Supplemental Security Income SSI

Congress created Supplemental Security Income in the 1972 Social Security amendments, and it began paying benefits in January 1974, replacing state programs for poor older, blind, and disabled people. Unlike Social Security, it does not depend on work history and is paid from general tax revenue rather than payroll taxes. The Social Security Administration runs it, and many states add their own supplement.

The maximum federal payment was 994 dollars a month for an individual in 2026 and rises to 1,029 dollars in 2027, reduced by most other income. Recipients may have no more than 2,000 dollars in countable savings, or 3,000 dollars for a couple, limits unchanged since 1989. About 7.4 million people receive SSI, including about 1 million children with disabilities, and about a third of adult recipients also receive a small Social Security benefit. In most states SSI recipients qualify automatically for Medicaid.

Advocates for people with disabilities argue that the low asset limits and rules that cut benefits when recipients marry or get help from family keep them in poverty, and bipartisan bills would raise the limits. Others focus on preventing improper payments, which are high because recipients must report income and savings changes. Applications go through the same disability determination process as Social Security disability benefits, with long waits for appeals.