How to Insure Your Income: Supplementary Coverage

Social Security also offers a supplementary level of coverage -- called SSI -- to people who are severely disabled and unable to work.

The purpose of the needs-based SSI program is to provide a basic minimum income below which no American should have to live if he or she is elderly or has a severe work disability. The SSI federal benefit rate is modest, amounting to about 71 percent of the poverty threshold.

The program uses the same strict test of disability used in the DI program. Focus group discussions with DI and SSI beneficiaries revealed that they had left their jobs with great reluctance. They typically had remained on the job after the onset of their conditions and turned to disability benefits as a last resort when they could no longer function at work.