If you receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) cash benefits that were reduced from the maximum amount, you may be entitled to have your benefits increased. The following changes help some SSI beneficiaries who:

• Have their SSI reduced due to the value of food received from others.
• Live with a parent or child and have SSI reduced due to the amount they pay for rent.
• Have their SSI reduced but live in a household with at least one other person who receives SNAP (food stamp) benefits or certain other benefits.

If you think you might qualify, contact your local SSA office for more information and to apply for increased benefits. You can find your local SSA office by zip code at secure.ssa.gov/ICON/main.jsp. You can also call the LSNJLAW^SM Hotline at 1-888-LSNJ-LAW (1-888-576-5529) for advice on these important changes.
Below are the changes made by the Social Security Administration (SSA), effective September 30, 2024: 

• Omitting Food from In-Kind Support and Maintenance (ISM) Calculations: SSA is no longer including food in ISM calculations. ISM is a type of unearned income that may affect a person’s SSI eligibility or payment amount.

• Expansion of Rental Subsidy Policy: SSA is expanding its rental subsidy policy nationwide for SSI applicants and recipients who are a parent or child of the landlord (or the landlord’s spouse). It will no longer consider someone to be receiving discounted rent when their required monthly rent equals or exceeds a certain amount. Previously, this exception was limited to SSI applicants and recipients in seven states.

• Expanding the Definition of a Public Assistance Household in two Ways:
  • The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is now included as an additional means-testing public income-maintenance (PIM) program.
  • The definition of a public assistance household is revised to one that has both:
    • An SSI applicant or recipient, and
    • At least one other household member who receives one or more qualifying PIM payments.

If a person lives in a public assistance household, the person is not considered to be receiving ISM from other members of the household. Under Social Security’s prior definition, every member of the household had to receive a PIM payment.

More information is available in this SSA blog post at blog.ssa.gov/statement-on-patrice-the-movie-and-ssi-enhancements-rolling-out/.

This information last reviewed: Nov 7, 2024