Reintroduction of the Supplemental Security Income Restoration Act

Описание: The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program was created to cover the basic needs of aged and disabled individuals in extreme poverty. Today, the program is falling short of that goal as costs are rising and the program has remained largely frozen in time.

A growing number of American seniors are aging into poverty with limited income and assets; these seniors are struggling to afford the basics they need to live safely and secure. SSI is also the only source of federal income support for children with disabilities. To qualify families must meet the severe financial restrictions and a child must have a medical condition that results in “marked and severe functional limitations”, such as blindness, deafness, Cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, or Muscular dystrophy.

The problem with the current program is that it is still designed for 1972, the year it was signed into law by President Nixon. Rules effectively require recipients to live below the poverty line, leading to homelessness, hunger, and illness among older adults and persons with disabilities. The program also unfairly excludes Americans living in Puerto Rico, Guam and other territories. It’s time to update the SSI program to better serve our nation’s lowest-income seniors and people with disabilities.

Please join us for a bipartisan announcement on the introduction of the Supplemental Security Income Restoration Act. The event will also showcase a new report by the Roosevelt Institute detailing how the provisions of the SSI Restoration Act will reduce poverty.