What You Should Know About SSI Work Incentives 2012

What You Should Know about SSI Work Incentives 2012 Work Incentive Rules at a Glance: Following is a brief description of the rules that will help you work while receiving SSI benefits.

Continuation of SSI-If you work, you may continue to receive payments until the earned incomecounted exceeds the SSI limits. You can earn up to $1480per month and still keep at least $1 of SSI. The limit is different for married couples.

Medicaid While Working- Section 1619(b)- When you return to work, your Medicaid coverage can continue even if your earnings (alone or in combination with other income) become too high for an SSI cash payment. There are some qualifications but as long as you meet them and your earnings are below the “threshold amount”, which in MD is $39,926, you can continue to receive Medicaid indefinitely.

Expedited Reinstatement of Benefits- If your SSI disability benefits have ended because of earnings from work and you again become unable to work due to your disability, you have 60 months during which you may request reinstatement of benefits without filing a new application.

Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS)- You may set aside income and resources to pay for expenses to reach a work goal with money that would otherwise reduce your SSI check. This plan must be approved by Social Security.

Impairment Related Work Expense (IRWE)- Certain impairment related work expenses you have that are related to your impairment may be subtracted from your earnings when determining your eligibility and payment amount. If you are blind, you may also deduct certain blind work expenses that need not be related to the impairment.

Blind Work Expenses- include the following: federal, state and local income taxes, Social Security taxes, license fees, professional association dues, union dues, meals consumed during work hours, and mandatory contributions for pensions and disability.

Recovery during Vocational Rehabilitation (Section 301)- If SSA determines that you no longer have a disabling impairment due to medical improvement while you are participating in a vocational rehabilitation program that is likely to lead to becoming self-supporting, benefits may continue until the program ends.

Sheltered Workshop Payments- If you work in a sheltered workshop, special rules allow some of your earnings to be excluded when figuring your SSI cash payment.

Students with Disabilities- Most scholarships or grants used to pay for tuition; books and other expenses directly related to getting an education don’t count as income if you go to school or are in a training program. There is also a Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE) where $1,700 of your monthly earnings (up to a maximum of $6,840 a year) can be excluded when calculating your SSI cash payment.

Full Circle Employment Solutions LLC 12/11 What You Should Know about SSDI Work Incentives for 2012 Work Incentive Rules at a Glance: Following is a brief description of the rules that will help you work while receiving Social Security disability benefits.

Trial Work Period (TWP)-When you return to work for nine months (not necessarily consecutive), your earnings will not affect your SSDI cash benefit. If the nine months of trial work do not fall within a 60 month period, you may have even longer to test your ability to work. Earnings of $720/month or more equals one TWP service month.

Extended Period of Eligibility- For at least 36 months after a successful trial work period, if you continue to work while disabled, you may receive a cash payment for any month your earnings fall below the “substantial gainful activity” (SGA) level of $1,010/month for individuals with disabilities or $1,690/month for individuals with statutory blindness.

Continuation of Medicare- If you have premium-free Medicare hospital insurance (Part A) and you start working, you may have at least 7 ½ years of extended coverage (including the nine month TWP). After this, you may be able to purchase Medicare coverage by paying a monthly premium.

Expedited Reinstatement of Benefits- If your SSDI disability benefits have ended because of earnings from work and you again become unable to work due to your disability, you have 60 months during which you may request reinstatement of benefits without filing a new application.

Impairment-Related Work Expense (IRWE)- Certain expenses for items that you need in order to work and that are related to your impairment may be deducted when counting earnings to determine if you are performing substantial work. These must be out of pocket costs to you and you will have to have documentation to support your claims.

Subsidy and Special Conditions- When deciding if your work is substantial, SSA is only interested in earnings that represent the real value of the work you perform. A subsidy is support by your employer that may result in you receiving more pay than the actual value of the services you perform. Special conditions refer to support by a third party such as vocational rehabilitation agency. As a result of this support you may be receiving more pay than the actual value of the services you perform. SSA will reduce the amount of income they count by the value of the subsidy and/or the special conditions you receive when deciding if your earnings are substantial.

Recovery during Vocational Rehabilitation (Section 301)- If SSA determines that you no longer have a disabling impairment due to medical improvement while you are participating in a vocational rehabilitation program that is likely to lead to becoming self-supporting, benefits may continue until the program ends.

Special Rules for Blind Persons- If you are blind, there are several special rules that will help you work.

Full Circle Employment Solutions LLC 12/11