Ask HN: A friend is being cut from benefits, what is wrong with SSI?

[io_oi]

My friend Mary is about 75. Super nice and super retired. She can still climb stairs, but not for a lot longer.

This is a question about how poor elderly people survive in the USA metro areas.

We are in Oakland. Mary is my neighbor.

Mary has about $3,000 in her bank account, which is barely enough for rent around here. She lives on SSI benefits [1].

But suddenly she got a letter saying she was suspended from SSI.

Plus a $19,000 fee.

The reason they gave: because her bank account was over $2,000.

Turns out, yep, extremely strict, fixed limit. If you go over this limit even barely, you can be penalized. The limit is two. thousand. dollars.

They are saying they overpaid her and now she has to pay it back.

They say she was over the limit for a year, which was true — she could have easily hidden the assets if she were trying to commit a crime. (As if having $3k could be a crime.)

Turns out this limit has not been inflation adjusted since 1970s.

Apparently it is the strictest limits of their kind in the USA. [2]

The strict limit clearly discourages people from saving. I mean, it literally prohibits savings.

And now just when her income goes down to zero, she will get a new bill to pay every month. Absolutely punishing!

She is poor and harmless, she really did nothing wrong and this feels like a life-threatening policy failure.

What can I specifically do to help Mary?

This is devastating for her and may really leave her homeless. It is impossible for me to tell how to approach the SSI bureaucracy. She has no lawyer or advocate, and we don't know what to do except to ask around.

So, any feedback would be welcome from folks who have experience with this or can give pointers to other relevant resources, thanks.

Should we contest the case and what kind of logic would be persuasive to this machine?

[1] https://www.ssa.gov/ssi [2] https://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/the-case-for-updating-ssi-asset-limits

[navjack27]

Yeah I'm on SSI and yeah, if you have more than 2k in your bank that's it. It's not adjusted to where you live either. You gotta set up a special account to hold money or something, it's confusing. But yes, always contest, always explain calmly. They just need to know nothing is actively being done to abuse the system and open communication helps this. My account went over once because my dad was helping me pay off credit cards and I think we just called up SSI and told them what was going on and the money would only be in my account for a short time.

But yeah, remember that it's simply bureaucracy and not police lol. Explaining and talking won't get her in further trouble. It will only help.

Edit: she should try to get ahold of a local HUD or housing assistance program. They help people with SSI and could end up assisting in future events like this. They can also make sure that she is getting all of the assistance that she can. If her rent and utilities bill was adjusted for the fact she is on SSI then situations like this could be minimized.

[io_oi → navjack27]

Thanks for sharing your story — it's helpful to have even a few other stories of people who went through this.

Partly its the mystery and nuance of figuring out _how_ to talk to these people since it's not obvious which levers to pull. I feel like I am reverse-engineering a mysterious API.

I don't think she is going to be able to manage complex finances, it is starting to get to confusing for her, this is all completely overwhelming to her. It does feel like a misstep can be penalized.

And each phone call requires hours to visit which is very hard for her.

She doesn't have any family to help her navigate the system.

Good idea to talk to HUD / housing assistance programs.

[throwawayqqq11]

>what is wrong with SSI?

Nothing actually. Here in germany, we may have a broader safety net but similar harassment of already recievers or applicants.

I once had to bridge over 6 month of unemployment and years later recieced invoices of wrongfully granted aid i got. For about another 6 month, i was arguing with bureaucracy over ever new details. Its deliberate.

In my oppinion, such extra discrimination is meant to water down welfare, ultimately to cut cost. Its perfectly aligned to our recent bill, to reduce budgets to compensate for past crisis over spending (covid, ukraine, inflation), instead of raising taxes on those who even profited in all these crises.

I am not suprised, that any government -- the sovereign -- takes the route of least resistance in terms of fiscal policies and i think neither should you.

[io_oi → throwawayqqq11]

Sorry that happened to you. You are right I should not be surprised! The friction does seem to be by design.

[mattbgates]

The VA was good to him, but I applied for food stamps and some cash assistance a few months before my grandfather passed away. He took social security at 62 so he wasn't bringing in much more than $1,000 a month. They denied everything and up until the day he passed away, they kept telling me to appeal it. Why? To only be denied again? He was 86 when I applied. They said he was too old. I don't get it either. But seeing what I saw in how the government denied his benefits, I'm assuming they'll do the same to me.

Not eligible for food stamps. Make too much to afford Obamacare. Make too little and have too many bills to shell out $400 a month for health insurance. Just got to keep working and doing my best for myself. Trying to do all I can to ensure myself financial security in my future.

So to take care of her food bill, you can sign her up though you may have to take her to local churches who often have a food drive once a month and give plenty of free food.

I used to take all the food they gave my grandfather and mesh it: green beans, beans, corn, sweet potaots, etc., buy a box of stuffing, throw in an egg, and he loved it. Very basic food yet it worked and I even took advantage of having some myself.

You mentioned Oakland which I'm assuming is California. Try applying for California benefits.

https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/medi-cal/Pages/Medi-Cal_EHB...

You can also find some resources here:

https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/community-care/home-ca... https://confessionsoftheprofessions.com/link-library/#elderl...

You can also try applying for Section 8 housing for her here:

https://www.hud.gov/states/california/homeownership/seniors

It is crazy that our Elderly are treated the way they are in the United States, while our tax dollars seem to be able to pay for everything else.

[afraidofthemoon]

Is it too late for her appeal the suspension and setup an ABLE account for any cash over the $2,000 limit?

[io_oi → afraidofthemoon]

Good question I will investigate this, thank you.

[poorbutdebtfree]

I'm sorry but we all have to do our part to combat Russia and support the new migrants.

[dylanhassinger]

Thank you for trying to help your friend.

I know a disabled man who got some benefits restored after his state senator got involved. you might try contacting office holders at any level

[io_oi → dylanhassinger]

Thank you that's an interesting idea, hadn't thought of that approach, might try it if we can't get through a normal appeal.

[toast0 → io_oi]

This is a large part of what your federal elected officials are there for. It's worth reaching out early to see if they have any contacts they can share, even without an escalation.