 annually)
for a single person and for a couple it's $1,086 a month ($13,032
annually).  SSI eligibility automatically triggers Medicaid eligibility.

States have the option to provide a State Supplement to the federal SSI
grant.  Of the 6.7 million people with disabilities who somehow survive on
SSI, only 1.6 million, who live in the community, receive a State
Supplement.

By and large, most States supplement SSI for persons who reside in
personal care homes, Medicaid facilities, nursing homes, and other
institutions but not for people with disabilities who live independently
in the community. The amount of institutional SSI State supplement is much
higher than the SSI State supplement to live independently in the
community.  Hmmm. Sounds like another institutional bias, contrary to
ADA's "the most integrated setting" -- a la Olmstead.

Let's put the monthly federal SSI sums in some perspective. The federal
poverty level is $10,890 for a single person and $14,710 for a couple,
compared to the SSI federal $8,376 and $13,032 respectively.  As
inadequate as the federal poverty level is, it should be the bottom
benchmark!

For people with disabilities who must survive on SSI, they live on 75% of
the federal poverty level for a single person and 83% of the FPL for a
couple. This gap has been approximately the same for the last ten years.
For those persons who reside in the community on SSI, to reach just the
federal poverty level, the federal SSI grant (or a State supplement) would
have to increase by $209 a month for a single person and $140 for a
couple. Other than Alaska, no State provides that amount of a State
Supplement for single persons with a disability who reside independently
in the community. Only five States provide more than $140 a month for a
couple.

We all know how extremely difficult it is for a SSI recipient who is
disabled to find a place to live that they can afford.  The "2010 Priced
Out" Report clearly demonstrated how the housing market overwhelmingly
trumps the SSI grant.

What advocates could do:

1.     This is a federal issue.  We do not believe any States will
   voluntarily increase their SSI State Supplements so people could afford
   to live healthy and safe lives independently in the community.

2.     We need to make this a moral issue! It's an outrage that the
   poorest disabled and elderly Americans are totally ignored and
   forgotten.

3.     SSI cuts across all disability categories and the elderly.
   Therefore, increasing SSI is a great unifying and organizing issue.

4.     Increasing the federal SSI amount even to the extremely inadequate
   federal poverty level is an economic stimulus on both a federal and
   State levels.  People on SSI spend their entire grants just to survive,
   putting their entire grants into the economy. These are federal
   allocations well spent!

Steve Gold, The Disability Odyssey continues


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http://www.stevegoldada.com

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stevegoldada1 at gmail.com<stevegoldada at cs.com>
or call 215-627-7100. Ext 227.

--
Steve Gold, The Disability Odyssey continues

Back issues of other Information Bulletins are available online at
http://www.stevegoldada.com