Modernize SSI Stipends Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill increases the SSI personal needs allowance amounts for institutionalized recipients under Social Security Act section 1611(e)(1)(B). The individual monthly amount rises from $360 to $720, and the couple amount rises from $720 to $1,440, for benefits for months after December 31, 2025. The bill then ties those amounts to section 1617 cost-of-living adjustments by inserting the greater-of inflation-adjusted amount language and updating section 1618 references from 1987 to 2025, with the cost-of-living adjustment changes effective January 1, 2026.
Who Benefits and How
Institutionalized SSI recipients, SSI-eligible couples in institutions, disability advocates, nursing facility residents, and representative payees benefit from larger protected monthly personal-needs amounts and future inflation adjustments.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Social Security Administration, state Medicaid agencies, nursing facilities, institutional payees, and federal taxpayers must administer higher SSI personal needs allowances, update payment systems, apply COLA calculations, and coordinate benefit amounts after 2025.
Key Provisions
- Modifies the SSI institutionalized individual personal needs allowance from $360 to $720 after 2025.
- Modifies the SSI institutionalized couple personal needs allowance from $720 to $1,440 after 2025.
- Requires future section 1617 cost-of-living adjustments to apply to the updated personal needs allowance amounts.
- Amends old 1987 reference points to 2025 for SSI institutional allowance calculations.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Doubles SSI personal needs allowance amounts for institutionalized individuals and couples after 2025 and applies future cost-of-living adjustments to those amounts using a 2025 base.
Key Policy Areas
Social Security, Disability, Aging
Primary Purpose
Doubles SSI personal needs allowance amounts for institutionalized individuals and couples after 2025 and applies future cost-of-living adjustments to those amounts using a 2025 base.
Policy Domains
Bill-wide scope
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Institutionalized SSI recipients
- SSI-eligible couples in institutions
- Disability advocates
- Nursing facility residents
- Representative payees
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Social Security Administration
- State Medicaid agencies
- Nursing facilities
- Institutional payees
- Federal taxpayers
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Maxine Dexter
D-OR | Primary Sponsor
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Introduced in House
Ms. Dexter (for herself and Mr. Carey) introduced the following …
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "primary_beneficiaries"
- → Institutionalized SSI recipients, SSI-eligible couples in institutions, Disability advocates, Nursing facility residents, Representative payees
- "primary_burden_bearers"
- → Social Security Administration, State Medicaid agencies, Nursing facilities, Institutional payees, Federal taxpayers
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology