The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program is a means tested, federally-administered income assistance program authorized by Title XVI of the Social Security Act. Established in 1972 (Public Law 92-603), with benefits first paid in 1974, SSI provides monthly cash payments in accordance with uniform, nationwide eligibility requirements to needy aged, blind, and disabled persons. In July 2014, there were 8.4 million SSI recipients receiving $4.7 billion in monthly benefit payments.
The SSI program replaced the federal-state programs of Old Age Assistance and Aid to the Blind established by the original Social Security Act of 1935, as well as the program of Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled established by the Social Security Amendments of 1950. Under these programs, federal matching funds were offered to the states to enable them to give cash relief, “as far as practicable” in each state, to eligible persons whom the states deemed needy. The states set benefit levels and administered these programs. These federal-state adult assistance programs continue to operate in Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Under the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, enacted as Public Law 94-241 on March 24, 1976, the Northern Mariana Islands is the only jurisdiction outside the 50 states and the District of Columbia in which residents are eligible for the SSI program.
The Congress intended the new SSI program to be more than just a federal version of the former state adult assistance programs, which it replaced. In describing the new program, the report of the Committee on Finance stated:
The Committee bill would make a major departure from the traditional concept of public assistance as it now applies to the aged, the blind, and the disabled. Building on the present Social Security program, it would create a new federal program administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA), designed to provide a positive assurance that the nation's aged, blind, and disabled people would no longer have to subsist on below poverty level incomes (Senate Report No. 92-1230, p. 384; U.S. Senate, Committee on Finance, Sept. 26, 1972).
The SSI program was envisioned as a basic national income maintenance system for the aged, blind, and disabled, which would differ from the state programs it replaced in a number of ways. It would be administered by SSA in a manner as comparable as possible to the way in which benefits were administered under the Social Security Old-Age, Survivor, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) programs. While it was understood that modifications would be necessary to make SSA's systems work for the new program, SSI was seen as an add-on rather than a new system.
Under the former adult assistance programs, the amount of assistance could vary from person to person according to an evaluation of the individual's needs. The SSI program, by contrast, represented a “flat grant” approach in which there would be a uniform federal income support level.
It should be noted that even though SSA administers the SSI program, SSI is not the same as Social Security. The SSI program is funded by general revenues of the U.S. Treasury – which are comprised of personal income taxes, corporate taxes, and other taxes. Social Security benefits are funded by the Social Security taxes paid by workers, employers, and self-employed persons. The programs also differ in other ways such as the conditions of eligibility and the method of determining payments. In addition, states have the option of supplementing the basic federal SSI payment. In some cases, state supplementary payments are administered by the state instead of SSA.
This chapter of the Green Book includes a series of Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports organized under the following general headings:
Readers should consult the reports listed under each of these headings for information and data related to these topics. A Tables and Figures section provides a list of the tables and figures included in the CRS reports, and a separate section includes Additional Tables and Figures related to SSI, followed by a Legislative History and Links to Additional Resources.
This page was prepared on August 18, 2014, for the 2014 version of the House Ways and Means Committee Green Book.
The House Ways and Means Committee is making available selected reports by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) for inclusion in its 2014 Green Book website. CRS works exclusively for the United States Congress, providing policy and legal analysis to Committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of party affiliation. Certain CRS reports with cover dates earlier than 2014 are included here because their content remains relevant.
94-486: Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
R41934: Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program: Overview and Current Issues
R41716: Social Security Administration (SSA): Budget Issues
94-803: Social Security: Cost-of-Living Adjustments
This page was prepared on August 18, 2014, for the 2014 version of the House Ways and Means Committee Green Book.
The following tables and figures related to SSI can be found in the CRS reports included in this chapter of the Green Book.
RL32279: Primer on Disability Benefits: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Table 1. Number of SSDI Workers Terminated, by Reason for Termination, 2012
Table 2. Number of Blind and Disabled SSI Recipients (Aged 18-64) Terminated, by Reason for Termination, 2012
Figure 1. SSA’s Disability Determination Process for SSDI and Adult SSI Claimants
Figure 2. SSA’s Disability Determination Process for Child SSI Claimants
Figure 3. SSA’s Appeals Process
R41934: Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program: Overview and Current Issues
Figure 1: Sample Ticket
Figure 2. Ticket to Work Payment Systems for Employment Networks, Calendar Year 2014
Figure 3. New Tickets Assigned, Calendar Years 2004-2010
Figure 4. New Tickets Assigned to ENs, Calendar Years 2004-2010
Table 1. Data on the Ticket to Work Program
Table 2. The Percentage of Disability Beneficiaries Participating in Ticket to Work, Calendar Years 2002-2010
Table 3. Distribution of EN Payments, Calendar Years 2002-2011
Table 4. Employment Outcomes Before and After the July 2008 Regulatory Changes
Table A1: Side-by-Side Comparison of Key Ticket to Work July 2008 Regulatory Changes
R41716: Social Security Administration (SSA): Budget Issues
Figure 1. Projected Spending on SSA Programs
Figure 2. SSA Total LAE Budget Authority
Figure 3. SSA Administrative Budget Requests and Appropriations
94-803: Social Security: Cost-of-Living Adjustments
Table 1. Computation of the Social Security COLA, January 2014
Table 2. Average CPI-W for the Third Quarter, 2007-2013
Table 3. History of Social Security Benefit Increases
This page was prepared on August 18, 2014, for the 2014 version of the House Ways and Means Committee Green Book.
Table 3-1. Maximum Income for Eligibility for Federal SSI Benefits, 2014
Table 3-7. SSI Recipients Under Age 65 by Diagnostic Group, December 2013
Table 3-8. Representative Payee Status of SSI Recipients by Age Group, December 2013
Table 3-12. Total Federally-Administered SSI Payments by State, 2013
Table 3-13. Total Federally-Administered SSI Payments, Selected Years 1974-2013
This page was prepared on September 25, 2014, for the 2014 version of the House Ways and Means Committee Green Book.
The following provides a legislative history of Supplemental Security Income from the 112th Congress through the first session of the 113th Congress. For prior history from 1972-1995, please see the 1996 edition of the Green Book. For prior history from 1996 to 2010, please see the 2012 edition of the Green Book.
Public Law 112-74 included a $2 million appropriation for the Department of Education for activities aimed at improving the outcomes of children receiving SSI and their families, which may include competitive grants to states to improve the provision and coordination of services for SSI child recipients in order to achieve improved health status. This program was known as Promoting Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income (PROMISE).
Public Law 112-240 provided for a permanent extension of the income and 12-month resource exclusions of all refundable federal and advanced tax credits for the purposes of determining eligibility or payment amount for all federal programs, including SSI.
This page was prepared on August 18, 2014, for the 2014 version of the House Ways and Means Committee Green Book.
U.S. Social Security Administration, SSI Annual Statistical Report, 2013
U.S. Social Security Administration, Annual Statistical Supplement, 2013
U.S. Social Security Administration, SSI Annual Report, 2014
This page was prepared on August 18, 2014, for the 2014 version of the House Ways and Means Committee Green Book.