White House Proposes Cutting $944 SSI Checks by Charging Disabled Adults for Bedrooms
Updated
Updated · MR Online · May 27
White House Proposes Cutting $944 SSI Checks by Charging Disabled Adults for Bedrooms
3 articles · Updated · MR Online · May 27
A draft White House-backed rule would let Social Security reduce SSI payments for disabled adults living with family by counting the value of their bedroom as in-kind support.
The change would apply even when the household is poor enough to qualify for SNAP, effectively requiring recipients over 18 to pay full rent or face monthly benefit deductions.
It would also revive frequent reviews of relatives’ income, assets and living arrangements, adding administrative work to a program that pays only 5% of SSA benefits but consumes nearly 35% of its administrative budget.
The proposal would partly reverse a 2024 SSA change that stopped counting food as in-kind support, broadening scrutiny again for some of the poorest SSI recipients.
Why reverse a recent SSI simplification to penalize disabled adults who rely on family for housing?
Could a new SSI 'bedroom tax' force disabled adults to choose between family and their essential income?