Dividends of a Hand Up: Public Benefits of Moving Indigent Adults with Disabilities Onto SSI

Abstract

Counties bear large hidden costs for individuals with disabilities who are indigent or homeless. This includes costs for health care, jails and probation in addition to readily identifiable county costs for public assistance. A large share of this cost is health related – costs that the federal and state governments would pay through Medi-Cal if the individuals were receiving Supplemental Social Security Income (SSI). This study examines opportunities for counties to avoid costs by moving individuals with disabilities who are General Relief recipients, medically indigent hospital patients, and homeless hospital patients onto SSI and Medi-Cal.

Statewide in 2009, an estimated 110,000 low-income single adults with disabilities were eligible for SSI but not enrolled in the program. This represents one potentially eligible person left out of SSI for every person who was covered by the program. In the typical monthly GR/GA statewide caseload, an estimated 51,000 individuals, have disabilities but are not receiving SSI. Eligibility rates for SSI increase markedly with age, rising from less than 20 percent among recipients 18-25 years of age to half among recipients 46-55 years of age.

California counties could save $42 million per month and private hospitals could save another $13 million if eligible General Relief recipients with disabilities in the typical monthly caseload were moved onto SSI. Because recipients cycle on and off of aid, the annual caseload is an estimated 1.7 times greater than the monthly caseload. Therefore, the annual costs avoided by moving the annual caseload of eligible individuals onto SSI are also 1.7 times greater, totaling $71 million for counties and $22 million for private hospitals.

Keywords: California, Cost, Counties, Disabilities, Economic Impacts, Economy, General Assistance, Health, Homelessness, Hospitals, Housing, Income, Los Angeles, Mental Illness, Opportunities, Planning, Profile, Poverty, Prevention, Public Assistance, Risk, SSI, Strategy, Supplemental Security Income, Welfare

JEL Classification: D63, H11, H51, H53, I18, I31, I32, I38