Asset limits are just one economic hurdle people with disabilities face
www.wbur.org
It’s been decades since the government set how much money someone with a disability can keep in savings and still be eligible for Supplemental Security Income benefits.

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/ssi-rules-families-poverty/

The Supplemental Security Income program (SSI) was created in 1972 under the Nixon administration to provide financial support to low-income seniors and disabled people. An effort to federalize state-level adult support programs across the country, SSI is a means-tested program—there are financial requirements to be eligible. In the case of SSI, as of its last adjustment in 1989, enrollees cannot have savings of more than $2,000 as an individual or $3,000 as a family. Furthermore, SSI beneficiaries are prohibited from having retirement accounts, life insurance policies, certain types of personal property, funeral/burial policies, and access to other types of income.

[emphasis mine]

OMG I’m gonna test some means! hillgasm

amerikkka

  • Enjoyer_of_Games [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    55·
    3 months ago

    I’d joke that they are just mandating disabled people open a savings account under their mattress but in reality they were never going to pay disabled people enough to actually have savings anyway bear-despair

    • Belly_Beanis [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
      50·
      3 months ago

      If they find out you have cash saved anywhere, they will make you pay it back. That is if you don’t get convicted of a felony for lying to the SSA/IRS. They even have a hotline people can call to report this “fraud,” so snitches can snitch (and they don’t even get rewarded).

        • Des [she/her, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
          30·
          3 months ago

          someone i know’s mom was slinging her excess pain medication for cash and then had to cut the person off that she was selling it to (because her doctor retired and her medication was massively cut down). that person then reported her as revenge. she did six months in jail and then was cut off from benefits for a long time. even after becoming totally disabled (like unable to walk).

          her disability finally killed her 2 years ago.

            • Des [she/her, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
              10·
              3 months ago

              was a “friend” before she was able to beg for a a percentage of her monthly script in exchange for needed cash. obviously was cut off from all contact by the family

              supposedly she herself got locked up later for stealing electronics from people she was staying with. not a good person: don’t steal from or narc on regular people

            • Des [she/her, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
              10·
              3 months ago

              i agree. she was finally able to get full disability later on but the government forced her to drop the $150k of backpay she was owed in exchange for a couple hundred $ a month

              they only survived thanks to a medical settlement payout from different lawsuits.

              here’s the fun part: her disability was caused by exposure to asbestos from the U.S. military

        • Frank [he/him, he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
          5·
          3 months ago

          “Fraud”

          I hate this fucking country so much. Saving fucking pennies so you can meet the most basic needs while evading the fucking disabilty gestapo, they have the absolute fucking gall to call it “fraud”.

          Hate. Hate. Let me tell you how much i have come to hate america since i began to live.

      • infuziSporg [e/em/eir]@hexbear.netEnglish
        1·
        2 months ago

        So hypothetically, what if you gave everything you didn’t spend to a land project that was incorporated as a 501c3, and you had permission to go to that land project whenever?

        How solid is this idea?