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The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case from Puerto Rico that could impact the lives of people with disabilities who live on Guam and in other U.S. territories. Justices on Monday granted a petition for writ of certiorari in “United States v. Vaello-Madero,” which involves Jose Luis Vaello-Madero, a person with a disability, who lost his federal Supplemental Security Income payments when he relocated from New York to Puerto Rico. A federal appeals court last April ruled that Vaello-Madero can’t be denied SSI payments simply because he now lives in Puerto Rico and not elsewhere in the United States. (Limtiaco, 3/2)

At issue is Supplemental Security Income, a program Congress added to Social Security in 1972 to assist low-income Americans who are older than 65 years, blind or disabled. It initially applied to residents of the 50 states and the District of Columbia; Congress later extended the program to the Northern Mariana Islands but not to Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories including American Samoa, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Currently, eight million Americans participate in the program, receiving an average monthly benefit of $575, the government says. (Bravin, 3/1)

If the highest court rules in favor of the U.S. territory, elderly Puerto Ricans, as well as those who have a disability, will join the country’s 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Northern Mariana Islands in benefiting from the program. The Supreme Court will hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that established that Puerto Ricans on the island should have the same access to SSI as Americans in the mainland. The appeal was filed by the former Trump administration.  (3/1)