Federal assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) serve as a lifeline for a number of especially vulnerable individuals across the country. SNAP is an assistance program that provides low income households with funds or food benefits that allows them the ability to purchase nutritious foods. The Supplemental Security Income, or SSI benefit, is paid to individuals who are older than 65, blind, or disabled, with little to no other resources or income.
Under the Social Security program, there exists two types of disability benefits: the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Both types of disability benefits are disbursed by the Social Security Administration (SSA). A new report from The Washington Post has revealed that a proposal to remove age as a determining factor in a person’s ability to work is currently under consideration by the Trump Administration. The White House has, however, denied any claims regarding changes to disability determination processes. Here is what you need to know.
Disability benefits
As noted above, the SSA disburses two kinds of disability benefits: the SSDI, and the SSI. The Social Security Disability Insurance, as is stated in its name, functions as a form of insurance, meaning that contributions will have had to be made prior to claiming the benefit. Much like retiree benefits, in order to claim SSDI benefits, the individual will need to have paid into the Social Security payroll tax which will, in turn, earn them work credits. Generally, in order to claim SSDI benefits, “you need 40 credits, 20 of which were earned in the last 10 years ending with the year your disability begins. This is called the 20/40 Rule,” as per the SSA. Additionally, if an individual has been collecting SSDI benefits for two years, they will then qualify for Medicare.
The Supplemental Security Income, on the other hand, functions as a type of welfare benefit and is funded by general tax revenues. This means that work credits are not required in order to submit an application for SSI benefits. In order to qualify for SSI benefits, an individual cannot earn a monthly income of more than $2,019, or the applicant’s common resources cannot exceed $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples. Alternatively, the applicant must have a disability, or are aged 65 and older.
Possible change to disability determination?
The Trump Administration is said to be considering a proposal that would remove age as a factor used to determine an applicant’s ability to work. It is has not yet been determined which of the two disability benefits (if not both) would be affected by this proposal, however, The Urban Institute has shared that it thinks both would be impacted.
At present, a “sequential evaluation process” consisting of 5 steps is used when processing disability claims at the SSA. The following five factors are studied:
- current work activity,
- the severity of the applicant’s impairment,
- does it meet a listed condition,
- the applicant’s ability to perform past work, and
- the applicant’s capacity to do other work based on age, education, and experience.
Age is considered as a limitation at a number of jobs, and as such, older applicants have a good chance of qualifying for the benefit. However, according to The Washington Post’s report, “officials are considering removing age as a factor altogether or only applying it to individuals aged 60 and older. They also plan to update the labor market data used to decide whether claimants can work, replacing an outdated database that still lists obsolete jobs such as nut sorter and telephone quotation clerk.”
The White House has, however, denied that any changes will be made to disability determination processes for any Social Security welfare programs. According to Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai who spoke with Newsweek, “President Trump will always protect and defend Social Security for American citizens. The only policy change to Social Security is President Trump’s working families tax cut legislation that eliminated taxation of Social Security for almost all beneficiaries—which every single Democrat voted against.”
An SSA spokesperson told The Washington Post that the SSA has plans in the works to “propose improvements to the disability adjudication process to ensure our disability program remains current and can be more efficiently administered.” The spokesperson further added that, “this includes proposing policy updates to occupational data sources and optimizing their use to serve our customers and preserve the trust funds. Once the proposal is fully developed, we will share it publicly and request public comment through the standard rulemaking process…As with any rulemaking, we will consider and analyze public comments before deciding whether to finalize the rule.”