Sponsors (4)
The bill protects vulnerable SSI beneficiaries from losing eligibility or reduced benefits when they receive settlements (including retroactive protection for East Palestine recipients), at the cost of higher federal SSI outlays and added administrative work for agencies.
SSI recipients (people who are disabled, elderly, blind, or otherwise low-income) will not have personal-injury or property-settlement payments counted as income or resources (excluded in the month of receipt and every month thereafter), so they keep their SSI eligibility and monthly benefit amounts.
SSI beneficiaries are protected from losing benefits as a result of one-time awards (lump-sum settlements), reducing the punitive effect of receiving a settlement and supporting recipients' financial stability and dignity.
People who received payments from the East Palestine train derailment settlement will have prior months' SSI eligibility and benefit amounts protected because the disregard is applied retroactively to months before enactment.
Taxpayers may face higher federal SSI costs because excluding settlement funds from resource/income calculations will increase or sustain benefit payouts for some recipients, adding budgetary pressure.
The Social Security Administration and state agencies will incur administrative burden to implement retroactive disregards and update eligibility/processing systems, which could require additional resources and produce processing delays for some recipients.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Treats qualifying personal-injury, sickness, or property-damage settlement payments as excluded from SSI income and resources (including retroactive treatment for the East Palestine settlement).
Excludes settlements for personal injury, physical sickness, or property damage from counting as income or resources for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) eligibility and resource limits. The exclusion covers amounts received by an SSI recipient or their spouse, applies going forward for months beginning on or after enactment, and specifically applies retroactively for payments tied to the East Palestine train derailment settlement to months before enactment.
Official title: To amend title XVI of the Social Security Act to ensure stability in payments to Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries.
Introduced December 15, 2025 by Michael A. Rulli · Last progress December 15, 2025