Activity I DB 101 Website

Calculator Guide Disability Benefits 101: Planning Your Future

For the “Disability Benefits 101: Planning Your Future” activity, you will be doing a demonstration of the School and Work Calculator found on the Disability Benefits 101 (DB101) Website. This calculator will help the participants figure out how their income from work will affect their Social Security cash benefits and their health coverage.

To help you go through the demonstration process, we have included a few tips in italics that may be useful to your group and can assist them in using the website.

 They will be entering personal information (month and year of birth, income information, etc.) Point out to them that everything is 100% confidential. Users enter in no specific identifying information.

 At the top of each page there is a progress bar entitled "Current Status". This bar tracks your progress through the calculator example and will be filled by the time you are done.

 Point out the gray box to the right of the questions which contains information and tips as to why certain questions are being asked. Additionally, next to each question there is a blue question mark which you can click on for helpful tips about that question.

1. To begin this process, go to the DB 101 Website homepage at: http://ca.db101.org/

2. Scroll down and click on the “School and Work Calculator” link found on the lower left-hand corner under “Calculators”. This will take you to the starting page for the School and Work Calculator.

 Read through the list of questions and answers found on this page to remind the participants that all information entered will be confidential.

 Point out the blue “Talk to an Expert” box on the right where they can find a list of trained benefits planners in California. These individuals can provide one-on-one assistance to further explain how benefits may be affected by going to work.  Encourage participants to obtain a benefits planning query (BPQY) from Social Security to assure they are entering their correct benefits information. Instructions for getting a BPQY can be found on the DB101 website by entering “BPQY” in the search box on the upper right corner of every page.

3. Click on “Start” at bottom of page. This will bring you to the first page of the calculator process; it is titled “About You”.

 There are some questions throughout this calculator example where the answers need to be specific – for these, we have provided the answers in quotations.  For the answers that do not need to be specific – we have provided tips below on how to solicit reasonable answers from the group.

Current Status – About You  What is your birthdate? . Answer: Solicit ideas from the group – try to pick one of their answers most closely representing the age of most of the participants

 What is your disability determination status? . Answer: “I have been determined disabled”

 Do you currently have any income from work? . Answer: “No”

4. Click on “Continue” at bottom of page. This will bring you to the page titled “Current Cash Benefits”.

Current Status – Current Cash Benefits  How much monthly income do you get from the following sources? . SSI (Supplemental Security Income): “$738” . Childhood Disability Benefits (CDB): “$0” . Other Unearned Income: “$0”

5. Click on “Continue” at bottom of page. This will bring you to the page titled “Your Health Coverage”.

Current Status – Your Health Coverage  What type(s) of health coverage do you currently have? (Choose all that apply) . No-Cost Medi-Cal – “Check this one” [if an individual is receiving SSI, they automatically receive No-Cost Medi-Cal] . Medi-Cal with a share of cost – “Leave blank” . Medi-Cal 250% – “Leave blank” . Medicare – “Leave blank” . Private individual health coverage – “Leave blank” . Coverage under a parent’s plan – “Leave blank”

6. Click on “Continue” at bottom of page. This will bring you to the page titled “Your Life and Work: Today”.

Current Status – Your Life and Work: Today

 Tell us about your current living situation and earnings:

. What is your living situation?

o Current Living Situation: “Living at home”

o Do you pay at least your fair share of household expenses? Answer: “No” o Does your home have cooking facilities? Answer: “Yes” o Are you attending school at least half time? Answer: “Yes” o How much monthly cash support do you get from your parents or others? Answer: “$0” o How much per month do you get in in-kind support? Answer: “$0” o How many hours do you work per week? Answer: “No job” o What is your hourly wage? Answer: “No job” o How much do you make in tips per hour? Answer: “No job”

 After clicking “continue”, the website will move to the right-hand column of the page entitled "Your Life and Work: The Future". This section is asking about the participant’s future plans. Current Status – Your Life and Work: The Future

 Now let's look at your plans for the future:

. What will be your living situation?

o Current Living Situation: Solicit ideas from the group by asking questions such as – Where would you like to live in the near future? With your parents? With roommates? In an apartment on your own? - Try to pick one of their answers most closely representing the majority of the participants. o Will you pay at least your fair share of household expenses? Answer: “Yes” o Does your home have cooking facilities? Answer: “Yes” o Will you be attending school at least half time? Answer: “Yes” [selecting yes for this question will demonstrate the “Student Earned Income Exclusion” – a very beneficial SSI work incentive program for students with disabilities under the age of 22. If the majority of the participants will not be attending college, then you can select “No”] o How much monthly cash support will you get from your parents or others? Answer: “$0” o How much per month will you get in in-kind support? Answer: “$0” o How many hours will you work per week? Answer: Solicit ideas from the group by asking questions such as – What type of job would you like to have? About how much would you like to make from that job? About how many hours per week would you like to work? – Again, try to pick answers that most closely represent the majority of the participants. o What will be your hourly wage? Answer: Use solicited answers from above to answer this question. o How much will you make in tips per hour? Answer: “$0”

 Before moving on, point out that at the bottom of the page there’s an option to “Add a Plan”. This can be used if the participants are trying to compare results from different job options. For example, you could compare two jobs with different pay, or the same job if you worked a different amount of hours. 7. Click on “Continue” at bottom of page. This will bring you to the page titled “Your Results”.

Results page Highlight results from the following sections:

 Total Monthly Income . Here is where your participants can compare how much they are making today to how much they will make once they start working and if their living situation changes.  Health Coverage Options . This section outlines options for maintaining healthcare coverage. Most SSI recipients who go to work will maintain No-Cost Medi-Cal coverage through an SSI work incentive called “1619B”.  Plan Summary . Here is where participants can see a summary of the changes in their employment and living situation and how they will affect their income.  At any time, the calculator user can save a session for future reference. Point out to your group the blue icons on the upper right-hand corner of each page where it allows the user to save a session or get a saved session.

 The user can also edit their job scenario and/or add in a new scenario after the calculator results appear.

8. Click on “Continue” at bottom of page. This will bring you to the page titled “Next Steps”.

Next Steps

 Read through the ”What's Next” section with your group, reminding them of the importance of understanding the benefits they are getting. For up-to-date information on the benefits they are receiving, encourage the group to call Social Security and ask for a BPQY.

 Remind your group to collect recent statements and notices from Social Security and Medi-Cal and keep them in their benefits binder.

 Stress the importance of reporting earnings from work to Social Security immediately to avoid an overpayment situation!