Supplemental Security Income

A top congressional budget staffer told a gathering of public policy specialists and disability advocates that they should "come up with prudent reforms" to the $10 billion Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program for disabled children if they want it to be spared more drastic measures that might be considered in these deficit-cutting times. "I would argue that there's a whole bunch of reasons to think the folks in this room will play an instrumental role in developing further reforms to the SSI program -- and you really need to," said Matt Weidinger, majority staff director of the human...

A top congressional budget staffer told a gathering of public policy specialists and disability advocates that they should "come up with prudent reforms" to the $10 billion Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program for disabled children if they want it to be spared more drastic measures that might be considered in these deficit-cutting times. "I would argue that there's a whole bunch of reasons to think the folks in this room will play an instrumental role in developing further reforms to the SSI program -- and you really need to," said Matt Weidinger, majority staff director of the human...

A look at Social Security's disability program: About 13.6 million people receive federal disability benefits. —7.6 million receive Social Security disability. —4.4 million receive Supplemental Security Income. —1.6 million receive both. –– Social Security disability: —Reserved for people with a substantial work history. —Average monthly payment: $927 —Financing: A portion of Social Security payroll taxes (the rest goes to the retirement fund)

WASHINGTON - Indigent children who grew up as part of a $10 billion federal disability program often do not fare well in early adulthood: Four out of 10 are high school dropouts, and eight out of 10 are unemployed within five years of their 18th birthday, according to congressional testimony yesterday. More than half of the young adults who are part of the children's Supplemental Security Income program eventually seek benefits from the adult part of the same program, creating a disturbing cycle of government dependency and poverty, said David Wittenburg, a senior researcher at Mathematica Policy...

A federally run children’s disability program whose enrollment practices are already the subject of a congressional investigation grew by 3 percent over the past year and is now estimated to cost about $10.3 billion annually. Statistics released last week by the Social Security Administration, at the request of The Boston Globe, showed that at the end of last year, 1.24 million indigent children received up to $700 a month in cash benefits from its children’s Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

GOOD INTENTIONS have gone awry in the federal program that gives cash benefits to families of disabled children, and a comprehensive assessment of the program’s weaknesses is the first step toward fixing it. Given the strong possibility that children are being misclassified as disabled to make their families eligible for checks of up to $700 a month, Congress should happily pay the $10 million or so needed to fund a study of the program by the...

WASHINGTON - Indigent children who grew up as part of a $10 billion federal disability program often do not fare well in early adulthood: Four out of 10 are high school dropouts, and eight out of 10 are unemployed within five years of their 18th birthday, according to congressional testimony yesterday. More than half of the young adults who are part of the children's Supplemental Security Income program eventually seek benefits from the adult part of the same program, creating a disturbing cycle of government dependency and poverty, said David Wittenburg, a senior researcher at Mathematica Policy...

WASHINGTON - People who collect Social Security or disability benefits will share $13 billion in economic stimulus money, each receiving a onetime $250 payment beginning in May, Vice President Biden announced yesterday. More than 50 million recipients of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, will receive the $250 payment sometime in May. Recipients won't have to do anything to get the money, which will be sent separately from their regular monthly benefit.

The Senate has voted to extend a program that keeps elderly and disabled refugees eligible for federal benefits, including those who helped American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, sponsor of the bill, said it would prevent some 5,600 disabled refugees granted legal status on humanitarian grounds from losing their benefits. He said it also affects non-citizens who were victims of torture or human trafficking. A law passed in the 1990s extended monthly Supplemental Security Income benefits to refugees for up to seven...

WASHINGTON - The federal government sent about 3,900 economic stimulus payments of $250 each this spring to people who were in no position to use the money to help stimulate the economy: prison inmates. The checks were part of the economic recovery package approved by Congress and President Obama in February. About 52 million Social Security recipients, railroad retirees, and those receiving Supplemental Security Income were eligible for the one-time checks. Prison inmates are generally ineligible for federal benefits.

A look at Social Security's disability program: About 13.6 million people receive federal disability benefits. —7.6 million receive Social Security disability. —4.4 million receive Supplemental Security Income. —1.6 million receive both. –– Social Security disability: —Reserved for people with a substantial work history. —Average monthly payment: $927 —Financing: A portion of Social Security payroll taxes (the rest goes to the retirement fund)

A federally run children’s disability program whose enrollment practices are already the subject of a congressional investigation grew by 3 percent over the past year and is now estimated to cost about $10.3 billion annually. Statistics released last week by the Social Security Administration, at the request of The Boston Globe, showed that at the end of last year, 1.24 million indigent children received up to $700 a month in cash benefits from its children’s Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

GOOD INTENTIONS have gone awry in the federal program that gives cash benefits to families of disabled children, and a comprehensive assessment of the program’s weaknesses is the first step toward fixing it. Given the strong possibility that children are being misclassified as disabled to make their families eligible for checks of up to $700 a month, Congress should happily pay the $10 million or so needed to fund a study of the program by the...

WE APPLAUD Social Security Administration commissioner Michael Astrue’s recommendation that the highly respected Institute of Medicine undertake a review of the Supplemental Security Income program for children (“SSI program is flawed, chief says,’’ Page A1, May 24). It is important that we understand if in fact SSI is having any unintended consequences affecting the health and safety of children. In the interest of ensuring that the program meets the goal of advancing the quality of life for children and families in need, there must be a rigorous, scientifically based...

WASHINGTON -- Warning: Don't toss out any unfamiliar white envelope without giving it the once-over. It might be a check from the government. Those light brown envelopes carrying Social Security, tax refunds, and many other government checks to millions of Americans will not be arriving anymore. Instead, the Treasury Department is switching to white envelopes this month for most checks sent by its Financial Management Service. It is easier for mail-sorting machines to read bar codes on the white envelopes, said a Financial Management spokeswoman, Alvina McHale.