Supplemental Security Income

In addition to ordinary social security, the elderly and others may be eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Unlike ordinary social security, supplemental security income is funded by general tax revenues as opposed to the specific social security taxes levied on employers and employees.

Supplemental Security Income is specifically designed to help the elderly, the blind, and the disabled who have little or no income. To help, it doles out cash on a monthly basis that is intended to meet the basic needs such as clothing, housing, and food.

Like regular social security, supplemental security income is a program administered by the Social Security Administration. It is funded by the United States Treasury’s general funds as opposed to the trust funds used to finance social security. Payments made under SSI are dispersed typically on the first of each month and are designed to cover the current month. This is different from social security in that those checks are designed to cover the previous month’s expenses.

The SSI program was created in 1974 as part of a huge welfare overhaul conducted by President Nixon. The new program was created specifically to replace a variety of programs run by the individual states that accomplished the same purpose. The goal of a federally-managed program was to standardize the level of benefits awarded to the blind, the elderly, and the disabled.

Contact an Indianapolis Social Security Lawyer

If you have applied for supplemental security income and been, you feel, erroneously rejected, contact the Indianapolis social security lawyers of the Charles D. Hankey Law Office at 317-634-8565 to discuss your situation and to determine if there are legal remedies available to you.