"Means-tested" programs provide benefits to those whose income and financial resources meet certain requirements. More than eighty benefit programs provide cash and/or noncash aid to individuals who meet certain low-income qualifications in the United States. Cash assistance programs include Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

Supplemental Security Income (Ssi)

Supplemental Security Income is a means-tested income assistance program authorized by Title XVI of the Social Security Act. The SSI program replaced the combined federal-state programs of Old Age Assistance, Aid to the Blind, and Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled in fifty states and the District of Columbia. However, these programs still exist in the U.S. territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Since the first payments in 1974, SSI has provided monthly cash payments to needy...