Washington, May 23, 2026, 13:00 EDT
Social Security is preparing a rule that would tighten how it determines low-income status for Supplemental Security Income. The changes could lower benefits or remove access for almost 400,000 older and disabled Americans living with relatives or friends.
Focus on the proposal ramped up this week after media reports brought it back into the spotlight. The plan, which is still under review by the White House, affects SSI. SSI is different from retirement Social Security; it’s a needs-based cash benefit for disabled people, the blind, or those age 65 and older with low incomes and few assets.
SSA plans to drop a 2024 rule, according to a regulatory filing, taking SNAP benefits—food stamps—off the list of public income-maintenance payments. The agency wants to go back to an earlier rule that says everyone in the household must get those payments for it to count as a “public assistance household.” SSA said rolling back is about “program integrity” and that the 2024 rule’s gains weren’t worth the cost. Reginfo
That wording is important since living setups affect SSI payments. The 2024 rule says a household can qualify if there’s an SSI applicant or recipient and at least one more person on a named means-tested benefit like SNAP. That lowers the odds that help with shelter from family gets treated as income.
Smaller numbers in the big federal budget, but these amounts matter to SSI recipients. SSA’s 2026 guidance puts the top federal SSI benefit at $994 a month for a single person. The chart for living arrangements shows $662.67 a month for an individual in someone else’s household, before any state additions or other income tweaks.
Kathleen Romig and Devin O’Connor at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said dropping SNAP as a qualifying benefit would likely reduce checks for over 275,000 people and cut off eligibility for more than 100,000 people. Their estimate is based on the SSA’s 2024 analysis, which said that the broader rule would boost payments for about 277,000 SSI recipients by fiscal 2033 and add about 109,000 more eligible people.
The rule would affect families like Shy’tyra Burton’s, ProPublica reported last month. Burton, 22, is a Philadelphia SSI recipient with developmental and intellectual disabilities living with her father. The outlet said the administration’s move would allow SSA to cut a disabled adult’s monthly benefit by counting the value of their bedroom, even if their relatives qualify for SNAP.
SNAP has been added to the household definition, a change from the past when only older cash-aid programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families were included. SSA pointed out in 2024 that SNAP is the first program to be added since 1980, with its national rules as a factor. Other supports like Medicaid and energy aid were looked at but not included, the agency said.
The 2024 expansion comes with extra cost. The Government Accountability Office said the SSA projected the rule raising federal SSI outlays by $15 billion between fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2033, with net administrative expenses up by $83 million over the same span. Most of that is tied to systems changes, sending notices, verification, and follow-ups.
Martin O’Malley, then SSA Commissioner, said in 2024 the change would help by “removing significant barriers to accessing SSI,” simplifying rules and counting SNAP benefits, which are for low-income people. Now the agency’s latest regulatory entry goes the other direction, describing its plan to rescind the change as deregulatory. Social Security
The rule isn’t final yet. OIRA shows it as proposed and under review, not on a legal clock and not marked as economically significant. Before any rule takes effect, it would need to be published and opened for comments.
The 2024 rule is still in place. SSA and the Agriculture Department told state agencies that through Sept. 30, 2024, a household can be treated as a public assistance household for SSI if someone else in it gets SNAP benefits. SSA dropped the rule that required everyone in the household to get public assistance.
