This blog post describes recent changes to the in-kind support and maintenance (ISM) rules for the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. For an introduction to ISM and how it works, please read this article.

As of September 30, 2024, there are three major changes to the way ISM is counted and the impact it has on SSI eligibility and payments.

First, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is no longer including food in ISM calculations. This means that an individual’s SSI payment will not be reduced if they receive food or payment for food from someone else.

Second, SSA no longer requires that an individual living in someone else’s household pay fair market value rent or their proportionate share of household expenses to receive the maximum SSI payment. If the SSI recipient pays rent of at least the presumed maximum value (currently $334.33 in 2024), SSA will consider this to be a “business arrangement” and will not reduce the SSI payment.

Third, SSA has expanded its definition of “public assistance household.” When an SSI recipient lives in a public assistance household, they are not considered to receive ISM from members of the same household. Previously, all members of a household needed to receive public benefits for the household to be considered a public assistance household. Now, only one other member of the household must receive public benefits to qualify as a public assistance household.

Only certain public benefits are considered in determining whether someone lives in a public assistance household. A list of those can be found here. As of September 30th, SNAP has been added to this list.

This chart summarizes the key changes to the ISM rules: