Introduction
This is our tenth edition of Benefits Management for Working People With Disabilities: An Advocate's Manual - a reference book for advocates, rehabilitation professionals, attorneys, persons with disabilities and others concerned with how work affects benefits.
Changing attitudes about workers with disabilities, new technology, new supported employment models and knowledge of the Americans with Disabilities Act all contribute to more employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. Additionally, the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (the "Act"), passed both houses of Congress in November 1999 and was signed by President Clinton on December 17, 1999. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has begun to implement this very important new law.
The long-awaited Ticket to Work regulations finally arrived in December 2001. Then, the first week of February 2002, SSA sent Tickets to approximately 10 percent of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) recipients in 13 states including New York. With the issuance of Tickets, people with disabilities who receive SSI and/or SSDI are being put in control more than ever before of when, where, what and how they access vocational rehabilitation, employment services and other support services.
New opportunities, however, bring new concerns. Will work result in a loss of SSDI, SSI, Medicare or Medicaid? How will work affect a pending application or appeal? One goal of the Manual is to provide information on how work activity and wages will affect benefits. A second, equally important goal is to provide information to the person with a disability and professionals who work with him or her, to enable them to take a proactive approach in their dealings with SSA.
The Manual contains 11 chapters. Nine chapters cover a full range of Social Security, SSI, Medicaid and Medicare issues related to work activity. Chapter 10 covers the benefits available through state vocational rehabilitation agencies. Chapter 11 provides a summary of the just released Ticket regulations' more important provisions. Each chapter contains up-to-date references to relevant laws (including the recently passed Act), regulations, agency policy and selected citations to case law. At the same time, because we realize that many of our readers do not come from the legal field, we avoid legal jargon wherever possible. Before putting it on your shelf, quickly go through the Table of Contents to become familiar with the subjects contained in the Manual.
Nearly every Social Security and SSI rule is the same in every state. In fact, the Social Security rules are uniform nationwide. SSI and Medicaid differ from state to state in three significant ways. First, SSI benefit amounts differ as states may opt to supplement the federal benefit rate (FBR) at whatever amount they choose. Some states have no state supplement and the FBR is the SSI rate. Second, in 39 states and the District of Columbia, Medicaid eligibility is automatic if a person qualifies for SSI. In the other states, known as section 209(b) states, eligibility is determined separately. Third, the income test for section 1619(b) Medicaid eligibility (see Chapter 3) is different in each state, as the income "threshold" is determined by looking at the state's unique annual SSI and Medicaid expenditures. The Manual uses New York's SSI rates (FBR plus state supplement) and section 1619(b) income thresholds in some of its examples. In other examples, it uses the FBR with no state supplement. To see how an example works out in your state, simply substitute the applicable SSI rate or section 1619(b) threshold for your state.
Work can affect benefits in many ways. Increased wages can reduce the SSI check. If not reported promptly, wages can also result in an SSI overpayment. Accordingly, we have included sections in the Manual to cover SSI budgeting and overpayments. Work can also result, in some cases, in the outright termination of benefits - generally, only when Social Security is involved. We discuss these issues in Chapter 3, which deals with work incentives and in Chapter 9, which covers continuing disability reviews. Throughout the Manual we contrast Social Security and SSI and the differing impact that work activity and wages can have on each form of benefit.
There are many things one can do proactively. Most agencies who employ persons with disabilities must periodically send information and reports to SSA. A chapter is devoted to this subject which shares various approaches for communicating with SSA on a person's behalf.
A chapter is devoted to SSI's Plan for Achieving Self Support (PASS). The PASS allows an individual to take income and/or resources that would otherwise be counted by the SSI program and use them to cover expenses, such as a vehicle purchase or training expenses, if the expense is connected to a vocational goal. This chapter has been extensively revised to reflect the 2001 policy changes.
We hope this is a useful reference on disability benefits and work. Please address any suggestions on how to improve the Manual to either of our co-editors:
Edwin Lopez-Soto, Esq.
James R. Sheldon, Jr.
Attorney/Consultant
Supervising Attorney
Greater Upstate Law Project, Inc.
Disability Law Unit
80 St. Paul Street, Suite 660
Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc.
Rochester, New York 14604
295 Main Street, Room 495
(716) 454-6500
Buffalo, New York 14203
E-mail: elopezso@frontiernet.net
(716) 847-0650
Also employed by Cornell
University
E-mail: jsheldon@nls.org
Visit the Neighborhood Legal Services web site at www.nls.org and check out our growing references on the subject of “Social Security/SSI Work Incentives.” You can get updated information when SSA makes major policy changes and obtain links to other resources on the web. You can also order the Benefits Management Manual while you are on our website.
Click here to return to the 2002 Edition page
Click here to view the complete Table of Contents