Recent data made public by the Social Security Administration (SSA) suggest a significant drop in the number of people receiving SSI. The data suggests that some 7,380,737 received payments in May 2023, while the figure reduced to 7,261,342 by May 2024.
A quick math reveals that the number of beneficiaries has reduced by 119,395 within a year.
Individuals Who Can Show Proof of Disability Can Receive SSI Benefits
Individuals, both adults and children, with confirmed cases of disability or blindness and low incomes are eligible to receive SSI. Indeed, about 84.7 percent of all SSA payments go to people in this category.
About 6.1 million claimants of SSI are people with disabilities, while some 1.1 million claimants are retired senior citizens.
SSA Data Shows a Delisting of ‘Disabled’ Claimants
The SSA data also revealed another insight: the bulk of the delisted claimants are from the disabled and blind category. Between May 2023 and May 2024, 140,034 people in this category stopped receiving SSI payments.
On the contrary, the number of senior citizens’ claimants increased from 1,099,669 to 1,120,308.
The Drop in Beneficiary Numbers Remains an Enigma
At the onset, it was difficult to identify what was responsible for the drop in the number of disabled or blind SSI claimants. Beyond the raw data on the number of SSI beneficiaries, the SSA did not provide any further context about any variations that may exist.
However, looking at the state-by-state breakdown of deregistered claimants, it can be seen some states were disproportionately affected.
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States With the Highest Drop in Delisted Beneficiaries
California has the highest number of delisted SSI claimants. Between May 2023 and 2024, the number of beneficiaries in California dropped by 16,573.
California had a total of 708,695 disabled or blind claimants of SSI in 2023, but the figure dropped to 690,351 in 2024.
Delisting Is Most Prominent in Densely Populated States
Texas followed California in close stride, with 14,587 fewer SSI claimants than the previous year. Other densely populated states also saw a significant drop in the number of SSI beneficiaries.
For example, blind or disabled SSI beneficiaries in New York dropped from 568,777 to 559,222 within the same period under focus. However, the numbers remained steady in less populated states.
Most of the Delisted Beneficiaries Are From the ‘Blind or Disabled’ Category
In states like North Dakota, only 17 SSI claimants were delisted; because this pool was small, we could confirm that only one of the 17 is not a disabled or blind beneficiary.
Another state where the drop was not so significant is Rhode Island. As of May 2024, the number of SSI beneficiaries in Rhode Island had dropped by only 300 people.
A Significant Announcement By the SSA
On Monday, June 24, the SSA announced it would significantly change the occupational requirements of people applying for disability benefits. The SSA pointed out that these changes were necessary because some jobs had become obsolete and were no longer relevant.
Examples of such jobs are railroad telegrapher, canary breeder, and reptile farmer.
How Disability Claims Are Screened Based on Job Titles
The job requirement is important for SSA’s shortlisting of eligible SSI beneficiaries. Here’s how it works. They check with the Dictionary of Occupational Titles to confirm if an SSI applicant could still get another job using their current skills.
That assessment is important because it helps the SSA determine which applicants can legitimately be categorized as blind or disabled.
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114 Job Titles Ruled as Obselete and Irrelevant
So far, the SSA has dropped some 114 jobs that were previously used to find SSI applicants as ‘not disabled. ‘ The agency has been compelled to drop some obsolete jobs that have denied some potential SSI beneficiaries from being listed as ‘disabled.’
So far, 114 jobs have been removed from the list of occupations that are used as excuses for denying a disability claim application.
An Active Review That Helps Capture Actual Beneficiaries
During an SSI-related judgment, the “federal courts have questioned supporting evidence of a ‘not disabled’ finding.” Some cases of disability claims are being denied because of job titles like magnetic tape winder, nut sorter, or dance hall host.
The Department of Labor originally compiled the touted job list used by the SSA. However, judging by current economic realities, the agency has been forced to admit that some of those jobs are obsolete.
A Ray of Hope for SSI Applicants
Pundits have hailed the application process for disability claims with the SSA. However, there have been widespread calls for an update to the agency’s job list, and that call has finally been heeded.
In a statement by Martin O’Malley, commissioner of Social Security, “By making this update, our decision-makers will no longer cite these jobs when denying a disability application.”
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