The Social Security Administration no longer will include food in calculations used to determine a person’s eligibility for Supplemental Security Income payments and the payment amount, effective Sept. 30.
The change comes under a final rule announced Wednesday by the agency, which said it was removing barriers to accessing SSI payments for older adults and disabled individuals. The agency also said it would be announcing more updates in the coming weeks.
SSI beneficiaries must be aged more than 65 years, or have a disability or blindness, and meet income requirements for eligibility. The payments are meant to cover necessities such as rent, food, clothing and medicine.
Under the old rule, in-kind support and maintenance items, such as informal food assistance from friends, family and community networks, were considered unearned income and could affect someone’s eligibility or reduce his or her payment amount. The new rule takes in-kind support and maintenance, or ISM, items out of SSI calculations.
“A vital part of our mission is helping people access crucial benefits, including SSI,” Commission of Social Security Martin O’Malley stated. “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 Social Security Administration said that the new policy will be easier to understand and use by applicants, recipients and agency employees and will reduce month-to-month variability in payment amounts, which will improve payment accuracy.
Also, “the agency will see administrative savings because less time will be spent administering food ISM,” the agency said.
