Will people on ssdi get a fourth stimulus check

The Social Security Administration issued an update June 1, 2020 to beneficiaries who have their regular monthly payments managed for them by another person called a Representative Payee (RP). RPs started receiving Economic Impact Payments from the IRS on May 28.

Note: Special rules apply to beneficiaries living in the U.S. territories: American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In general, the tax authority in each territory, not the IRS, will pay the EIP to eligible residents based on information the IRS provides to the territories. It is anticipated that beneficiaries in the territories could begin receiving their EIP in early June.

If you filed a 2019 or 2018 tax return:

Your $1,200 EIP should have been sent to the bank account provided on your tax return for an electronic tax refund, or mailed to the address provided on your tax return if a tax refund was mailed or if there was no refund.

If you did not file a 2019 or 2018 tax return:

For an Organizational RP, the schedule above is the same, except that the payee may have received the EIP electronically or by paper check in the mail.

Typically, check payments to RPs are clearly designated. For example, “Susan Smith for” on the first line of the check and the second line of the check displays the beneficiary’s name. For EIP checks, there may be instances where the RP’s name on the first line of the check is condensed, or missing the “for” designation, or the “for” designation could appear twice. These differences should not prevent financial institutions and check cashers from processing the check.

With inflation in America at an all-time high, seniors and others on a fixed income have been some of the hardest hit by the rising costs of groceries, utilities and fuel. In these tough financial times, many have been holding on to hope that a recent proposal to Congress calling for a new wave of $1,400 stimulus checks specifically for those receiving Social Security payments might be pushed through to the President’s desk. However, it doesn’t appear there’s been any action by Congress to put forth legislation as of yet.

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The proposal was the initiative of Rick Delaney, chairman for The Senior Citizens League (the largest national nonpartisan agency for seniors), who first addressed Congress about the idea in October 2021. As he shared in his letter to House and Senate representatives, as GOBankingRates previously reported, Delaney’s rationale stated, “We believe that a special stimulus for Social Security recipients could help defray the higher costs some would face if next year’s [cost-of-living adjustment] bumps them into a higher tax bracket, causing higher tax rates on their income and surcharges to their Medicare Part B premiums.”

Website VERIFY reached out to the Internal Revenue Service, the federal department that issues the checks, to inquire about the status of a fourth round of the Economic Impact Statements. A spokesperson stated that, currently, “There are no further stimulus payments authorized by law.”

Given that the last stimulus checks issued by the government came over a year ago in March 2021, with funds likely depleted for many by now, the latest update isn’t exactly welcome news, even as Social Security benefits were increased by 5.9% in January of this year to account for the higher cost of living standards. That increase has impacted about 70 million retired and disabled citizens (though not all) who count on these payments for monthly living expenses.

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To help encourage Congress to act on the proposal for Social Security stimulus checks, TSCL has set up an online petition that anyone impacted can sign. The petition reads, “I (and/or my spouse) want Social Security recipients to receive a $1,400.00 emergency stimulus check to cope during this unprecedented inflationary year. Social Security benefits are one of the few types of income in retirement adjusted for inflation. But soaring inflation has taken a toll on household finances of retired and disabled Social Security recipients. In 2021 Social Security benefits increased by just 1.3 percent raising the average benefit by only about $20 a month. But about 86 percent of Social Security recipients surveyed say their expenses increased by much more than that amount.”

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At the same time, FOX News has reported that many seniors have signed up for SNAP benefits amid soaring grocery prices, while reports a probable 11% COLA increase in Social Security benefits to help those on fixed incomes.