FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 12th, 2023
Contact: Linda Benesch, lbenesc
Congress Should Swiftly Pass the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), along with Representatives Brian Higgins (D-NY-26) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1), introduced the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act. The following is a statement on the legislation from Nancy Altman, President of Social Security Works:
“Social Security Works strongly endorses this important legislation and applauds its visionary cosponsors. The Supplemental Security Income program, a vital companion to Social Security, is a lifeline to millions of people with disabilities and seniors. Yet the last and only time Congress increased its stringent asset limits was forty years ago, in 1984. It is well past time that Congress update these limits, as the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act does.
As the name of the legislation indicates, the current, overly restrictive and out-of-date asset limits penalize savings. Even one dollar in savings above the limits of $2,000 for an individual or $3,000 for a couple results not just in the loss of SSI cash benefits but also can result in the loss of Medicaid, housing assistance, and other benefits. And the limits penalize marriage as well–married couples can only save three-fourths of the amount two individuals are allowed to save. Moreover, these stringent and intrusive limits are extremely costly for the Social Security Administration to administer.
Congress should immediately pass the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act into law. It should then eliminate the program’s other marriage penalties, as well as update and expand it in other ways.”
###
Social Security Works is a non-profit organization working to improve the economic security of disadvantaged and at-risk populations by fighting to expand Social Security, improve Medicare, and lower the outrageous prices of prescription drugs.