*This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated.
1992.10.15 :  SSI Benefit Increases

Contact: Phil Gambino (410) 965-8904 (202) 690-8359
October 15, 1992

       HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., announced today
that Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits
will increase 3.0 percent, beginning with the payments that
Social Security and SSI recipients receive on Dec. 31.  The
automatic cost-of-living adjustment is made annually.
       For Social Security beneficiaries, the average monthly
benefit amount for all retired workers will rise from $634 to
$653.  The maximum federal SSI monthly payments to an individual
will rise from $422 to $434.  For a couple, the maximum federal
SSI payment will rise from $633 to $652.
       Social Security and SSI benefits increase automatically
each year based on the rise in the Consumer Price Index for Urban
Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the third quarter
of one year through the corresponding period of the next.  This
year's increase in the CPI-W was 3.0 percent.

                                ###

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS:  A fact sheet showing the effect of the
various automatic adjustments is attached.