The Social Security Administration's 2012 Cost of Living Increase and the Law of Unintended Consequences

You're a single person experiencing a disability - mental or physical - and you've fought the damned challenging and often years-long battle of obtaining both your Social Security Disability / Supplemental Security Income and Section 8/"affordable" housing.

It has been a long and tough struggle to remain hopeful, persistent and energized enough to cope with your disability while jumping the myriad hoops associated with either one of the above "benefits," and you've made your way through it. You've remained committed, persisted, overcome the challenges and have since made yourself a real home; comfortable, familiar, and cozy.

Several years pass and one day, you receive communication from the Social Security Administration (SSA).  You've learned that these letters can seem to sneak up on you with some nasty surprises and tripwires; appointment dates for "re-certification," "requests for info on "earnings", or some need to see a case manager at the office for some reason not specified. The delivery of these letters often cause great anxiety in you, but you know that to ignore them is to risk losing everything you've persevered through, so with trepidation you open the envelope and find the following key point of the letter:

Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA):
Based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) from the third quarter of 2008 through the third quarter of 2011, Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries will receive a 3.6 percent COLA for 2012.

"WOOHOO!" says you, because you know that while "3.6 percent" isn't going to be much of a monetary addition to your meager income, when you're living on around $12,840 (SSDI) or $6,168 (SSI) a year (approximately $1,070 or  $514 a month respectively), any extra pennies that come to you are important.  Both these "assistance" programs still keep you near or below the poverty line in the United States, so regardless of the type you receive, the day to day survival is still a struggle, although it has eased some since those dark days of your utter destitution.

2011 HHS Poverty Guidelines

Persons in Family	48 Contiguous States and D.C.	Alaska	Hawaii
1	$10,890	$13,600	$12,540
2	14,710	18,380	16,930
3	18,530	23,160	21,320
4	22,350	27,940	25,710
5	26,170	32,720	30,100
6	29,990	37,500	34,490
7	33,810	42,280	38,880
8	37,630	47,060	43,270
For each additional person, add	3,820	4,780	4,390

SOURCE:  Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 13, January 20, 2011, pp. 3637-3638

So you're excited about your approximately $38 (SSDI) or your  $18 (SSI) increase; you might even be able to buy some real bacon strips, instead of that box of "ends and pieces" crap you try to convince yourself is "just the same."

Off to the store you go, and as you ride the bus back to your home, bags of groceries perched on your lap, you smile the smile of those who have stability and security in your life.

In fact, life's been going so well for you since you were able to obtain your disability that you've even grown complacent.  You've stopped thinking about how to ensure whatever you own will fit into a backpack.  You've begun to actually collect some "stuff" and you've got real possessions now; furniture, a television and radio, dishes, bedding, pictures, maybe even a camera, a computer, a smart phone.  Mail comes to you and it's actually addressed to you and not just "current occupant." Family and friends know where you live and come to visit, and you're beaming with pride when you open the door and invite them into your home! You've forgotten the days and times of when the local soup kitchens feed, and there's no need to stand in front of the plasma center on cold mornings in order to donate blood so you can eat again today.

You get off the bus at your stop and carrying your groceries, you whistle out of simple pleasure as you make your way back to your home.  As you approach the door, you notice an envelope taped onto it, and it's from the landlord.

Knowing you are current on your rent, and knowing that you're in full compliance with all the rules and regulations of the property manager, you aren't too worried, although there is a tinge of anxiety and fear, just like what you experience when a letter arrives from the Social Security Administration.

You sit down at your kitchen table and open the letter.  What you read doesn't make sense at first, but slowly it sinks in and fear, anxiety and hopelessness return with a vengeance, souring your stomach and bringing you to the edge of your sanity as you're retraumatized once again: your cost of living increase from the Social Security Administration has resulted in pushing your total income level a few - (verified case of $3 in Madison, TN) - dollars above the maximum level established for your apartment income parameters.

You now make too much money to qualify for an apartment in public housing and you are being evicted.  You must be out of the unit within 30 days, which will have you hitting the bricks in the dead of winter in most American cities. 

This is a true story. It has just occurred and it is playing out in cities across the country right now, and will force a number of SSDI recipients out onto the streets in February, 2012. That is one helluva Christmas present from your friends at the Social Security Administration, although it can hardly be considered their fault.

Unfortunately, while the good people at the SSA almost certainly didn't see this coming, it just goes to show the critical importance of knowing that your actions in the public sphere - whether you think they will have a positive or negative impact - almost always have unintended consequences.....