This week, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced a proposal to implement long-anticipated updates to processes for people who are applying for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The existing application process for SSI, a program that provides additional income for people with disabilities and older adults who have extremely low or no income or savings, is onerous and requires the submission of extensive paper records and in-person interviews.

In the federal register notice supporting the change, SSA recognizes that “the current process is burdensome and challenging for the public,” and states that they aim to “reduce this burden and improve access to SSI” while also meeting the legal requirements of the program, which is “intended to provide assistance based on the current needs of a specific individual, with eligibility and payment amounts frequently fluctuating” and therefore requires “a significant number of questions to accurately identify an applicant’s situation and needs.”

To balance these competing concerns, SSA’s goal is to develop a fully online, simplified SSI application process that nevertheless captures all the necessary information to issue accurate decisions.

This week’s announcement of a streamlined and shortened SSI online application for some people who get Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments is a step toward that goal. The application will be added to the existing iClaim portal, where people can currently apply for Retirement, Spouse’s, and SSDI benefits. This online application will use plain language questions and, where possible, prepopulated answers to further simplify the application process. Initially, the simplified process will be available to never-married first-time applicants from ages 18 to 64 and 10 months who are applying for Social Security Disability benefits and SSI together. SSA’s goal is to expand this to all applicants later in 2025.

Read the announcement here.

For more technical information, see the federal register notice here.