Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

The Social Security Administration has announced that approximately 70 million Americans will see a 5.9% increase in their Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments in 2022. Federal benefit rates increase when the cost-of-living rises, as measured by the Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index (CPI-W). The CPI-W rises when inflation increases, leading to a higher cost-of-living.

On June 4, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a Medicaid Informational Bulletin with the updated 2021 Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Spousal Impoverishment Standards.

Mathematica’s Center for Studying Disability Policy recently created interactive state disability maps that reveal important patterns in state- and county-level prevalence of disability among working-age adults as well as how that prevalence compares with Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income participation rates. This information can help policymakers and program managers identify areas with the highest needs or potential benefit discrepancies.

CMS recently provided an update to the 2021 SSI and Spousal Impoverishment Standards. Spousal impoverishment standards are adjusted in January to reflect changes in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) federal benefit rate (FBR) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI). These new standards will become effective on January 1, 2021.