People with disabilities who receive Social Security or Supplemental Security Income benefits will get more money next year.

The Social Security Administration said Thursday that benefits will rise 1.6 percent for 2020.

The increase is due to an automatic cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, that’s mandated by law and is tied to inflation. It’s triggered when the Consumer Price Index from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics goes up.

The change will take effect beginning Dec. 31 for over 8 million SSI beneficiaries across the country and in January 2020 for more than 63 million Americans receiving Social Security.

With the uptick, the maximum federal SSI payment for an individual will go from $771 per month to $783 per month for 2020. For couples, the federal maximum will rise from $1,157 to $1,175 per month.

Some states offer additional money to SSI beneficiaries, so actual payments may be higher.

Though beneficiaries will see bigger payments in 2020, the COLA for the coming year is down substantially from last year’s adjustment. Benefits grew 2.8 percent for 2019 compared to the year prior.

Read more stories like this one. Sign up for Disability Scoop's free email newsletter to get the latest developmental disability news sent straight to your inbox.