Trapped in a Social Safety Net
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What is Supplemental Security Income (SSI)?
We sat down to talk about the ins and outs of this program, and he told me a lot of stories, including one about Karen Williams, a 63-year-old woman in Philadelphia.
Karen Williams couldn't work because of a disability. She was struggling to pay for her everyday expenses. But she was proud of how she managed the little money she did have.
And I was just making a dollar not only holler, but make it scream. And that's what I was doing. I knew how to juggle money and save and put up and all that.
But it wasn't enough. One of her health care providers told her about this program called SSI. So she applied. And the monthly benefit, she got several hundred dollars a month, was a relief. It made her life better. It helped her get by, at least for a while. Then the program turned into her nightmare.
It's really tiresome. Today on The Sunday Story, how a program designed as a safety net for the poor and disabled has kept many in poverty instead. More on correspondent Joe Shapiro's investigation when we come back. You're listening to The Sunday Story. I'm here with correspondent Joe Shapiro talking about the Supplemental Security Income Program. So, Joe, tell me about the SSI program. Like, who is it meant to serve?
SSI is run by the Social Security Administration. It provides financial assistance in the form of a monthly check, mostly to adults with physical disabilities or they're blind or they have mental health disabilities. Some checks go to disabled children and also to people 65 and older who are very poor.
Okay. Well, you know, I definitely know people who had little or no income, and they relied on these checks to get by.
Yes, those SSI checks, those are lifelines to some of the poorest people in this country. And this year, the average SSI check is about $700 a month. The money helps people pay for everyday expenses, food, rent, medical costs, and it qualifies them in most states for health insurance through Medicaid.
So it does sound like it could be a really good tool to fight poverty. But you led an NPR investigation into the program and you found a very different reality. And you called SSI the forgotten safety net. Why?
Yes, so a forgotten safety net because SSI was this bold and innovative program when it was created back in 1972. And this may be surprising, but the idea started with President Richard Nixon. He proposed replacing the existing federal welfare system with a guaranteed basic income to impoverished Americans. They'd get monthly vouchers and they could spend the money how they wanted. And Nixon got support on the right and from some on the left. But in the end, his plan failed. Just one part survived, a monthly check to poor, disabled, and elderly people. It was an easier case to make because these were considered among the most so-called deserving of the poor. And that's how SSI was created. But in 52 years, the program has been largely forgotten by lawmakers and policymakers.
Its rules are frozen in place at standards from 40 to 50 years ago.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is Supplemental Security Income (SSI)?
1:12–5:15
2
How has SSI become a forgotten safety net?
5:15–7:29
3
What are the outdated rules of SSI?
7:29–7:35
4
How do asset limits affect SSI beneficiaries?
7:35–10:11
5
What challenges do beneficiaries face with SSI?
10:11–12:22
6
How does SSI impact people's ability to save?
12:22–18:54
7
What are the implications of overpayment notices from SSI?
18:54–19:05
8
What changes are being proposed for the SSI program?
19:05–29:48
Speakers
9 identifiedMore from Up First from NPR
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