- 2.9 Million New Yorkers to Get $250 Payment this Month -
Washington, DC – U.S. Rep. John Hall (D-Dover) announced today that the U.S. government is beginning to send millions of American seniors one-time $250 economic recovery payments. These payments, provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that Congressman Hall helped pass, will reach almost three million New Yorkers by the end of this month.
"The Economic Recovery package provided the biggest tax cut in history to working Americans," said Congressman Hall. "I am proud that we also provided these critical $250 stimulus payments for those Americans unlikely to qualify for that tax cut – older Americans and disabled veterans. These payments will help millions meet some of their basic needs in our struggling economy."
The $250 payment is being sent to Social Security recipients separately, and not with their monthly Social Security check. The Social Security Administration (SSA) will deliver the $250 payment by check to those recipients who receive their Social Security benefit by check and by direct deposit for those recipients who receive their Social Security benefit by direct deposit.
Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the $250 economic recovery payments will also go to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients, Railroad Retirement recipients, and disabled veterans. The payments are scheduled to begin going out to SSI recipients in mid-May, to Railroad Retirement recipients in late May, and to disabled veterans in June.
Millions of the Social Security recipients receiving these payments are widowed, divorced, or single and among the seniors with the lowest average incomes.
These payments will make a difference:
- Social Security is the only source of income for nearly one-third of all nonmarried seniors receiving Social Security.
- The median annual income for nonmarried Social Security recipients over age 65 who are women is only $13,151. The median annual income of nonmarried Social Security recipients over age 65 who are men is only $17,611.
- Nearly 30 percent of nonmarried Social Security recipients who are women over age 65 are poor or near-poor – with 17.4 percent living below the federal poverty line and another 10.8 percent with incomes below 125 percent of the poverty line.
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