While the previous Congress passed a flurry of legislation in the closing days of 2022, one issue that again failed to pass was raising the income limit to be eligible for Supplemental Security Income benefits.
Currently, the asset limit for SSI is $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples.
While the resource limit generally does not include the home you live in or one vehicle, it applies to any money in a checking or savings account, a retirement account, or any sort of secondary vehicle.
Many disabled individuals who do not have the work credits to be eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance quickly find out that the resource limit, which hasn’t been raised since 1984, renders them ineligible for any sort of disability benefits.
This often requires them to sell off assets or spend money they don’t need to in order to qualify for SSI, or simply go without much needed benefits.
A bill that would have raised the asset limit to $10,000 for individuals or $20,000 for couples did receive bipartisan support, but not enough to pass both chambers, with critics saying they declined to back it because Social Security issues were not being considered in the broader spending bill.
Unfortunately, it’s now unclear when Congress will even take up the SSI resource limit again, leaving millions of Americans unable to obtain disability benefits they badly need.
The resource limit issue is an especially tricky one in disability law, but one that an experienced attorney can help you navigate.
