Florence Paxton v. Secretary of Health and Human Services

This case concerns the interrelationship of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits and Veterans Administration (VA) benefits. The specific issue is whether that portion of VA benefits paid to a veteran for the support of the veteran’s dependent may be counted as unearned income to the dependent in calculating the dependent’s SSI benefits. We reject the Secretary’s 1981 policy of automatically counting the dependent’s portion of VA benefits as unearned income to the dependent. Because the district court upheld the Secretary’s policy, the district court’s decision is reversed. 657 F.Supp. 93 .

I

BACKGROUND

The goal of the SSI program is to provide aged, blind, or disabled individuals with at least a subsistence level income. 20 C.F.R. § 416.110 (1988). The SSI regulations set a minimum income level below which the federal government thinks people should not have to live. Id. The level for a single eligible individual as of January 1, 1986 was $4,032 per year, or $336 per month. § 416.410.

“Supplemental Security Income” benefits are so named because they supplement an individual’s other sources of income. The Secretary totals the amount of income an individual receives from…