Jayme Pendergraft >> Good afternoon and welcome to today's Ticket to Work webinar. My name is Jayme Pendergraft and I'm the Director of Communications and Outreach for Social Security's Ticket to Work Program. As I said, I'd like to take a moment to welcome you to today's webinar and also introduce today's moderator, Derek Shields. Derek has 28 years of experience working in the areas of disability, inclusion, employment, accessibility and reasonable accommodations. Derek has his master's degree in Management and Disability Services from the University of San Francisco. And in addition to his contributions to the Ticket Program, he is also President of ForwardWorks Consulting, and a Co-Founder and Board Advisor of the National Disability Mentoring Coalition. It's now my pleasure to turn the microphone over to Derek.

Derek >> Thank you, Jayme. And I appreciate the introduction and good afternoon and good morning, everyone. Welcome to today's Ticket to Work webinar. This one is entitled: How Will Work Affect My Social Security Disability Benefits? And we appreciate your interest in attending. As Jayme said, my name is Derek and I'll be the moderator today. I am a member of the Ticket to Work Program Manager team and I really appreciate the opportunity to be with you today and also to be joined by Ray Cebula who will serve as our presenter. 
Today we'll be discussing Social Security's Ticket to Work Program of course, and how it can help you. And Rayis going to dive into four important questions focused on Work's impact on one Social Security benefits. Perhaps the title is what brought you here. And I'll tell you Rayis going to cover some really important information so you could have more confidence, but I'm going to let Ray dive into that agenda in just a little bit. Again, I appreciate you joining us and taking time to learn today, and we know that each of us is on our own journey, and we hope that you'll take away some information today that will help you on your path to employment or potentially on your path to return to employment. 
Before we begin, let's get started and review some functions of the webinar platform so you can get the most out of your time today. So to start, you can manage your audio using the audio option at the top of your screen. This audio option is an icon that looks a bit like a speaker. You can choose Select Speaker from the menu options as noted in the device speaker image on the screen. Next, please note that all attendees will be muted throughout today's webinar. When asked, "How do you want to join the meeting's audio?" please select the device speaker option. This will enable the sound to be broadcast through your computer. Please make sure your speakers are turned on or your headphones are plugged in fully to access that sound. If you do not have sound capabilities on your computer or prefer just to listen by telephone, you can dial 1-800-832-0736 and then enter this access code, 4189148, pound sign. You can also join the meeting audio via receive a phone call as shown on the image in the screen and then entering that same number and access code. So you have a couple of options. 
Now let's review the Adobe Connect platform. First, you will notice different boxes on your screen. We call these boxes pods. We do have the presentation pod. That's where the slide deck appears and that's the largest portion of your screen. Below that is an open space for the placement of the closed captioning pod. The top right corner is the Q&A pod. And below that is a Web Links pod. We'll talk about all these pods in more detail shortly, but first we want to cover some points about accessibility. If you need assistance navigating Adobe Connect, an accessibility user guide complete with a list of controls is available at this hyperlink for the accessibility user guide, http://bit.ly/adobe-accessibility. This link is also available in the Web Links pod in the bottom right of your screen and is labeled Adobe Accessibility User Guide. That's Web Link Pod Number 4. You can find it in the link or in the list and select it. 
Next, real-time captioning is available and is displayed in the captioning pod, which can be placed as I said, below the slides. You can show or hide the captioning display and also choose the text size and text color combination to best meet your personal preferences. To open closed captioning, select the CC option from the top menu bar. The captioning link can also be accessed in the Web Links pod under the title Web Captioning. You can also access the captioning online in a separate viewing window. The choice is really up to you in whatever preference you like. Captioning for today's webinar is in the Web Links pod at item Number 5.
Okay, if you're fluent in American Sign Language and would like support during today's webinar, we developed a resource that provides instructions on how to connect with an interpreter through the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, Video Relay Service. This tool is called the ASL user guide, and it can be found in the Web Links pod under the title ASL User Guide at item Number 6. Now, we are here today to answer your questions that you may have about the Ticket to Work Program and we encourage you to send your questions to us at any time throughout the webinar by typing them into the Q&A pod; that's that upper right area. We'll then direct those questions to Ray, our speaker, during our Q&A portions, which we have three of today. So we're going to get to as many of your questions as possible. So please send those in and keep doing so throughout the presentation. If you are listening by phone and not logged into the webinar platform, you may ask questions by sending us an email at webinars@choosework.ssa.gov. Another available resource that we think you'll find useful is this Web Links pod I keep referring to. And that pod, as I mentioned, is in the bottom right and it lists the links to resources that we'll be covering. Some are tools for how to use the platform, but some others are very helpful resources that we'll reference along the way. If you're listening by phone and not logged in, you can email us at webinars@choosework.ssa.gov for a list of those available resources or you can reference your confirmation email for today's webinar to access those. Also, please note the Social Security cannot guarantee and is not responsible for the accessibility of external websites that may be listed in those resources. 
Okay, we hope that everyone has a great experience during today's webinar and -- I'm sorry. Please note that this webinar is being recorded and the archive recording will be available in two weeks through our WISE On Demand site. You could go to ChooseWork at the website and access the WISE On Demand section for more information on all of our recordings, which we encourage you to do. All right, now we do hope that everyone has a great experience today. However, if you have any technical difficulties, we have our production team available to support you. You can use the Q&A pod to send us a technical question, or ask for assistance, or you can email us at webinars@choosework.ssa.gov. 
All right, as I mentioned my name is Derek Shields, and I am the moderator. And I'm joined today by Ray Cebula, our presenter. Ray Cebula received his law degree from the University of New Hampshire's Franklin Pierce School of Law. Ray has now spent 23 years providing legal services to individuals with disabilities and their interactions with Social Security. He then became part of Cornell University's Work Incentive Support Center. And in 2005 he joined the staff of Cornell's Yang-Tan Institute on Employment and Disability. Ray now serves as the Program Director of YTIOnline, this is Cornell's Work Incentive Practitioner Credentialing Program. Please recall to submit your questions for Ray throughout his remarks. Again, we'll be stopping three times for Ray to engage with your questions and provide you those answers. And with that, it's now my pleasure to hand the platform over to Ray.

Ray>> Thank you so much, Derek. And it's good to be here with you again. Today's webinar is How Will Work Affect My Benefits? And here's a little bit about the overview. We're going to talk about the Ticket to Work Program. Can I work and keep my Social Security benefits? Can I keep my Medicaid or Medicare when I start working? And who can help me achieve my goals?
So let's get into that first tag right now; What is Social Security's Ticket to Work program? Now, we've got two different types of benefits. We always have to remind folks there are two very different benefits. Social Security Disability Insurance Program, which is exactly what it is, it's an insurance program. When we're working and paying taxes, and FICA, and all of that good stuff, we are earning credits to become insured. And if we're insured, we could receive disability benefits if that's necessary, and we'll be insured for retirement. Now, benefits are going to depend upon how much you have earned and how long you have worked. So everybody's benefits is going to be a bit different. 
The other program: Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, is a needs-based benefit. It's a federal welfare program that has been established to bring everybody to a minimum level of income that is the same across the country. You know, this program is the newer of the two. It started paying benefits in 1974, so it's happy birthday. Happy 50th anniversary to SSI. This program is provided to people who do not qualify for the insurance program. They may be a few credits short, and they would be eligible for SSI depending upon their resources. People do not have to have a work history to receive SSI. If they have a disability that qualifies and meets Social Security standards, they will receive SSI benefits and hopefully we can use the Ticket to Work Program to help those people become financially independent of that program. 
Now, this is something I've been telling everybody to do for years now. Social Security accounts, you know, you need to sign up for a my Social Security account. It's fairly easy to do. You know, if you were to Google, sign up for my Social Security account, you're going to get there. If you go onto the Social Security website ssa.gov, you're going to find the link there too. This account allows you to find a term of information that actually may help you go to work. You know, I use it right now to plan for retirements. It can tell me if I retire today, how much will I receive? How much will my family members receive? If I become disabled today, what will I receive? What will my family members receive? What is my benefit level? You know, what type of benefit am I receiving? Am I receiving my own SSDI? Could it be a childhood disability benefit? And we're going to get a lot of information. It's going to show you your work history. You know, when it goes back to 1972, you know, that year I made $600, you know there's a lot of good information, you know, that's in these accounts and it's going to help you. Whoops, I'm getting some feedback. Could everybody mute themselves? Thank you. 
So you're going to get a lot of information that may be of benefit to your benefits planners as well until they get some more definitive information from Social Security. So please sign up for one. It will give you a note to check it every year if you're working to make sure the wages have been posted correctly. Lots of good stuff like that, because it says here you can access your earnings history, your benefits information, request a replacement Social Security card. If you're a nerd like me, you still have your original from when you were a kid, you know. I've got it in my little box across the room. You can get a proof of income letter, you know, and an estimate, you know, to apply for benefits if you need them. As I said, I could begin to apply for retirement benefits today, should I choose. And I know if I wait a year how much my benefits will be. 
Why choose work? You know, the benefits from Social Security were intended to help you. They were never intended to make us whole. You know, it's a social program. Even if you look at retirement, and I want to use that as an example right now. If you look at retirement, your retirement benefits are not supposed to replace the wages that you just stopped earning. It's supposed to help. And we're supposed to take steps to invest to save money on our own to make up that difference. And so why choose work? You know, work is going -- if you're on SSI, it's going to improve your financial outcome every month immediately. You know, if you're on SSDI and you're returning to work, you've got some specific Work Incentives that are going to help you do that. You know, however, with all of the good stuff we've got, earning a living through employment is not something everybody can do. We have to recognize the people who are receiving an SSI benefit based on disability or disability benefits in the form of SSDI. They have very severe impairments and people may not be able to go to work 40 hours a week doing what they were doing before making as much as they were making before. But, you know, regardless of that, going to work could be the right decision for you. And once people understand the free services and the benefits of working and the types of supports that you're going to receive on your journey to work, most people find out that the rewards of employment and earning more money and bringing more money into your household is going to outweigh the risk of what may happen to your benefits. 
What is the Ticket to Work Program? This is a fairly new program that came into being with the Ticket to Work Act on December 17th, 2000 -- 1999. Bill Clinton's last act that he signed into law. It's important to know that Ticket to Work is free and it's voluntary. If you go to work today without using your ticket, you will receive the same Work Incentives that you would if you used your ticket. You know, the Work Incentives and the Ticket to Work are very separate. The Ticket does provide an umbrella, however, to bring in extra services and supports that will help you not only get a job and maintain that job, but to work yourself to the position where you can call yourself a worker with a disability. You know, we offer career development for people ages 18 through 64 who receive Social Security Disability and want to work, you know, free and easy. And you don't need to participate if you don't want to; it's voluntary. 
You know, how can the Ticket help? The Ticket is a great program, and the Ticket does provide a lot of beneficial services. You know, it can connect you with free employment services to help you decide if work or self-employment is right for you. You need to know what the benefits are. You know, what's the impact of your income on these benefits? What about that health insurance? Because it's often more important to people than the cash that they may be receiving. How about preparing for work? You know, the Ticket to Work could get you some assistance attending school, getting a credential or a certificate, you know, for a trade. And, you know, that could take some time, could take some money. But we are looking at providing, getting you into those training in order to prepare for work. You know, find paid work and work opportunities along the way. You know, transition-age kids. Might be offered a paid work experience during the summer or for three weeks during the school year. How will that affect an SSI benefit? Well, short term is, it might not. It might not at all. Yeah. And what about paid work when you're an adult? We have to talk about the two different programs and determine whether and how it's going to impact your benefits. And succeed at work, and I like this one a lot, you know, we are not going to drop you because we got you a job, you know, you've gone through some training, you've got a job. We are not saying goodbye, you know, we're not saying goodbye until you want to say goodbye to us because we are here again to provide you with on-the-job supports. That might be requesting reasonable accommodations, you know, from your employer, things like that, or other supports that you need so that you can maintain that job for a good long time. You know, and you can learn more at What Is Social Security's Ticket to Work Program? That's going to be in your Web Links pod as well as self-guided tutorials all in your Web Links pod. 
The Help line is available to you. Do you know if you have a ticket? You know, you may not. Have you tried to use your ticket in the past? Is there anything remaining to be used? But the Ticket to Work Program offers a toll-free Help line to answer questions. If you still have questions after you leave today, the Help line will be able to help you answer those questions. No obligation, a free service. You can just ask as many questions as you need to determine if work is right for you. Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM Eastern time at 1-866-968-7842. Or if you're using a TTY, 1-866-833-2967. Again, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM Eastern Time. 
So “can I work and keep my benefits?" You're not going to lose them right away, I'll tell you that. And there are situations where you might be able to keep them. "How does work affect my Social Security disability benefits?" You know, Social Security has many safety features in place that let you keep benefits while you're working. And these are what we call Work Incentives, and the Work Incentives are pretty amazing. You know, SSDI has their own rules and SSI has its own rules. So again, the first thing we need is to know what type of benefit you're receiving, and if you're not sure, you could check that out on my Social Security account. 
So the Work Incentives are programs and rules that can help beneficiaries enter or reenter, you know, or continue employment by protecting their eligibility for benefits payments, and/or health coverage until they are able to replace their SSDI or SSI benefits payments with earnings from employment or self-employment according to Social Security standards and rules. Now, whether you're looking for a job for the first time or you're returning to work after an injury or illness, Work Incentives can help you through the transition to work and towards financial independence. And I can tell you that over the years, benefits planners have pretty much perfected getting a plan together that will make you financially better off by working. 
So the first Work Incentive, we're talking here now about the SSDI program, Social Security Disability Insurance, the first Work Incentive is the Trial Work Period. And this is a period where you can test your ability to work and it's the first Work Incentive that you're going to encounter when you're on SSDI. So if you're receiving SSDI, the Trial Work Period allows you to test that ability to work for at least nine months. Now, those nine months do not have to be consecutive, but they have to fall within a five-year period or 60 months. You can change jobs during this time if you don't like the job that you thought you were going to like. You can test your duration, your capacity to work. Can you work 20 hours? Can you work 30 hours? And hone in on that, you know, "What is my work capacity?" Good to know before you end up in a position that you want to take for a very long time. Now, during that TWP, during those nine months, you're going to receive your full SSDI benefit regardless of how much you earn. So if you go to work today and earn $1,000, you're going to receive your benefits as well as the wage that you're receiving. That's a good deal, you know, you have to report your work activity to Social Security on a monthly basis. That's real important. That's the primary rule that you need to pay attention to when you're working. Report every month to Social Security so that they're able to adjust your account to use some of these rules. And I'm going to try to adjust my microphone a little bit. I think what I'm going to have to do is move a little closer because everything is up to 100%, Jayme, but we're going to talk a little louder. 
How is the Trial Work Period calculated? You know, again, it's nine months of work activity that meet the trial work rules within a 60-month period. Now, the best way, of course, to test your work ability and your capacity is to use all nine months in a row. Not necessary, though. It's not necessary. You know, Social Security uses the amount that you've earned in a month, your gross wages before taxes to decide if your work met the Trial Work Period criteria. That amount changes every year, and this year that is $1,110 and one penny. You know, if you're more than $1,110 or you worked 80 hours in self-employment in a month, you're considered to have used a trial work month that's called a service month. One is gone, now we move on to the next month, see what happens then, see if your wages are, you know, exceed $1110 or those 80 hours a month for self-employment. 
And why we treat self-employed people differently is that, you know, you can start a business and you're not necessarily going to make money right away, but you could be doing a lot of work. You know, many self-employed people work a long time before they start actually making money, and they're working hard. So we're going to consider that a service month as well. How can you get more information? Take a look at the Trial Work Period fact sheet in the Web Links pod to learn more about the Trial Work Period and about other Work Incentives that are available when you complete that; you know, the next one is called the Extended Period of Eligibility, and that will follow with Expedited Reinstatement. There's a lot of information in this, so please pull up those fact sheets. And Derek, I'm going to turn it over to you to get the questions logged.

Derek >> Thank you so much, Ray. This is Derek joining you again as the moderator. I appreciate Ray getting through a couple of our questions there. "What is Social Security's Ticket to Work Program?" And then, "Can I work and keep my Social Security benefits?" So it's, you know, we're diving into the content and we've also received a lot of questions, so thanks, keep them coming in. Let's start out. Ray, first question. It's been asked like three or four different ways, but basically folks are asking, "Going back to the benefits, does it matter if I'm on Social Security Insurance or Social Security Disability Insurance to join the Ticket program? Like, is it one or the other or both?"

Ray>> Okay. I'm not quite sure what that means, Derek, but if you -- in order to join the Ticket program, you know, you have to be eligible for to participate. So what is going to happen is that you have to be 18 and you can't be over 64, and you want to work. That will allow you to participate in the program. Those are the only criteria. One catch with the age 18 is that that 18-year-old has to have gone through, if they're on SSI, an age 18 redetermination and been found eligible for benefits as an adult. The child standards and the adult standards are very different, so you have to go through that review. Every SSI kid goes through it to determine if they are a disabled adult. If you are determined to be a disabled adult, you will be eligible for a ticket.

Derek >> This is Derek. Thanks, Ray. So 18 through 64 in receiving SSI or SSDI along with that age determination information. Thank you. The next question we have, and I know you covered a way to do this with the accounts, but folks are -- a couple folks are unsure which they might be receiving. How can an individual find out whether they're receiving SSI or SSDI?

Ray >> Well, again, the best way is to register for a my Social Security account. If you get that account opened up, you know, it's easy to do. I did it real quick and you have to wait a week or so for everything to be processed so that they're really sure that it's you. You can open that account at any time, and it will tell you what benefit you're receiving. If you don't want to wait for that week to -- you know, for that account to open up, check one of your notices. We receive a lot of notices from Social Security and that notice will say Supplemental Security Income, or it might say retirement and survivors and disability, you know, but you will know by looking at a notice concerning your benefit, what benefit you may have. And that's real critical information because you can't talk to somebody about what's going to happen to their benefits if they go to work without being very certain what benefit they're receiving.

Derek >> This is Derek. Thanks, Ray. Yeah, and you can always -- you know, if you don't want to get a my SSI account, which we encourage you to do, but you could reach out to that Ticket to Work Help line that Ray brought up as well earlier and talk to a specialist there so you have some options, and we'll mention that line again later. All right, you talked about a Work Incentive, and we have some questions about the Trial Work Period and SSI. Can you use the Trial Work Period with SSI?

Ray >> No, you can't. You know, again, when I said that the two different programs have their own rules. The Trial to Work -- the Trial Work Period is an SSDI Work Incentive. The SSI Work Incentives are very, very different. Again, that's the reason why we need to know before we start talking to you. If we were to talk to you about SSI and talk to you about trial work, period, you, it's not going to make any sense. It's not going to work for you, nor should I have said anything about the Trial Work Period if your benefit is SSI.

Derek >> Thanks, Ray. So another question about Trial Work Period. You mentioned this nine months, you know, and the preference is to try that nine months in a row, but it could be over the course of that longer period of 60 months rolling. But what happens when the Trial Work Period ends? People are interested in exploring, "Okay, I got that time to figure out capacity, but what happens to me after it ends?"

Ray >> Yeah, at that point, the month after your Trial Work Period ends, you enter your Extended Period of Eligibility. And during that period of time for an SSDI recipient, we're looking at how much are you earning, you know, and are you performing what's called Substantial Gainful Activity? Remember in the Trial Work Period, we looked at gross wages. During the EPE, we are looking at countable wages. So there's a series of deductions we're going to look at. And if the countable wage is above $1,560 this year, you will be performing Substantial Gainful Activity and you will not receive your cash benefit during that month. Now, that changes every month. That Extended Period of Eligibility is 36 consecutive months. So it's a three-year period. You cannot be terminated, but the first time you perform Substantial Gainful Activity, you will be ceased. That's okay. Ceased is okay because we can turn the benefits back on. You'll be paid your benefit for cessation month and two grace period months. And after that, if you remain above SGA, you'll not receive your SSDI. But at any time during your Extended Period of Eligibility, your wages drop below SGA, we can turn the benefits back on without a new application.

Derek >> Thanks, Ray. This is Derek again, and you know, just to refer folks back, in fact it's a little confusing, I encourage you to access that Trial Work Period fact sheet that Ray was talking about. That's at Number 10 in the Web Links pod. That gets into that detail on Extended Period of Eligibility. These Substantial Gainful Activity amounts, there's a couple questions about them. And Ray, can you clarify SGA, Substantial Gainful Activity for the year? There's two different amounts. There's one for blind individuals and for non-blind individuals. Can you just comment on that so we're all clear?

Ray >> Yeah, sure. The $1,560 amount that I said for this year is for people with disability, you know, the blind rate I'm guessing right now, I think it's around $2,490 a month. And the difference is, you know, is -- shows the power of the blind lobby. As things go through Social Security, that blind lobby is a very powerful lobby and sometimes, you know, forces Congress to change the rules, convinces them that things are different for people with blindness. That's the only difference.

Derek >> Thanks, Ray. And through the power of the internet, I've just looked them up to make sure we had them correct. So for 2024 blind individuals is $2,590, and for non-blind individuals, other disabilities, it's $1,550.

Ray >> Close, close.

Derek >> Just clarifying that. Thanks, Ray. No problem. And, you know, we have some other questions coming in. I've got 30 seconds to try to answer this one so we can stay on time. There's some comments out there that says like, "Oh, I've heard I can try work, but I don't want to make more than a certain amount." What are your thoughts on that? What's your suggestion if somebody is thinking --

Ray >> You know, if somebody is thinking that, I think they're limiting themselves. You know, our goal is to get you back to work using these Work Incentives and using all of the safety nets that we have to protect as much of your cash as we can and your healthcare. You know, if you limit yourself to that $1,550 figure, yeah, you're going to have $1,500 and you're going to have your benefits, but you're never going to become independent of the Social Security system. Yeah. Which means you're going to continue to have to report your income every month. You're going to continue to need to report, again, your wages. You're going to need to report whether you move, whether you get married, you know, everything that happens in your life is going to have to be reported to this agency. And there are people out there, the benefits planners who can help you ensure that if you earn more money, even if you lose your SSDI cash completely, you'll keep your Medicare and you're going to have more money than you were paid in benefits.

Derek >> Excellent, Ray. Thanks for your thoughts on that. I think that might help some people in thinking about kind of the bigger picture too. Well, as it happens, we should get back to your presentation, and I'll be back for our Q&A Portion 2 in a little bit, so keep your questions coming in. Back to you, Ray.

Ray >> Thank you, Derek, and I apologize for getting those numbers incorrect. Like I said, I was close and some days close is as it's going to get. Okay, “can I keep my Medicaid or Medicare when I start working?" And the answer is just yes, you know, the answer is yes. And in fact, the healthcare provisions that go along with the Work Incentives, you know, the healthcare provisions make it very, very difficult for you to lose your healthcare. It's going to be there for an extended period of time. And yeah, in the SSDI program, at least 93 months from the end of your Trial Work Period. In SSI, it's all depending on how much you're making and you move into different programs that are available to keep you. But when I'm telling you, you can earn a lot of money, that's what I mean, a lot of money and maintain your Medicaid as well. 
So let's look at these programs. How will work affect my Medicaid or Medicare benefits? If you receive SSDI or SSI payments of any amount, you will keep those benefits, Medicaid or Medicare. If you have a cash benefit from Social Security, your healthcare will be continued. If your benefits stop due to earnings from work, including self-employment, in many cases, you're going to keep Medicaid or Medicare indefinitely by using the Work Incentives that are there, great program called 1619(b). If you exhaust your SSI cash, you're still an SSI recipient who receives only Medicaid. That's pretty cool. So if something happens, I can call them and we turn that spigot back on without an application. And how about the buy-in programs in many states? I think we're up to 46 states that have Medicaid buy-ins now. If your income gets way up there -- -- you know, and you surpass your state threshold, you can buy Medicaid and it's based on income. The premiums are very reasonable, and you're buying healthcare. Even folks who have an employer-provided plan may be getting Medicaid services that they need to continue work. So you're able to buy in, you know, and that buy-in program will likely come with higher resource levels than SSI recipients can have. 
All right. Work Incentives and programs to help you keep Medicaid. Medicaid while working -- I mentioned 1619(b) a fabulous program. That's the program that made me -- that changed my career. I realized people could work and keep their healthcare, and it changed my career. I started working to help people leave the benefits roles rather than get on in that buy-in program. In Medicare, we have the Extended Period of Medicare coverage as well as Medicare for people with disabilities who work. You know, it sounds like these programs are pretty good and I'm going to talk about details now. If you're on SSI, you may qualify for continued Medicaid coverage when your payment stops due to earnings if you have received the benefit in at least one month, you continue to meet Social Security's definition of disability, you still meet all of the other SSI requirements. Now, those are pretty much the resource levels, you know? You may be working, but you still have that $2,000 or $3,000 resource level. You need medical benefit -- you need these Medicaid benefits to continue work. Now, that's a no-brainer. Of course, you do. Yeah. Because, again, those employer-provided plans don't necessarily provide any of the benefits or services that Medicaid will be providing that's keeping you at work. And you have gross earnings below your state threshold of eligibility. You know, and there's a link in there and I guess it's in the pod, you know, disability research/1619(b) and you'll find out what your state's threshold is. You can also Google 1619(b) New York Threshold and you're going to get New York's threshold. And if your income is below that threshold, you are going to be a recipient. If you go above that threshold, we're assuming that you can meet your own medical needs. However, if you're very expensive, if you're not the average Medicaid recipient and your medical needs are very high, you can request an individualized threshold just in case -- you know, just in case you need to know about that. 
The Medicaid buy-ins are wonderful programs. When I was back in Massachusetts, you know, the buy-in happened under a waiver from CMS, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and it's been going on close to 40 years now, you know? Every other state began to do it when the Ticket to Work got passed. And again, we've got four or five states that are outliers that haven't adopted it yet. But states are allowing you to purchase Medicaid under the buy-in program. You can qualify if you meet the definition of disability under the Social Security Act, you know? A lot of the buy-ins in some states don't even require you to have Social Security benefits. And you can buy into Medicaid if you have any kind of disability. If your disability does not meet that standard but if you're on Social Security benefits, you're going to meet that standard. You know, the programs tend to be all different. Each state created their own within some minor guidelines given to them by the federal government. You have to have some kind of earnings, you know, from work. It's the buy-in because you are working and have enough money to potentially pay into this system, you know, on a premium basis like you would any other plan. Some allow you to have significant earnings from work or self-employment and greater savings than most Medicaid programs allow, you know? I can talk about New York; it has a $20,000 resource level. California doesn't have any resource level, so your states are going to vary greatly. 
Under certain circumstances, people who receive SSDI may be eligible for these buy-in programs, you know? And again, you may be protecting the very Medicaid services that you need to continue work by paying a small premium for those benefits. You should check with your local Medicaid agency to find out what's available in your state, you know? I've mentioned two states that are dramatically different, you know, and you need to check your own state's program. That's through the Medicaid Administering Agency. Now, that Extended Period of Medicare coverage, you know, the EPMC, this is for people whose SSDI stops due to work and earnings. And you'll continue to receive Medicare. It will be available to you for at least 93 consecutive months. Part A, part B if you're enrolled, and the Prescription Drug program if you are enrolled. Now, -- -- the trick with this is if you're not receiving a cash SSDI benefit, there's nothing for Social Security to withhold to pay premiums that you owe for Part B and D. So that's going to have to come out of your wages and you need to pay that in order to keep these benefits going. You know, again, benefits planning is a great thing to determine if you're going to be working to the extent that this is all feasible. You know, also, people with lower incomes may have these premiums paid for them, you know? One of the things, the benefits planner can talk to you about is, "Well, if I do have these Medicaid savings programs that are paying my premiums, what happens to those when I begin working?" You know, how about Medicare for people with disabilities who work? If you go to work and you work to the extent that you are out there seven and a half years after your Trial Work Period, you know, and they say the game is over, you can always buy this in. This is called -- what do they call it? HI, that's generally what it's called. You can buy these programs. You know, you'll be paying premiums for all of them, but you can buy them to protect your Medicare if you need it. 
Again, you need to talk to people. Does that employer plan that I've had meet my Medicare needs? And it could do that. It could do that. But the Medicaid is very different. So you're going to be eligible for this if you are not yet 65. And Social Security is still using some older numbers for some of this stuff, or I should say CMS, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services. Sixty-five used to be everybody's retirement amount, but it's not the case anymore. But for this program, if you're over 65, you're not going to be able to buy in. You continue to have that impairment that's disabling according to Social Security and your Medicare stopped because of work and earnings. These are Work Incentives. So if you are working and risking losing a benefit, the Work Incentives are going to help you keep them. Have Medicare questions? For more information, please visit medicare.gov. You know, and I'm not a fan of most government websites, but that one's pretty good, you know? It's pretty intuitive and fairly easy to use. Or you can talk, you know, 24 hours a day, seven days a week to somebody at Medicare, 1-800-MEDICARE or 1-800-633-4227, or for TTY users, 1-877-486-2048. And you can talk to somebody and there will be somebody there to take your call. All right, Derek. Back to you.

Derek >> Thanks a lot, Ray. Appreciate you going through that portion of the content. And I know it always brings up questions when we get into the details of the Work Incentives that align with Medicaid or Medicare benefits. Yeah. We love two websites. We love medicare.gov, and we love choosework.ssa.gov. So please explore both of those sites because you're going to get valuable information to support what Rayis talking about today. All right. So let's dive back into it with the second section of question set. I have SSI and I heard you say I could keep my Medicaid coverage when my payment stops due to work earnings, but only in some states. I'm not sure about how to find if my state is participating and at what amount. Ray, can you remind folks how to look up -- you gave them two options. Just repeat what your guidance is there.

Ray >> Okay. I think the question is asking if I'm on SSI and keeping Medicaid -- and you can --

Derek >> Correct. Yeah.

Ray >> -- you know? The 1619(b) program is federal law that applies to every state. So it's not like the buy-in where some states don't have it. Every state has 1619(b). Again, if you're not sure what benefit you are on, you need to contact the 1-800 Help line we've been giving you. You can sign up for a my Social Security account, and you can look at any notices that you might have. It will tell you what benefit you are on in -- letters in bold.

Derek >> This is Derek. Thanks, Ray. And just to give you some kudos and acknowledgement, 46 participating states is correct.

Ray >> Ah, thank you.

Derek >> So when you mentioned --

Ray >> Good to have --

Derek >> So be sure to use --

Ray >> Yeah. It's good to have the team in background.

Derek >> There you go. Remember in the Web Links Pod we have these resource links. So when Ray is talking about the state's threshold eligibility, you can access that resource at Number 11 and the Medicare information at Number 12, and then the contact Medicare information that's at Number 13. So please use those resources if those apply to you. Next question, Ray. Please clarify, you're saying that if I work and keep my SSDI, I can also keep my Medicare, am I right?

Ray >> Yep. Absolutely. The only trick there is if you're working above that Substantial Gainful Activity level, you know, one for disability, one for the blind, and you lose a benefit, even for a month, there was a premium for Medicare that Social Security had withheld from your benefits payment, you know? Now, if you don't get a benefit, there's no premium withheld and you're going to be responsible for paying that, you know? CMS, Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services, will bill you for that. So in order to keep it, remember you got to pay for it.

Derek >> Thanks, Ray. We've also had a couple questions that have come in about how is this amount calculated? Is it net? Is it gross? Is it before taxes or after taxes? Can you give a little bit of description about how that SGA amount comes together?

Ray >> Yeah. You know, the SGA was, you know, determined -- Social Security defines work as Substantial Gainful Activity. And that's a determiner for one being disabled if you are applying for benefits. Now, after you receive your benefits, if you earn more than that Substantial Gainful Activity level, you're going to lose your cash benefit for that month, you know? How that SGA number was determined way back when, it was based on average wages, you know? And, you know, we're not -- you can look at all of the COLAs in the world that we've had but it's not helping, you know, unless you modernize the system. Should substantial gainable activity be $1,550 a month, when in fact that really needs to be a week's pay and not a month's pay, you know? It's below the poverty level. So, you know, there are lots of problems with that number, you know, and a lot of us are working with Social Security to try to modernize that system as well as the SSI system to bring some of these numbers, you know, up to date, you know? So I can't honestly tell you how it was created initially. It's been affected by cost of living increases for the last many years. I remember when it was raised every few years by $100 or $200 and then it was adopted into the COLA system so that you had an annual increase, you know? I think that reality is striking hard now because of the nature of our economy, and we need to update those numbers to make them real, you know? I mean, if you are working, you know, are you able to meet your basic needs? And if the answer is no, something is wrong with the numbers, you know. But everybody is aware of that, everybody is trying right now. But it takes an act of Congress.

Derek >> This is Derek. Thanks, Ray. Appreciate that. And again, you can learn more through some of the resources if you're interested. And in Ray 's next section, he's going to go into Employment Team members that you can keep talking to to get your questions answered as well. Next question, Ray. What if I'm offered employer-sponsored insurance, you know? I get the job I'm working, and I have access to employer-sponsored insurance, what would happen to my Medicare, and I guess we could also say, or Medicaid for others, in that situation?

Ray >> Yeah. You know, that's a really hard question, you know? And it's confusing and I like to depend on experts, you know? Your AAA agency, the Area Agency on Aging, your state health insurance programs, the CHIP programs, are the experts here. And what most people are doing now is looking, taking these program -- you know, I can't tell you, I really feel like I'm not qualified to tell you if your employer plan will match your Medicare or your Medicaid, you know, and meet your medical needs. So I would send you to one of these experts. They're great and they'll look at your employer plan and then determine what your needs are, what's your medical needs. If, in fact, Medicare is paying for a benefit, you know, that your private insurance will not pay for, maybe the answer is to keep both, you know? You have to consider the financial nature of that, too, because you might be paying premiums for both, you know? 
On the Medicaid side, Medicaid is a very extensive program. Lots of services. Many of those services that are provided by Medicaid waivers are the services that are allowing you to work. You know, the services are providing those supports. Medicaid pays for a lot of services that Medicare won't, and that most certainly private health insurance won't. So at that point, we're looking at what do you need to supplement that private plan? And if that means Medicaid, how are we going to get it? Are you in 1619(b) status or are you in the Medicaid buy-in eligibility population? But those area agencies on aging and state health insurance programs are the people who will sit there and confidently tell you that this employer plan is great, it's going to meet all of your medical needs. You don't need to pay the premiums for Medicare. But it's a very tricky decision to make and I really want you to talk to those specific agencies to get a good answer.

Derek >> This is Derek. Thanks for that, Ray. So what I am hearing though that you can take employer insurance and in many situations and in most states also purchase from another program --

Ray >> Absolutely.

Derek >> -- Medicare coverage. So it's possible to blend these together, you're just suggesting to work with healthcare experts to make decisions that are right for each person?

Ray >> Absolutely, absolutely, Derek.

Derek >> Okay. Good to know. Well speaking of that, we get this question all the time too. You mentioned reaching out to the state context on healthcare. But when somebody is thinking about the work part of this before the healthcare benefits, who can they talk to to understand the information in advance? So let's say I'm actively applying to jobs, I'm considering taking an offer for a job. Who is there that they could talk to about the potential implication of accepting that work and then the impact it would have on the healthcare benefits? 

Ray >> Yeah, I think the first place to start is with the benefits planner. And I know we're going to talk about those in a few minutes in detail. But those benefits planners, whether they're Social Security funded or not, you know, are able to sit down with you and say, hey, if you have the question, what if I go to work today and I earn $1,000? Or I'm getting a job, I have a job offer and I need to respond to that job offer in a week. What can you tell me about what a $24,000 job is going to do to my SSI benefits or my SSDI benefits? You know, and they can put a plan together, you know, even for people who are just curious, you know, talk to somebody. And what we're going to want to do, I'm going to want to know, you know, what are you interested in doing? You know, if you don't have a job in mind, I'm going to ask you about your interests. Could we turn some of your interests into a job? And what would that job pay? How much do you want to work? How much are you able to work? And we could put plans together. If you're working 20 hours a week, this is what's going to happen to your benefits and your healthcare. If you earn 30 hours a week, this is what's going to happen. That could be enough to open that door for you to actually try work. As you get a job and you return to that benefits planner or to another benefits planner, you know, we build a specific plan based on your employment so that you will know what's going to happen and when it's going to happen. And that gives you a lot of power because you know what's going to happen. So you're not reacting to somebody saying, well, we're taking this benefit away because you've known and you can plan for it. So and you can do all of this with the benefits planner and get, you know, good information if you're employed, if you're about to be, or if you're just thinking about it, you know. Some Employment Networks that we'll also talk about in a few minutes have benefits planners in-house and that's another option to contact an Employment Network. I believe everybody needs to have a benefits plan done before they -- before they --

Derek >> Ray, this is Derek. As you were answering that, it sounded like you might have cut out. Let me just check in. Do we have Ray with us? It appears that he's offline. While we get Ray back, I'm going to move into the next section. It was time for us to proceed. And as Ray was talking about, the benefits counselors and planners, along with the Employment Networks. It really leads us into this next section. And I'm going to dive into that as our team works to get Ray back with us. So I apologize for that transition, but let's now talk about who can help you achieve your work goals. And in this section, we're going to support you with an Employment Team as you think about returning to work or possibly, you know, going to work for the first time, which may be a change in jobs or careers. And of course, you're going to have more questions and need support in answering those questions. And I like to say kind of putting up some scaffolding around an individual as that person steps into a new direction. We do encourage you to connect with a Ticket Program service provider, and these folks can help you really develop a plan. It's going to include what your work goals are in achievable fashion and establish the steps and timeline to find and maintain that employment in that new career direction. The Ticket Program service providers can help you identify, you know, the type of job or career that you might enjoy. And we've seen a lot of questions and comments about, well, what happens if I'm interested in kind of the path of the entrepreneur, self-employment, or being an independent consultant or a 1099 type employee. And the Ticket Program service providers are well positioned to help you think about those possibilities where we see many individuals having success with self-employment or business ownership and finding ways to take skills that you've had from other positions and transfer them in new directions. And potentially self-employment is one. They can also talk to you about some of those challenges and outline what you might need to consider in those new directions that you might take. So when we think about the Employment Team or those service providers, today we're going to focus in on Employment Networks, which you just heard Ray talk about and many of you may be aware of. And also the state Vocational Rehabilitation agencies. We like to call them the ENs and the VRs, but those are their official name. And through the Ticket Program, you can have access to both of these along with several other Employment Team members that we aren't getting into as much today. Well, I think I see that Ray has reconnected. I just wanted to bring Ray back in. Ray, are you back with us?

Ray >> I think I am. Can you hear me?

Derek >> I can hear you great. I just teed it up for you to dive into the ENs and VRs. We'll move it over to the EN section and have you rejoin. Thank you, Ray.

Ray >> Thank you so much and excuse me, everybody, I crashed, and it must be the clouds floating over New Mexico right now. So let's get into these team members because these Employment Team members are going to be very important. And they are, you know, again, voluntary. If you want people to help, that's okay. If you choose not to, that's okay as well. But when we tell you how these people can help, I think you're going to want some of them. 
Now, an Employment Network is a private or a public organization that has an agreement with Social Security to provide free employment support services to people who are eligible for the Ticket Program. State workforce systems such as American Job Centers or the One Stop Centers are called workforce ENs and can provide you with these services as well. Now, this could be fairly simple, you know, and it could be that you're talking to somebody about identifying your work goals. And I gave you a preview of what that might be like. If you're not sure what kind of work you want to do, I'm going to ask, do you knit, you know? I noticed that you have a knitting bag with you. Is that something you really like to do? Maybe sales in a knitting store is going to be a good match for you. It doesn't have to be the end all, but it might be a good start. How about writing and reviewing your resume? I like to tell people that it's been 25 years since I got a new job. And if I had to produce a resume now, I'm sure they don't look like they did 25 years ago. And I need some help. Help me prepare a resume. How about preparing for interviews? I learned the hard way that you are really supposed to have questions when that prospective employer says, "Do you have any questions for us?" You know, and it might require a little research, you know, to find out something about that company that you're interested in so that you can ask them a real meaningful question, letting them know that you're really interested in their business. But just have an interview practice. What's it like to go through an interview nowadays? What kind of questions can I expect? It's going to be a massive help. How about making those requests for reasonable accommodations? If you're not sure how to broach this topic with your employer, when to do it, or what to ask for, an EN could also help you with that. They can give you information about the accommodations that might work for you, you know, so that you can meaningfully ask for a specific accommodation with the specific, you know, hours that you might not be able to work, specific equipment that you may need to do your job, okay, so that you can have that discussion in a meaningful way with your employer. Maybe that EN will help you have that discussion if you're really unsure of having that, you know, privately. 
Receiving benefits counseling. Again, I said, many ENs, I'm going to say the majority of Employment Networks have benefits counselors on staff. And there's a firewall. If you're getting EN services and they're employment services, the benefits planning side is not going to know that. You know, so there's a real specific firewall that Social Security requires of Employment Networks who do offer benefits planning. Because the Employment Network can't just keep you for benefits planning. They need to make you aware that there are other planners out there. So, you know, just some of those really basic services that you might need to get started. Where are the jobs in my community? Do you know if they're hiring disability, people with disabilities, do they have a track record of doing this? So that you understand how people are treated when they come to work with a disability specific employer. They know the pulse of what's going on, on the streets. They can be small; they can be big. You can get services virtually; you can get services in-person. It works both ways. That pandemic told us a lot about virtual services and how well they work. 
Now the other player that's going to be at the table for that rehab type service is your state VR agency. And that ChooseWork site that Derek mentioned has a place where you can find your agency if you're not familiar with it. But that state VR agency can provide a wide variety of services. You know, and to help people return to the job they have or enter a new line of work or enter the workforce for the first time. We're talking about Vocational Rehabilitation. Lots of people who become disabled might need Vocational Rehabilitation. That can be very expensive. That's what VR can do. The services are provided free because you have a disability. Many ENs are too small to do that. But we can get you hooked up with VR and you can use both of those agencies by carefully planning how you're going to use them. Get those VR services. When it comes time to find a job, get them from an EN. You know, training and education. Again, the raised EN shop cannot afford to get you through community college or get you through a certificate program. But VR can. So we have all kinds of players at the team to help you with getting yourself ready to work or getting you to work. 
So how can working with VR help you? Usually, people who are working with VR need some pretty significant services. There might be a lot of durable medical equipment that's necessary, high-cost prescription drugs. And in some states, these include intensive training, education, or rehabilitation services. Because of your disability, you may need more education so that you can sit down, right? I hurt my back or I'm in a wheelchair. In some parts of a job, you know, if it's involving with heavy lifting, I'm not going to be able to do. And I might need a little bit more education so that I could run the department that has heavy lifters doing things. You know, I was working in the garden department at Lowe’s. I can't do that anymore because I can't lug around 45-pound bags of rocks and put them in people's car. But if I get some business education, maybe I can run the department because I'm very familiar about what everybody does. So things like that can happen. They might also provide career counseling, job placement assistance, as well as counseling about how earnings may affect your benefits. Many of the state rehab agencies are also providing benefits planning services with qualified planners. How do you find a service provider? Well, you can call that Ticket to Work Help line at 1-866-968-7842, or with TTY at 1-866-833-2967 between Monday and Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Or you can go to the Find Help page. The link is in your Web links pod and search by a zip code. How about the types of services that are offered? How about the type of disability? If I have blindness, I'm not wanting to go to see somebody who only deals with physical impairments. I want to go to somebody who has experience working with people with blindness. I can find that out. Do you want to do this in English or some other language? Whatever you're comfortable with, you can find out who provides services in different languages. And the provider type. You know, I think this is the provider type tool I'm using all the time. You can find an EN that's in your area, that workforce EN, the one-stop job centers. Find your VR agencies, find benefits planners, or find the PABSS agency. We haven't mentioned them yet, but we will. How are we going to -- yeah, Derek, are we all set to ask more questions or should I talk about that --

Derek >> This is Derek. Well, sure, go ahead and start by, you know, describing the PABSS agency so people know what this acronym means and how they could tap into that if needed.

Ray >> Yeah, this is the Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security. It was my last job before I joined Cornell. And it is the legal wing of the Ticket to Work Act. You know, we've talked about a lot of things. You know, I'm going to use reasonable accommodations. It's a real easy one to use. If you need a reasonable accommodation to work and you request that from your employer, and the employer says no or tries to offer you a different accommodation and you know that's not going to be acceptable, PABSS can provide you with legal advice or legal assistance. Yeah, re-contact that employer and have another discussion with an attorney or a paralegal. You might get a better answer, and if you don't get a better answer, it's possible to file a lawsuit to get that accommodation. These services are also provided free of charge if you're returning to work. That's all that we require. You want to work and you need advice. It's another place to call. How do I have that discussion about that reasonable accommodation? What's the best way to do it? Or I'm really uncomfortable doing this. Can you do it with me on a three-way call? Yeah. So they're going to help you with barriers to returning to work. And I read that very broadly when I was doing this work. And I thought a barrier was Social Security overpayment. I thought a barrier was being evicted from your home because if you don't have a home, you're not going to be able to work, along with the reasonable accommodations and all of those ADA rules. Very different from state to state, so you might want to make contact or pull up PABSS on your computer to read what your state is actually doing to provide that.

Derek >> This is Derek. Thanks for that, Ray. Yeah, good to learn about the PABSS. When we hear from you about the Employment Networks, those ENs, you know, so a lot of that, people are thinking about how am I going to try to find work, applying to work. Can you talk a little bit more about what the ENs do after someone hopefully lands that job and they're employed? What can the ENs do to support them after employment?

Ray >> That's a great question, Derek, and I'm loving this part of the Ticket to Work. It's a notion called Partnership Plus. You know, I said that if you need some education, if you need a certificate program, you're likely going to get that paid for by state VR. State VR won't take your Ticket. They put it in a status called "in use." They'll provide you with services. They will hopefully help you get that initial job. And then three months of SGA, you're done. Now, I got to ask you, is three months enough for you to pick it up and continue to work? It might be for some people, but other people need more support. So because the Ticket was only 'in use," I can take that Ticket from VR and give it to an Employment Network. And that Employment Network can then provide on-the-job services and supports. I like to call it making a worker. Can you make a worker in three months? I don't think so. I don't think so. I don't think you have changed the culture. The culture change of going to work every day. The culture change of being an employee, the culture change of being self-employed is a big deal and it takes more than three months. At three months, you're just learning to get up when that alarm clock rings. But if you need more support, you need a job coach for a few more months than VR was providing. You need somebody to talk to. I need to decompress. I had a bad day at work and I'm ready to quit. Your EN can do that for you, along with other serious supports. Again, the job coach, helping you reporting your income, that kind of thing. And that will go on for several months more. And I think that once you get to the point where you've been working and having these on-the-job supports, for seven, for eight for nine months, then you have become a worker with a disability. And I believe in my heart at that point, you're going to succeed. I want you to use these services until you're ready to become independent. So that was a great question, Derek. You can continue on that Ticket Program after VR by contacting EN.

Derek >> This is Derek. Thanks, Ray. Let's get to a couple more questions before we wrap up. Here's another one about equipment. Can a service provider, one of these ENs or VRs, can they help get equipment for somebody that's needed for work? It could be, you know, an example like a laptop or maybe a headset or perhaps even more like assistive technology, like a screen reader for a blind individual. Can service providers help with equipment?

Ray >> Absolutely. You know, VR is likely the place where you're going to get that at no cost. You know, some ENs will be able to provide you with the headsets, with the screen readers. But if we're talking heavy equipment and large screens and new programs that we need to put into the program, you're going to most likely rely on VR. But when you think about all of this stuff, you also have the ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act, that says if I need a big screen reader or a large monitor to help me with completing this job, I could ask my employer to provide it. And the employer might do that as a reasonable accommodation. You also got to consider what happens if you buy it yourself. Because we haven't talked about all of the Work Incentives. But if I buy that monitor myself and it's $360, I can divide that by 12 and have an Impairment-Related Work Expense deduction every month. So both VR and the Employment Networks and the benefits planners can help you plan to get the equipment, you know, at no cost or at some cost. Can help you ask for the employer to give it to you as a reasonable accommodation. And can help you determine which of those three avenues of getting this service is going to provide you with the most benefit. So yeah, there's a lot of stuff going on here. And I hate to say that it's horribly confusing, but it is. But you've got lots of members of that employment team that can all help you.

Derek >> This is Derek. Thanks, Ray. Appreciate that. Good pointer. You have access to equipment support, and you might get some from VR or some from an EN, but it's worth when you reach out to them to inquire about that if that's important to you. All right, here's a question about the best work environment. An individual says, "For me, that's working remotely. Are there service providers who can help me find remote or work from home type positions?"

Ray >> Absolutely. You know, I've been working at home now for 25 years and I absolutely love it. And I don't know if I could go back to an office, you know, it would be hard for me. Yet self-employment might very well be a situation where you're going to be working at home. You know, but there are lots of jobs. And again, it's something we learned from the pandemic. People can work remotely and can provide, you know, valuable services, meeting all of their job requirements. You know, lots of employers. I'm posting jobs for benefits planners, you know, for people in Rhode Island who will take a benefits planner who lives in California. Completely remote work. So there are lots and lots of options for doing that. You know, Cornell is one that you can be completely remote. You can be a hybrid. You can be full-time on campus. You know, I have never worked on Cornell's campus in the 25 years that I've been associated with them. You know, I visit once in a while, but you know, I don't do that. So absolutely remote employment is a significantly more accessible job placement than it's ever been.

Derek >> Ray, thank you so much for joining us today and covering this important topic and diving into the Ticket to Work Program and how you can keep your Social Security benefits intact and work with the Ticket Program. So appreciate your advice and presentation today.

Ray >> It's always a pleasure to have --

Derek >> Okay. It's now time to wrap up. I have a few remarks and then we'll be done in two minutes. You have learned a lot today with Ray 's presentation about a variety of service providers and other resources that are ready to answer your questions. And you might not be sure exactly how to start. So first, there's no wrong way, but we encourage you to consider a couple ways. One is contacting the Ticket to Work Help line at 1-866-968-7842 or via TTY at 1-866-833-2967. That TTY line is for -- a phone number for people who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability and who use a text telephone to make and receive calls. Those lines are open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. 
Or you can also check out the Ticket to Work website. We've encouraged you so far, a couple times to do so. But go to choosework.ssa.gov. Lots of information out there, a section about Work Incentives, content in the "find help" area that you can explore with the "find help" tool, along with the WISE on Demand, which you can explore for other recorded WISE. You choose how to connect. What's important is that you do reach out and connect with us. 
Speaking of that, on the site we have the Choose Work blog as well, and you can get other email updates. So on the Choose Work website under the contact section, you can sign up for those things. And there's a link that also appears in the Web links pod called Choose Work contact page at 15. You can open that up. If you like to get advice and encouragement, as many people do, and also get stories, you can receive those success stories as well as the other resources through our opt-in text message system. If you're interested in receiving those messages, please text TICKET to 1-571-489-5292. Standard messaging rates may apply, and we encourage you to sign up for that if you like that. And I'm sorry, you can always email us too at support@choosework.ssa.gov with any questions, and we can redirect you to the appropriate individuals. And with that, we'd also encourage you to sign up for our next WISE webinar scheduled for July 24th at 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. You can register online on our website, or you can call 1-866-968-7842 or 1-866-833-2967 for the TTY number. And with that, we thank you for joining us today. We appreciate your time, and this ends today's WISE webinar.