Supreme Court decision may hurt Puerto Rico residents who need access to federal disability program, expert says

Efforts to expand a federal program for disabled, elderly and blind Americans suffered a setback on Thursday when the Supreme Court ruled that Puerto Rico residents should be excluded from receiving those benefits.

The program, called Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, currently provides monthly checks to about 7.7 million Americans who qualify. But because it is aimed at people with low income and few resources, the program comes with strict income and asset limit rules.

Some Congressional lawmakers have proposed updating the program, which has regulations that have not been updated since it was created in 1972.

Last year, the House of Representatives included one key change — expanding SSI to residents of U.S. territories — when it passed Democrats’ Build Back

That change would include residents of Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa. Residents of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are already eligible to receive SSI benefits.

However, that legislation has since stalled on Capitol Hill.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld the federal law that denies Puerto Rico residents access to SSI benefits. A lower appeals court had previously ruled that excluding Puerto Rico residents from SSI was unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court’s ruling is a big blow to the estimated 436,000 people in Puerto Rico who may potentially qualify for SSI, according to Kathleen Romig, director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

“It would make a big difference to these people, because it’s people who are by definition poor and have very low savings,” Romig said. “Even having a few hundred dollars more a month could make an important difference.”

Puerto Rico residents may access a program called Aid to the Aged, Blind, and Disabled, or AABD, though it is a more limited than SSI, Romig noted.

Because Puerto Rico residents pay payroll taxes that help fund Social Security and Medicare, those who have enough earnings to qualify may also claim Social Security disability benefits.

However, SSI is funded through general revenue, which means Puerto Rico residents are not necessarily directly contributing to the program, an issue that came up during the Supreme Court’s debate.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Future Lifestyle Fashions chairperson Shailesh Haribhakti resigns

  The chairperson and independent director of Future Lifestyle Fashions Ltd, Shailesh Haribhakti, has resigned observing that “volatile, complex and unpredictable legal and financial circumstances have taken unexpected turns, and the board’s recommendation to find solutions have not been met with implementation impetus, according to a regulatory filing by the company. Haribhakti had chaired meetings of shareholders and creditors of Future Group entities that were called to vote on the Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail, after he was given the charge by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). In a regulatory filing, Future Lifestyle Fashions Ltd (FLFL) said, “Shailesh Haribhakti has resigned from the position of the Chairperson and Independent Director of the company with effect from April 22 , 2022 vide his resignation letter dated 22 April 2022 submitted to the CompanyIn the resignation letter, which has been shared by FLFL to the bourses, Haribhakti said the “volatile, comp
Read more

EU takes aim at social media’s harms with landmark new law

  The European Union on Saturday reached a deal on landmark legislation that would force   Facebook , YouTube and other internet services to combat misinformation, disclose how their services amplify divisive content and stop targeting online ads based on a person’s ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. The law, called the Digital Services Act, is intended to address social media’s societal harms by requiring companies to more aggressively police their platforms for illicit content or risk billions of dollars in fines. Tech companies would be compelled to set up new policies and procedures to remove flagged hate speech, terrorist propaganda and other material defined as illegal by countries within the EU. The law aims to end an era of self-regulation in which tech companies set their own policies about what content could stay up or be taken down. It stands out from other regulatory attempts by addressing online speech, an area that is largely off limits in the United States becaus
Read more
 Future Group  has started the revival process for apparel firm  Future Lifestyle Fashions Ltd  ( FLF ), which is not part of the insolvency proceedings against the group, a day after  Reliance  called off its deal to buy assets of the Kishore Biyani-owned retailer. FLF, which has not defaulted on loan repayments , plans to sell off a few fashion brands in its portfolio to raise Rs 1,000 crore, two officials privy to the development told ET. The owner department chain Central and discount store format Brand Factory has nearly a dozen apparel labels including Cover Story, aLL, Ancestry, Indigo Nation, Scullers and Urbana in its portfolio. “The company has already finalised its deal to sell fast-fashion brand Cover Story for Rs 220 crore and will work with banks and existing investors to restructure loans. It has already held discussions with banks which are supporting the revival plan,” one of the officials said. “The idea is to monetise its assets so that it can continue with its busin
Read more