It’s hard for me to think of a recent news story that has filled me with more rage than the one ProPublica reported Tuesday about a Trump administration plan to rob extremely poor disabled adults of some of their federal benefits.
The plan targets disabled adults who live with relatives on food stamps, and would deduct the value of the disabled person’s bedroom from their monthly payment under the supplemental security income program, which pays benefits to severely disabled adults.
That such a plan is being considered at all is heinous. That it’s being considered by an administration that touts its pro-life bona fides is an insult to anyone who believes the White House truly believes in the sanctity of life.
Venus Majeski is development and community relations director at the New Jersey Institute for Disabilities, a private nonprofit that works with children and adults with disabilities. Majeski noted that the plan as outlined by ProPublica can shift before it is finalized (rule changes like this require extended periods of public comment before they can be cemented).
“This could really wreak havoc on what’s happening now. I’m hoping that the final plan will not be that harsh or drastic,” she said.
The average monthly supplemental security income payment in March was $736, according to the Social Security Administration. Nearly 7.4 million people receive this benefit nationwide, and 163,658 of them are here in New Jersey. More than 80% of beneficiaries are disabled.
The cost nationwide was $5.8 billion last month. That’s about 1% of federal spending. The Pentagon spent 16 times that on the war in Iran in a single month.
Currently, very low-income disabled adults or older people who receive supplemental security income can have their benefits reduced by about $300 a month if they live in a rent-free bedroom in someone else’s home. But these reductions do not apply to beneficiaries who live in a household that receives public assistance.
Last year, the rules were changed so that families on food stamps, bureaucratically referred to as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, would automatically be counted as a public assistance household. A natural change — food stamps are undoubtedly a public benefit — that should have been made decades ago.
Now, the Trump administration wants to reverse that rule as a cost-cutting move. Progressive think tank the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates nearly 400,000 low-income disabled people and senior citizens would be affected.
The idea seems to be that a disabled person whose parent receives food stamps shouldn’t also get a rent-free bedroom. The average monthly SNAP benefit for households with a disabled person is $266, or just $67 a week, per the U.S. Department of Agriculture. How does that piddling amount justify swiping a single dollar from a disabled person’s income?
This is a personal issue for me. My 53-year-old sister has Down syndrome, and my parents spent most of her life fighting school districts, county agencies, and the federal government on her behalf. I know from their experience that when you have a special needs child, you often have to battle to get what’s owed to them. That’s why I fear this planned change by the Trump administration will lead to too many vulnerable people losing aid they deserve.
The supplemental security income benefit my sister receives, by the way, doesn’t even cover half the cost of the two-bedroom apartment she rents with my mother, let alone other necessities like food and clothing.
Back in October, Trump issued a message commemorating Down Syndrome Awareness Month and reiterating that he proclaims “the sanctity and beauty of every human life.”
“This month, I renew my commitment to protecting the health and well-being of all the men, women, and children living with Down syndrome — and we recommit to forging a culture, a government, and a Nation that upholds the dignity of life and respects the divine spark imprinted on every human soul,” he said.
Nice words. It would be nicer if the administration’s actions matched them.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.
