SSI Recipients CAN work
Goals What will I learn?
• You will learn about the benefits of work for folks with disabilities
What will I be able to do?
• You will be able to help your client explore opportunities for living, learning & earning
How will this help?
• Your client will feel more empowered about making decisions about the future
Weighing the Options to Work • Every decision involves positives and negatives. • This is often complicated for individuals who receive disability benefits, like SSI. • Making a list of pros and cons can be a helpful way of exploring your feelings about different options.
Myths About SSI 1. I will lose my cash benefits if I start working. 2. I will lose my Medicaid or Medicare insurance if I start working. 3. If I drop out of school, I can keep my benefits forever. 4. If my checks stop coming because I go to work and then I am unable to continue working because of my disability, I will have to go through the whole application process from the beginning again. 5. There isn’t a job out there for me.
Myth #1 I will lose my cash benefits if I start working.
Basic Income Exclusions Typically you won’t lose more than $1 of cash benefits for every $2 you earn. SSA does not count all your income when calculating your cash benefit: 1. General Income Exclusion • Allows $20 of any unearned income you receive to not be counted against you. If no unearned income, you can deduct this from earned income. 2. Earned Income Exclusion and $1 for $2 Reduction • Allows $65 of earnings and ½ of remaining earnings received in a month to be deducted.
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Your benefits planner will go over this in more detail.
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Other Income Exclusions • The Social Security Administration also has special rules called work incentives that allow people who receive SSI to work and still receive cash payments and Medicare or Medicaid. • For SSI, these work incentives allow additional earned income to be disregarded when calculating the adjusted cash benefit.
Student-Earned Income Exclusion • Students under the age of 22 can exclude up to $1,820 of gross earnings each month when figuring out countable income. • The maximum that can be excluded is $7,350 per year.
ImpairmentRelated Work Expenses
• IRWE (Impairment-Related Work Expenses) are out of pocket expenses that are related to your disability that you need in order to work. These expenses are deducted from monthly gross income lowering the amount of income counted against your for SSI. • Includes medicine, medical supplies, medical services, service animals, and other supplies and services.
Blind Work Expenses
• The BWE incentive allows individuals who are blind to exclude from earned income all expenses that are needed for work. • Examples can include: – service animals – transportation to/from work – licenses, work taxes – attendant care services – meals eaten during work – medical equipment
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The Plan for Achieving SelfSupport (PASS) allows an individual who gets SSI to set aside income and resources into a bank account to help them work toward being more self-sufficient. A PASS can assist an individual in achieving their vocational goals by using their set aside income and/or resources to acquire: • Necessary vocational training • A college degree • Transportation • Childcare • And/or other necessary items
A PASS is a written action plan that lists: 1. The job or business of interest. 2. The steps you will take and things you will need to achieve the work goal. 3. The money you will use to pay for these things. 4. A timetable for achieving the goal.
PLAN TO ACHIEVE SELF-SUPPORT PASS
How do these income exclusions work to increase the amount of cash benefit I receive while working?
SSA Calculation Process
Figure out countable unearned income.
Figure out countable earned income.
Combine countable unearned and earned income.
Subtract total from FBR with state supplement .
Example Sarah is a high school junior, who works as a cashier at a local grocery store. During the months of June, July, and August, she earns $1,850 per month and does not have any unearned income.
June, July & August $1,850 Gross Earnings - $1,820 SEIE $ 30 Balance - $ 20 General Exclusion $ 10 Balance - $ 65 Earned Income Exclusion $ 0 -$ 0 One Half Remainder $ 0 = Countable Income
SSI RECIPIENTS CAN’T LOSE! • Sarah now has $1850 in earnings and a full SSI benefit of $587.58, plus her earnings of $1850; creating a monthly total of $2437.58. • SSI still has a $2000 resource limit so savings must be moved to a protected savings vehicle, such as an ABLE account. 16
Myth #2 I will lose my Medicaid/Medicare if I start working.
Continued Health Care • In NYS, if a person gets as little as $1 in SSI benefits, Medicaid is automatic. • Section 1619 (b) provides protection from the loss of Medicaid coverage when cash benefits stop. • In NYS, people receiving SSI can earn up to $45,812 before losing health insurance coverage. • 1619(b) is suppose to be automatic, but • Recipients should call SSA when they are getting close. • An “individualized threshold” can be requested if the client has very high Medicaid useage.
Your benefits counselor will go over this with you in more detail.
Medicaid Buy-In • Allows working people with disabilities in NYS to apply for Medicaid under the Medicaid Buy-In for Working Persons with Disabilities. • Premiums are $25 but are not collected. No SSA disability finding is necessary. • Under the Buy-In program, individuals will not have a $20,000 resource level to adhere to. • Serves as an important safety net for those who are working but unable to afford health care.
Your benefits counselor will go over this with you in more detail.
Myth #3 If I drop out of school, I can keep my benefits forever.
Stay-in-School Incentive Age 18 Redetermination – Section 301 • At the age of 18, youth receiving SSI will have to go through a redetermination process. • This means they will now have to meet the adult definition of disability, which is different from the child definition of disability. • Youth who stay in school and have an IEP will continue to receive SSI payments even if they don’t meet the redetermination requirements. • This also applies to adults if they are enrolled in an approved vocational rehabilitation program—reinforcing the importance of connecting to state vocational rehabilitation before exiting school.
Section 301 for Adults • Adults can also use section 301 to protect benefits despite a finding of medical improvement. • If the disabled adult has a vocational plan, it will be completed in a reasonable time and will create a likelihood that benefits will not be needed if the plan is completed, SSA will pay cash and health care until the plan is completed.
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Myth #4 If my checks stop coming because I go to work, and then I am unable to continue working because of my disability, I will have to go through the whole application process from the beginning again.
Re-Starting Benefits
Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) • Allows you to restart benefits without having to begin the application process all over again. • SSI will provide you with provisional benefits for up to 6 months while they are making a decision about EXR approval. • This applies for up to 60 months of working, if your income falls below the income cut-off for SSI and SSI was terminated because of work. Also applies to SSDI.
Other Agencies & Services That Can Help‌ Legal Services: Disability Rights NY 518-432-7861 Benefits Planners: Goodwill of NY and NJ Abilities Neighborhood Legal Services Hostos
Independent Living Center Support • Peer Counseling • Independent Living Skills Training • Information and Referral Services. • Individual and Systems Advocacy • Housing assistance • Benefits advisement • Architectural and communication barrier consultation
• In-service training, workshops/seminars on disability issues, disability laws and Independent Living philosophy • Disability awareness training • Developing Plans to Achieve Self Support (PASS) for recipients of public assistance SSI/SSDI
College Disability Services • Available on all campuses that receive state/federal funding including most private colleges, including community colleges. • Serve adult college students who have a documented disability that requires they need accommodations in order to have equal access to education. • Is not special education services. • College attendance may also qualify as a §301 program.
Questions?
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Ray Cebula rac79@cornell.edu
Cornell University ILR School Yang Tan Institute on Employment & Disability
t. 617.312.3261
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