Derek Shields >> Okay, as I said, I'm Derek, and I'll serve as the moderator for the session, and I'm being joined today by our presenter, Raymond Cebula. Ray received his law degree from the University of New Hampshire's Franklin Pierce School of Law and then spent 23 years providing legal services to individuals with disabilities and their interactions with Social Security and then joined part of Cornell University's Work Incentive Support Center. In 2005, he joined the staff of Cornell's K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Institute on Employment and Disability that resides in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He now serves as the program director of YTI Online, that is Cornell's Work Incentives Practitioner Credentialing Program. And importantly for us today, Ray is our presenter. Welcome, everyone, to today's Work Incentives webinar. We welcome you. And I'll now introduce Ray Cebula, our presenter. Ray, over to you.

Raymond Cebula >> Thank you, Derek. It's good to be here again. Today's session, we're going to discuss how Social Security's Ticket to Work Program can help you and answer questions like, what is 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 work goals? We'll have answers for just about all of that and a little more today. 

So what is Social Security's Ticket to Work Program? It is a free and voluntary Social Security program that offers career development for people ages 18 through 65 who receive Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Insurance — or Supplemental Security Income, I'm sorry, and want to work. Three requirements. Between 18 and 64 years of age, receive SSDI or SSI, or both and want to work. So what are these two disability programs? It's very important that you know which benefit you receive so that members of your employment team will be able to give you the correct information. They're both very, very different programs. As you can see here, Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI, is an insurance program. As you're working and paying FICA taxes into the Social Security system, you are earning insurance status. Once you have earned insurance status, if you do experience a disability, you will get disability insurance benefits provided you meet all the Social Security standards. And if you retire, you'll be insured for that as well. So every dollar paid into that system does two things for you.

SSI, Supplemental Security Income. Notice there's no insurance there. This is not an insurance program. It is needs-based. So we're going to look at people who have a disability and who have very limited resources and limited income. Both programs have very, very different Work Incentives , and we'll talk about those as we go along. So the first thing you need to do to start working with your employment team is figure out what type of benefits you receive. And that can be done by either looking at a notice that Social Security sent to you, or if you don't have a my Social Security account, your homework tonight is to set one up. Go to ssa.gov. Right on the homepage, you'll see a link for that. Lots of good information in there for you. 

How can the Ticket to Work Program help? You know, it's going to connect you with free employment services to help you decide if work's right for you. Now may not be the moment for you. That moment may come after some training, some budget work, all of that stuff that we all have to deal with. Prepare for work. I'm constantly using computer technology. If you were working in the computer industry before you became disabled and five years have passed, you need to prepare to return to work. There's a lot of changes that happen in that science every day. So we're going to help you get prepared to re-enter. Maybe the same job that you were doing before. Maybe something nice and closely related to it. How about assistance finding a paid work opportunity? While people are in school, they do internships. Some of them are paid. They do apprenticeships. Some of those may be paid. And it's a good thing to learn what your job is going to require and being paid while you're doing it. We'll help you manage that salary and those benefits while that's happening, as well as helping you locate those experiences. And the last thing is to succeed at work. We're not really in the business of helping someone get a job. We're in the business of helping someone get a job and sticking around to help them succeed. Maybe you realize you need an accommodation at work. How do I ask for that? Who can help me ask for that if I'm not comfortable talking to my employer alone? We've got all of that set up for you. Now you can learn more at What is Social Security's Ticket to Work Program in the Web Links pod in the self-guided tutorial, will be there. The Ticket to Work Help Line is a great way to start if you're curious about things, if you want to get established and make a connection with a provider of Ticket to Work services, this is a good place to start. The Ticket to Work Program offers a toll-free Help Line to answer your questions and support you on your journey to financial independence. You can call that Help Line Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time, and the number is 1-866-968-7842. If you use a TTY, it is 1-866-833-2967. 

Now, this is a big question on everybody's mind when they're receiving benefits, and they want to go back to work. Can I keep those benefits if I return to work? And the good thing about this is you will be able to keep them for a certain length of time. The answer is yes. Many people are working and receiving benefits. That's period. That's the fact. And the question is, are you going to do that, or are you going to move to financial independence and leave Social Security in your history? Social Security has safety nets in place called Work Incentives that allow you to keep some or all of your benefits while you try to work. Work Incentives are programs and rules that help beneficiaries enter, re-enter, or continue their employment by protecting eligibility for benefits payments and/or health insurance coverage while they can replace their Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income benefits payments with earnings from employment or self-employment according to Social Security's standards. So it's a set of rules that's allowing you to build a future without benefits. We're going to keep those benefits as long as is necessary until your income surpasses certain guidelines or exhausts your cash benefits, depending on the program you're on. And we can build a plan to ensure that you will have more money. As far as your health insurance goes, they're going to be around for a long time. Trust me on that. They'll be around for a very long time, even after your cash benefits are gone. So whether you're looking for a job for the first time or returning to work after an injury or illness, Work Incentives can help you through the transition to work and move towards financial independence. 

Now, what is a Plan to Achieve Self-Support? I wish there were many, many more thousands of these plans out there. They are actually very great things. So we call them PASS plans, a Plan to Achieve Self-Support. It's a Work Incentive for SSI recipients, Supplemental Security Income people. Now, it's a written plan of action for pursuing a specific work-related goal. So basically what we have here is a very strict savings plan and a very strict spending plan. You need a vocational goal. I want to return to a programming job in the computer industry. That's a vocational goal. I want to go to school in order to become a teaching assistant. That's a vocational goal. And when you have this pass approved, Social Security does not count the money that you set aside to help you reach that goal when they're determining how much SSI money you're going to receive each month. That's a good thing. If you're on SSI, you know that that resource limit of $2,000 for an individual, $3,000 for a married couple. It's pretty strict. What if I need $20,000 to get through school to become a teaching assistant? I can save that money, and it won't count as a resource. So that's a very special program. And again, if you're in need for training, if you're in need for a certificate of some kind, this is a really good thing. But remember, it has to be vocationally goal-driven. Who's eligible? If you receive SSI or can become eligible for SSI, you may qualify for a PASS. 

Now, we haven't said a word about SSDI, the insurance program, but we're going to now. If you receive SSDI, you may become eligible for a PASS if you have a work goal that would allow you to earn enough money to no longer qualify for SSDI. So that's the goal, getting off of benefits, and you use this extra savings that you can keep to move towards that goal. SSDI, some people can put some of that SSDI into their PASS. As a result, it doesn't count as income, and it allows you to become eligible for SSDI — for SSI, I'm sorry. SSDI would be set aside. You would then receive SSI. You would need to meet all other qualifications for a PASS and set aside enough of that SSDI to become eligible for SSI. That's a very important point. You need some assistance in doing that. So a benefits planner, one of those members of your employment team, will help you do that so that you're insured of having enough money to live on while you're training to go back to work. 

Expedited reinstatement. This was a game changer. Many, many of my former clients would tell me, "Well, I'm not going to go to work because if my benefits are terminated, I have to file a new application. And it took three years the first time. I don't want to wait three years without any money." That's gone now. It's gone completely. EXR, as it's called, is a Work Incentive that applies to both SSI and SSDI people. All of you out there can participate in this program. And it's a safety net for people who successfully return to work, lose their entitlement, so they're terminated from SSDI or SSI, and you end up leaving your job, reducing your hours a significant amount, within five years after your benefits were terminated. So, you know, many agencies say you're terminated. See you next time around. Social Security is saying you're terminated. But we're watching you for five years so that if you do run into trouble, we're going to put you right back onto benefits. It allows up to six months of temporary benefits payments while you're waiting for the medical determination to make sure you can be reinstated. You may also be eligible for Medicare and/or Medicaid during this provisional period. Now that's going to require some looking at your exact situation to determine which and how you're going to approach Expedited reinstatement. Very, very important. You have an easy-on for five years after your benefits are terminated. 

So can I keep my Medicaid or Medicare when I start working? This is the question of the journey. What do I need? Many, again, clients have told me, I don't care about the cash money. I need my health care to stay in place. Because we can do the math, we can give projections and show you there's going to be more money. But people want to know what's happening to health care. And it's a very important question. And the answer is yes. If you receive SSDI benefits or SSI payment of any amount, you're going to continue to be eligible for Medicare or Medicaid. That doesn't mean you should stop. Just keep your benefits. We want you to progress and progress, and you can do that. If your payments stop due to earnings, you can remain — and you remain medically disabled, so you're still disabled according to Social Security, you may be able to keep your Medicare and Medicaid through these Work Incentives or through Medicaid buy-in programs, which are available now in about, I think, 46 states. Four states in the District of Columbia do not have these. You're going to want to look at this real close. Because I think this is going to alleviate the fear that most people have of losing cash and losing health care. It doesn't happen that way anymore. You're going to want to look at Medicare and Medicaid employment supports in the Web Links pod. 

Work Incentives and programs to help you keep Medicare and Medicaid. I'm going to take this on the Medicaid side. Medicaid comes with SSI. And so we're looking at Medicaid while working. The 1619(b) program. Another big change that was made. If you lose your SSI cash, you're going to keep that Medicaid. The state that you're in has set a threshold. And if your income remains below that threshold, you're going to get your benefits. Now, today's payment amount for SSI is $994 a month. That's the maximum payment you can receive. In many states, you could make $45,000 and still be eligible for Medicaid. And what happens if you get a raise and you're above that limit? You look at your state's Medicaid buy-in, where you'd have the same Medicaid coverage for an income-based premium. And the premiums are really, really reasonable. So Medicaid can stay around for a long time. 

How about Medicare? SSDI comes with Medicare. There is an extended period of Medicare coverage. Now, in other programs, we've talked about the progression of phases; one is called that Trial Work Period. After your Trial Work Period ends, you will have access to Medicare for at least 93 months; that's about seven and a half years. That's a good long time, you know. And then we have, after that, Medicare for people with disabilities who work. That's a program where you're going to be paying premiums for all the parts of Medicare. That's going to take some planning, right? We're going to have to make sure your salary is increasing enough for you to make those payments. And basically, you'll be doing what everybody else does with health insurance. You'll be paying for it. But that goes on for a long time. That goes on until age 65, when you are then assumed to be aged rather than disabled. And you're automatically eligible for Medicare when you turn 65. 

Now, Medicaid While Working or 1619(b), I talked about this, but I didn't tell you the rules. This is the program that allows you to receive Medicaid after you have earned enough to eliminate your SSI cash payments. It requires that you were eligible for an SSI payment for at least one month. Not the month before you started working. At least one month in the past. You continue to meet Social Security's definition of disability. So you're not losing your cash because you're no longer disabled. That's an important point. You're losing your cash because of your earnings. You still meet the other non-disability requirements. Now that means that you don't have unearned income that would make you ineligible for SSI, and you maintain your resources below that $2,000 or $3,000 level. You need Medicaid to continue to work. Now, you know, this is important. This was the Ticket to Work Program when it was passed. It was the first time Congress actually said in a piece of legislation that people need insurance to work. And we all know that. But Congress caught up with us in 1999. So you need them. And the questions are easy. Did you use your Medicaid card in the last 12 months? Do you expect to use it in the next 12 months? Can you replace Medicaid with private insurance? Answer any one of those questions correctly, and the test stops. You have to have gross earnings, again, below your state threshold. We talked about that. If you're very, very expensive, if you're a person who uses personal care attendants, durable medical equipment, it might be that you can have your own personal threshold. That you need to request. And I want you to look at this link, ssa.gov/disability research/wi/1619b.htm. That's going to give you a chart with all of your state's threshold limits. 

Now the buy-in program is also a great thing. Many states are going to allow you to purchase Medicaid under the Medicaid buy-in. You may qualify if you meet the definition of disability under the Social Security Act. Depending on the state you're in, you may not even need to do that. You may have a physician-certified disability, and you can participate. So this isn't always limited to SSI and SSDI recipients. Each state has a different program, so we need to look at your state and figure out what those rules are. If you're in Texas, you're in Texas. If you're in New Mexico, you're in New Mexico. Most require that you have some earnings from work. Some allow you to have significant earnings from work or self-employment and greater savings than the Medicaid program allows. If you're participating in this buy-in program in the state of New York, your resource limit goes from $2,000 to $20,000. So you can actually save some money. Under certain circumstances, people who receive SSDI benefits may be eligible for the Medicaid buy-in programs as well. That's an important option because a lot of times Medicaid is paying for the very services you need to work. And that's something you want to carry on. You should check with your local Medicaid agency to find out what's available in your state or talk to a member of your employment team. 
Now, Medicare for people with disabilities who work is a long time in the future. You are eligible to buy Medicare coverage if you are not yet age 65. Now, Pat pointed out to me in our little chat box that I stated 18 to 64. I mean, I said 18 to 65. This is 18 through 64. If you turn 65, again, you're aged. You're no longer disabled. You're going to be qualified for this based on your age. You continue to have a disabling impairment. Your Medicare stopped due to earnings from work. No disability determination saying you are no longer disabled here. You are basically terminated because of work. Your disability status remains the same. 

The Extended Period of Medicare coverage. We talked about this. After your Trial Work Period, at least 93 consecutive months of hospital insurance, Part A, of supplemental medical insurance, the insurance that you use to go to your doctors, Part B, and prescription drug coverages, Part D. You're going to continue to be eligible for those programs for seven and a half years after your Trial Work Period. So if you have Medicare questions, you can visit medicare.gov. They also have a very successful chat line where you will get a person, and you will get an answer. It's available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can call them at 1-800-MEDICARE or 1-800-633-4227. Or if you're using a TTY, 877-486-2048. 

And we've got a success story. I'm all about these success stories. It makes this job great when you see these stories. This is Frances. Frances was a registered nurse. She received SSDI due to a stroke that caused issues that interfered with consistent employment. Driving, reading, it was all very difficult after that stroke. She received a letter from the Ticket to Work Program, and her friends and family encouraged her to go back to work. She connected with the Choice Group, a Virginia-based Employment Network, one of those members of your employment team. We're going to continue with her story, but we're going to talk about the whole story here of Frances. Frances's success story is in the Web Link pod. 

Connecting with that Employment Network, Frances first worked with a career counselor to find telehealth medical jobs so that she could use her skills from her old career. Smart move. When she was feeling stronger, she wanted to pursue in-person nursing again. Her Employment Network helped her develop a resume, practice interview skills, and offered benefits counseling. Now with that, she's got it all. She has an updated resume. She has practiced interviewing. She's prepared with the questions she needs to ask her prospective employer after they're finished asking you questions. And the benefits counseling told her exactly what to expect as her income increased and changed. We don't want you to take a step without knowing what will happen. So she's made her comeback. Frances was hired as an endoscopy sedation nurse and was thrilled to be back in the medical field. She's not only achieved financial independence, but was also noticed by her colleagues. She won a DAISY Award prior to her stroke and recently won another one in her current role. This award celebrates and recognizes nurses, thanking them for the care and the kindness that they provide. Now, what did she say about this? "I'm happy the Choice Group and Ticket to Work exist. I'm living proof you can transition back to work. And I'm so glad I'm stubborn. I didn't quit." That's a great story. I wish you all that kind of story. And, Derek, that's going to bring us up to our first Q&A.

Derek >> This is Derek. Thanks so much, Ray, for going through the Ticket to Work overview and talking about working and keeping disability benefits and keeping Medicaid and Medicare while working. As I asked, you all listened. We've received plenty of questions coming in the Q&A pod. And while we're getting some answers out, we're also getting more questions that we can answer through that. And I'll be responding with Ray to those right now. As we do that, just a reminder about program eligibility. As Ray said, this is, eligibility is for individuals age 18 through 64. We've had a couple of questions about do you have to have a disability or not. So I'm just going to repeat the eligibility statement. Social Security's Ticket Program is free and voluntary and available to people ages 18 through 64 who have a disability and who receive Social Security Disability Insurance, that's that SSDI, or Supplemental Security Income benefits, SSI benefits. So, 18 through 64, have a disability and are receiving SSDI and/or SSI. Of course, the objective is to help beneficiaries with disabilities expand choice when seeking to enter or reenter employment. And Ray was going through some of those Work Incentives, and I know we had some questions on those. So one of them, Ray, we've had a couple of folks ask, "Do I have to use the Ticket Program to find work?" And a bit of a twist on that today with a couple people asking if I have to be involved with the Ticket Program if I want to use PASS, or can I use the PASS by itself? So, "Do I need to use Ticket?" And, "If I want to use PASS, do I also need to be using Ticket?"

Ray >> All right. Good question. You do not have to use your Ticket to Work to return to work. You can just find a job tomorrow and start working. The benefit of using the Ticket is that you have more help. Take Frances, for instance. She needed to maybe learn to do her job in a different way due to her stroke. It took her some time to build up the strength to do that so that she could move into an in-person placement. Her benefits changed every time she took a step forward. So you can get a job on your own. I'm just suggesting that if you're making that kind of serious change, you may want to know what's going to happen to your benefits. How long you're going to have them? How long that health care is going to remain? What happens if your salary drops because you can't work as much as you expected? And you may need training. That computer engineer that I was talking about. If you're out of work for five years, you need a lot of training to update your skill set for what's real today. Now, you can do all of that on your own. But just remember, we've got a whole employment team ready to help. So it's up to you. You can get your own job, or we can help you through that process. 

And again, we're going to help make you a success after you get the job. With the PASS plan, the PASS plan is the same thing. You do not need to use your Ticket. The PASS plan is a tool. Many people set up PASS plans without using their Ticket. Let's use my other example. If I want to become a teaching assistant, I need a two-year degree. Well, I can just register to Santa Fe Community College and get a two-year degree in teaching. If I do that with an employment team using my Ticket to Work, I'm going to know what happens to my benefits when I get my first paycheck. What's happening to my health care? Is this always balancing enough so that I'm making more than I had? And if you don't work with the Ticket to Work, that's up to you to figure out. We will help you get a placement once your PASS plan's finished. Okay, now I am finished with my education. What do I do? I haven't gotten a job in many, many years. I need help putting a resume together. So if I'm on my own, I could pay somebody to build me a resume looking just like it's supposed to. I could pay somebody to help me with interview practices and help me develop questions depending on where I am looking for a job. What company is this? What company is that? What school system is this? How does it work compared to others? I'll get assistance putting all that puzzle together. And you don't have to pay for those services using your Ticket to Work. So again, you're free to set up a PASS without any assistance and manage that PASS on your own. But we can help you do that. And rather than guessing, you'll get some experienced people helping you build that plan and seeing it through. I think that's very valuable, particularly when it's all there at no cost. All right, Derek. Thank you.

Derek >> This is Derek. Thanks, Ray. Just love that at the end. You don't have to, but there's some really good value in the services and supports from the employment team. And you're going to hear more about not just the Ticket Program, but all the providers that are behind it in our next segment. All right. Our next question, as always, we get this question a lot. A couple of people are having Internet challenges. Some of you just — there's a lot of information asking about the slides and the recording. This information will be posted on the Choose Work! website within two weeks from today. We also have other archived WISE webinars that are available to you that focus on different Work Incentives and parts of the program. We'll provide that website to you before we close, but please know the material and the recording will be available. All right, next up. Ray, how do people know which benefit that they're on? How do they find that out?

Ray >> That's a good question. It's a very important first question that you need to answer. Again, the easiest way, if you have a notice, the notice that you got in November last year that said your benefits are increasing too, tells you on the top what benefit you receive. So that's one way to know. You know, you can call the Help Line. We'll give you that number again a little bit later. But call that Help Line. They will tell you. One of the best ways to do this and to help you manage the rest of your working life is a my Social Security account. Again, it's free. You can go to ssa.gov and on the homepage, you'll see a link for my Social Security accounts. I'm in a different position than you people are. I am planning retirement using that information. Every year I get a note from Social Security, "It's time to check your wages." I go in and look. Is what they posted to my account correct? I want to know because my benefits depend upon that. When I'm signing up for retirement, what about my spouse? What about my kids? Well, they'll tell you what benefit your kids will get. They'll tell you what benefits your spouse will get. And what about the SSI workers? You're on a needs-based benefit. And as you work, you're earning insurance for SSDI. Well, it will tell you when you're going to be eligible for SSDI and how much that benefit might be expected to be. Those accounts are really, really valuable. And I really want you to consider getting one. It helps your benefits planner. When you're looking for help, what's going to happen to my benefits? Well, I don't know. Can you tell me what benefit you have? If you're willing to sit down with me and type your password into your Social Security account, I am going to be very, very happy with you. I'm going to see everything. I have your benefits verified. I know how much they are. I know that you've worked in the past and how many more insurance credits you need before you're going to qualify for the other benefit. Tons of information. So, again, that's your homework tonight. Sign up for an account. Enough of my commercial, Derek. Back to you.

Derek >> This is Derek again. Thanks, Ray. We have time for one more question before we go back to your next segment. There's three or four questions around training. And I know that, you know, we talk in the next segment a little bit about the different types of training education that's available. But when people are thinking about, you know, a restart in work or perhaps starting work for the first time and they're lacking the education that's required for their job or career pathway. What can the Ticket Program do in regards to training, from a single class or kind of a skills development all the way to some level of like college education?

Ray >> Just about anything you need. We can get — if you need a high school diploma, we can get you a GED program built into your plan to return to work. You know, you'll have time to get that completed before you're expected to start earning under your plan to work. I need a two-year degree to become a teaching assistant. We'll build that in, and you'll have the two years to do that before you're expected to earn money. There are actually earnings requirements. They're manageable. They're built to fit going to school. What else can we do? So that's the training. Let's go to training rather than education. Education is pretty easy. What if I want to be a plumber? Well, I need to go to school to get a plumbing certificate. I'm going to have to have an internship with a master plumber where I go and learn how to actually do what I've learned intellectually, right? And to be able to talk to that plumber about what's this. In class, we learned this. Why are you doing this? And you're going to learn a lot of practical things from that internship. Well, we can get you set up in that. I mean, it's almost limitless for training, for going to school. It just is. I mean, it all depends on what you want. A four-year degree is a possibility. And again, work requirements exist, but they're all built around your education. You know, you're going to not work when school's in session a whole lot. During the summer, you're going to work a little more. That's how this progresses.

Derek >> This is Derek.

Ray >> I think that answers that question, Derek.

Derek >> Yeah, this is Derek. Thanks, Ray. That's very helpful, and I know you'll have a couple other references to training services available in this coming segment. Look, we know there's other questions that have come in. There's been some about self-employment. We're going to get to those in our next Q&A. Please continue to submit your questions so I can get those to Ray. But right now, we're going to move on, and Ray is going to talk about who can help you achieve your work goals. Back to you.

Ray >> Thank you, Derek. Now, yep, let's see who these people are. So, achieving your work goals with the Ticket to Work. As you think about returning to work and possibly changing careers or jobs, you may have questions and need support. So connecting with a Ticket Program service provider can help you develop achievable goals and establish a path to find and maintain employment in your new career. That includes what Frances did, right? She had a nursing career before and wanted to transition back into it after she had her stroke. The Ticket to Work service providers can help you identify the type of job or career you might enjoy and any transferable skills you may have. Now, transferable skills are an important thing, and we don't always think about those. My computer person has been out of work for five years and now is trying to build a resume. Well, Employment Networks are masters at helping you fill that gap. What did you do while you were out of work? Did you learn how to knit? That's a transferable skill. The concentration is a transferable skill. Did you babysit your children's kids so that they could work and save a little money? There are all kinds of skills for that. If they're with you all day, you've got to keep them busy. You've got to feed them lunch. So all of that organization and all of the things that you did for those kids during the day give you skills. And we want to take what you had before you became disabled and what you learned to do or developed while you're out on disability and then transfer that to your new job or career. So just sit back and think, well, what did I do? Oh, I did X, Y, Z. That might give you more skills than you'd ever know. And that's what the Employment Networks are for. They're good at helping you determine what those skills are and fit them to the type of job that you may want. The Ticket service providers. Through the Ticket Program, you're going to have access to a variety of Ticket Program providers, including Employment Networks and state Vocational Rehabilitation agencies. And we're going to talk about those, starting with the Employment Networks. 

Now, an EN, as we call them, is a private or public organization that has an agreement with Social Security to provide free employment support services to people who are eligible for the Ticket Program. Many state public workforce systems, such as the American Job Centers, are Workforce ENs. Now, I'm old enough to still call those places one-stops, so if you know what a one-stop is, you're good to go. VR, state VR, can also be an EN. When you approach a VR agency, they get to decide, do we want to take your Ticket and be an EN, or do we just want to put it in use status and provide you with regular services like we always would? So these agencies are out there. The last numbers I saw were around 1,000 across the country. Some of them will serve the whole country. Some of them will serve your zip code, and you can shop for them. They will give you the site where you can shop for those services. 

So how is it going to help you to work with an EN? Services and supports are designed to help you on a path to financial independence through work and may include helping you identify your work goals. I've had many a person say, I want to go to work, I just don't know what I can do. Well, let's talk about those transferable skills, right? The EN will ask you, well, let's take those skills and turn them into a job. What jobs require those skills? And then you can choose from a more directed selection of jobs. Writing and reviewing your resume, it's got to look like it's supposed to look in 2006. Not like my resume looked in 2000. I need help with that. Have them help. The ENs are also very good, as I said before, helping you to fill in that gap. You didn't do nothing while you were on disability. You have to figure out what you did and what skills were developed because of that. 

Prepare for interviews. It's always a good idea to sit down and have a practice run, right? You might have problems speaking, like I seem to be having today. You know, having practiced your interview will likely prevent that when it actually happens. So prepare it for them. And again, when that prospective employer is finished asking you questions, you can expect the question, "Well, do you have questions for us?" Having an EN help prepare those questions is a wonderful thing because you can't just say, no, I'm good. You really need to show your interest in that job, in that company. 

How about requesting those reasonable accommodations? We have help out there to help you develop a plan so that you can ask on your own, get some assistance if you feel you need that, and have some legal recourse if you are denied the accommodation. And then receiving benefits counseling. You know, that is the what, when, and where is going to happen to my benefits when I start earning money. You know, the first six weeks, I'm going to be getting paid for training. Once I move into a job, my salary is going to go up. We need to build a plan, so you know what's going to happen when. And you're prepared. You don't want to be reactive. You want to be proactive. And all of these things that the EN can provide in the benefits counseling make you proactive. 

State Vocational Rehab agencies, we usually call them VR, and as you can see, that's a capital VR. A State VR agency provides a wide variety of services to help people with disabilities return to work, enter new lines of work, or enter the workforce for the first time. A State VR agency may offer benefits counseling and may also be able to help you with vocational rehabilitation, training, and education. Now, if you look at those items, vocational rehabilitation can be very, very expensive. The Employment Networks are usually not equipped to support that type of effort. So using the VR agency for that physical or mental rehabilitation so you can consider work is where it belongs with the State VR agency. 

Training and education. If you come to me and I'm an Employment Network and you need a two-year degree, I'm going to help you take out student loans, find scholarships, find grants. If you go to VR, a very large agency with money, they will simply pay for your training or education. So there are ways to use both of these that I'm sure we'll talk about, and I'm sure there's probably going to be a question about that. 

All right. How can working with a VR agency help you? VR agencies usually work with individuals who need more extensive services. In some states, this includes intensive training, intensive education, and intensive rehabilitation. That could include getting a prosthesis if you don't have one. That could improve. You know, it could provide speech therapy. It could provide mental health counseling so that you can control your symptoms to return to work. VR agencies also provide career counseling and job placement assistance as well as counseling about how earnings from work may impact your Social Security benefits. So the benefits planners come in many shapes and sizes, and they're embedded in Employment Networks, they're embedded in VR agencies, and they are in standalone shops. 

How do you find a service provider? To find a provider online, visit the Find Help page, and you can search. It's really easy. I do it all the time. And if I can do it, you can do it. Search by zip code. I want my services to be really local. I'm going to start with my zip code. What about the services that they offer? I am using a wheelchair. I need someone who deals with physical disabilities. You can search based on that. If I have a mental impairment, I want somebody different. I want somebody who specializes in mental impairments and getting that population back to work. How about language? Here in New Mexico, more people speak Spanish than they do English. I'm sure the Employment Networks covering this state or any zip code in this state can provide you with services in Spanish and in English. What kind of provider do you want? Are you looking for an Employment Network? Are you looking for the one-stop, that Workforce EN? Or are you looking for a VR agency? They have a little box to check off. I don't want to search for them all. I want the VR agency in Montana. Hit "Enter," and you're all set. It will come up. So for a list of service providers, you can call the Ticket to Work Help Line. They can give you local or statewide, or nationally. If you want to do this by Zoom, you can do that, and it works. And you can call them at 1-866-968-7842, or for TTY users, 1-866-833-2967. Again, it's available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. through 8 p.m. Eastern Time. 

Hazel. Hazel is one of my favorite success stories. She has a great, great story as well. This is her story. In high school, Hazel began experiencing sudden mood swings and had difficulty controlling her emotions. She was later diagnosed with multiple mental impairment conditions. And after years of struggling with her mental health addiction — I mean, her mental health, her addiction, Hazel found the support she needed to create a path to recovery and financial independence. Now, getting ready to work. Hazel began working part-time at an agency called Polaris House. It's a clubhouse community dedicated to helping its members recover from mental illness. She then found counselors who helped her apply for SSDI. When she was later offered a full-time job at Polaris House, she wondered how her earnings from work would affect her benefits. She also wondered what would happen if her disabilities interfered with work after she stopped receiving SSDI. So Hazel signed up with the Ticket Program. As Hazel weighed the risks and rewards of full-time employment, a counselor at an EN told her about the Ticket Program. She learned that she was eligible for the program and assigned her Ticket to an EN. With help from her EN, she learned that she would not suddenly lose her cash benefits. Because of the Trial Work Period, she'd have time to determine how full-time employment would work for her. A great way to test your ability and capacity for work. In addition, because of another Work Incentive called Expedited Reinstatement, if Hazel had to stop working due to her disability within five years of when her benefits stopped, she could request to have her benefits reinstated without completing a new application. It's been 10 years plus since Hazel took those first steps into Polaris House's kitchen as a volunteer. She no longer receives SSDI and earns above Substantial Gainful Activity, or SGA. She has since traded her SSDI benefits for a larger paycheck. She's overcome her addiction issues. She's learned how to manage her mental health and helped countless others find their way to financial independence. Hazel uses lessons from her own experience to provide authentic and effective guidance to Polaris House members. What does she have to say about this? "For the first time in my life, I don't have to depend on a government check. I pay my own bills. I drive my own car. I have my own place. I have people who need and appreciate me, the respect of the community, and I have integrity. I'm proud to say I can afford that." There's a web link to Hazel's success story in that Web Link pod. Hazel did a great job as well. All right, we're back to Q&A again, Derek.

Derek >> This is Derek. Thank you, Ray, for reviewing the employment team members and, of course, covering Hazel's success story, along with, importantly, how to access Find Help information in the Help Line itself. Just to reiterate, if you're wondering, we'll share it a couple more times, but the Find Help page that Ray referred to, that's available in the web links pod at item number 16, right next to Hazel's success story that Ray just mentioned. And we'll repeat the help information before we wrap up. All right, so we have some questions. Before I get to the self-employment questions, I want to just revisit. You mentioned SGA there with Hazel's story. Can you review that a little bit further for us? You know, SGA, Substantial Gainful Activity. Kind of what is it, like the purpose of it, and then you have the 2026 amounts. That would be great to share, too.

Ray >> Okay. SGA is the level of earnings that Social Security considers as work. So if you work below SGA, Social Security is not really considering that you're working according to the rules of the Social Security program. And SGA is going to make or break things on the SSDI side. Now, in 2026, if you are disabled, that amount is $1,690 a month. If you are blind, it's $2,830. Those are the amounts for this year. They will change again. We'll learn about them in October and November. And we'll let everybody know once we know what the new numbers are. So Substantial Gainful Activity is much more than that number, though. When you're working, Social Security doesn't consider all of your earnings. There are other Work Incentives that you can apply that will reduce your wages. So if I tell you this job is going to pay you $1,800 a month, is that SGA? Well, it looks like it, but if I can come up with Impairment-Related Work Expenses for $100, I'm down to $1,700 in countable income. That's what we compare to the $1,690. Now, what else are we going to do? Are there any other Impairment-Related Work Expenses so we can drop that income? Another $11? Are there employment subsidies? Are you doing your job the way somebody without a disability does it? Have some job tasks been removed to accommodate you? We can put a value on that and use that. So if I say you have a $50 subsidy, you now have countable income of $1650 and you're not performing SGA, even though you're earning $1,800. So again, that $1,690 and $2,830 are numbers. We need to figure out how much of your gross wages count and then compare countable income to those numbers. I know that's confusing. Benefits planners can help you do that. On the SSI side, just because you're wondering what happens over there, it's all based on earnings. As earnings increase, SSI goes down. But it's also based on countable income. There's a whole set of SSI Work Incentives. And, you know, the bottom line on SSI is Social Security cares about less than half, even if you don't have any other Work Incentives to use. So SGA and the SSI Work Incentives are very, very important for you to understand. It is not 1,690. It's more than the number. And a benefits planner can help you figure that out.

Derek >> This is Derek. Thank you, Ray. Next question. "Can the Employment Networks, the ENs, help me get a job?" There's a lot of interest in this.

Ray >>  Absolutely.

Derek >> There's a lot of interest in it.

Ray >> Yeah.

Derek >> Talk about that a little bit. What kind of services and do they do job placement?

Ray >>  Yep. You know, finding a job, becoming financially independent is the goal of all of this. The Ticket to Work was put there to help you get a job, right? So an Employment Network is going to build a plan with you. With you, they're going to build a plan. What kind of training do you need? What kind of education do you need? All right. Now we're going to start looking at jobs. Do we know what kind of job you want? Yes, I want to become a teaching assistant. Okay, so let's start looking for jobs. And it's my job as the Employment Network to tell you what jobs are available in your area, to tell you what kind of exertional requirements might be required. Can I work in the garden department at Lowe's? Can I carry those bags of mulch out to somebody's car? If I can do that, that's great. If I can't, maybe that's not the right job for me. But they are going to place you in a job and make sure that you succeed. So that once I find my teaching assistant job, if I'm working and working, and I'm finding out that I'm having trouble completing one type of job task, and I think a reasonable accommodation might be necessary, I contact my EN. We have a discussion. How much does that accommodation cost the employer? Nope, it's not that expensive. Why do you need it? We can put all of that together so that you'll be able to request that accommodation. Again, if you're not comfortable, the EN might help you start that discussion with your employer. So we're hoping to place you in the job you want and then make sure you're successful. And that is the goal. Our goal for you is financial independence. Lose your benefits, the cash anyway. We're not telling you to lose your health care. You will have more money. There's no question about that. You will have more money, and that money comes when we help you find that job.

Derek >> Thanks, Ray. Yeah, I think one thing I'll note is that when you reach out to an Employment Network, you're interviewing them too. So if job placement assistance is something that you want, you want to be introduced to employers to interview with, ask them if that's something they do. There are some that have those local relationships. Perhaps they do that locally. Some nationally might not have as many local relationships. So bring that up. But job placement assistance comes in a lot of forms. It could be those things like preparing for accommodations or preparing for interviews, like Ray said. And then at that other level, it's, yeah, we know the employers. We'll introduce them to you. So just check into that. Ray, next question. Folks, some entrepreneurs are with us. For a variety of reasons, some people say, you know, "I don't think I could report to work, and self-employment would give me the flexibility I need. I could open up a baked goods business." Other people look at starting a business and wonder about the impact on their SSDI. Talk to us a little bit about self-employment for the entrepreneurs that are with us. Does the Ticket Program match up well there?

Ray >> You know, Derek, it does. And it's a good thing. Self-employment is becoming more and more available. VR agencies are able to help you with that. The Employment Networks are able to help you set up your own business. I've got to tell you, it's complicated. It can be done, but you're going to need the assistance of a tax person. You're going to need the assistance of someone to help you decide. Whether my business is going to be a sole proprietorship or an LLC or a corporation, there are all different things that have to be decided. You need a business plan. Fortunately, more and more benefits planners and Employment Networks have learned the niceties of helping someone develop a self-employment plan. And, Derek, you were absolutely right when you said, "I'm going to function better working in my home, self-employed." There's a lot of things you can do. A lot of things you can do. And some of them pay a whole lot of money. So, you know, you've got to find the right people. I talked to you about an employment team. If you're going into self-employment, your employment team's bigger. And it's really important to line those up. Just like a past plan, you can do it yourself, but I'm telling you there are so many landmines to step on on your way to self-employment that you really should get that help. I'm going to put in a plug for the National Disability Institute. They have a whole lot of information on self-employment, and right now I'm working on a grant with them that puts employment teams together and helps you build that plan. Check out ndi.org. That's a good place to look to see if self-employment is right for you.

Derek >> Thanks, Ray. Good points about self-employment. And we know we also have in our recorded WISE area some self-employment content. And when we talk about our website, I'll point out where that is, too. As we come towards the end of our time together, Ray, I got one more question for you. And as I pull that up, I just want to mention our team just dropped in a blog into the Web Links pod, item number 18. It talks about placement services, what those job placement assistant services look like, including types of direct job placement. Go ahead and access item number 18 if you're more interested in learning more there. Ray, you mentioned before the difference between ENs and VRs. Talk to us a little bit more. There's two people that are working with VRs now. They're becoming aware of ENs. Are there reasons to work with both, and could you explain what those are?

Ray >> Yeah. You know, either is going to get you where you need to go. You can consider VR to be a potential EN with money, you know, with a lot of money. So it depends on the types of services you need as to whether you're going to get them from VR or an EN. Now, if you are working with VR, they're going to help you with that rehabilitation and training. If you need a lot of training, they're going to help you get that. The ENs, you know, after your VR case has closed, the ENs can then step in to find you a job, to get your resume up to snuff, to practice the interviews, and help you stay on the job. Be with you while you determine if you need reasonable accommodations. Be with you if you have a bad day at work and just need to talk to somebody. They're really, really good at that. You know, sometimes I have a bad day at work, and I talk to my puppies. That's all I've got here. You know, at least until my spouse comes home and then I can yell at a person. But, you know, they both work in tandem. The trick with that is that when VR takes that Ticket, they don't assign it. They put it in use. Then you can move over to the ENs for help with on-the-job issues. Some of those on-the-job issues are well worth using your Ticket after VR is finished. I think that's all I got for you, Derek.

Derek >> This is Derek. Thank you, Ray. We appreciate your presentation and answering so many questions from our attendees today and their support as they are exploring work and support on their employment journey. With that —

Ray >> All right. Thank you, Derek. If I can say one more thing, Derek. Hazel and Frances are real people. We don't make these things up. We know these people. We've talked to them, and they have volunteered to share your stories. So when you go in to look at success stories, they are all very real. Thank you, Derek.

Derek >> This is Derek. Yeah, thank you, and hopefully some of you out there are considering if you'd like to be the next success story to join up with the program. It's here in the Employment Networks, and Vocational Rehabilitation agencies are ready. Their mission is to support you in your success, too. All right. With that, we need to go to wrap up. And now a lot of people ask the question, so where do I start? I got a lot of information. I now have more questions. We want to make sure that you're eligible. It's important. You need to be 18 through 64 and receiving SSDI or SSI due to your disability. But next, it's a point of entry, and we have a couple you can use. You can use the Find Help tool on the Choose Work! website to search for Employment Networks or Vocational Rehabilitation agencies. That website is choosework.ssa.gov. And on that page, right at the top, there'll be a menu bar; it has about those success stories, including the two we heard about today, and then the Find Help option. So you can select that and search for the ENs or VRs to really provide the right services and supports that you need. You, of course, can also call the Ticket to Work Help Line, and that Help Line will be available to you at 1-866-968-7842 or via TTY for callers who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have speech-related disabilities. That number is 1-866-833-2967. They're available at the Help Line to guide you and answer your more personal and customized questions, some of which we weren't able to get to today. 

All right, and with that, we also want to stay connected. We appreciate you coming here today, but we don't want this to be the end of it, and we invite you to stay with us and informed through the Ticket to Work Program. One easy way to do that is by subscribing to our Choose Work! blog and for signing up for email updates. You can visit us at choosework.ssa.gov/contact. That's where you'll find subscription options and more ways to stay engaged. This link is also available in our Web Links pod under Ticket to Work contact information. If you prefer updates sent straight to you through your phone, like thousands of other people receive monthly, you can opt in to receive a text message with webinar announcements, success stories, and other helpful program tips. Simply text TICKET, T-I-C-K-E-T to 1-571-489-5292. Now, standard messaging rates may apply depending on your mobile plan, so please check that out. And last, if you have questions or need support, you're welcome to reach out to us by emailing tickettowork@ssa.gov. Whether you're just getting started or looking for some specific guidance along your path to work or re-entry to work, our entire Ticket to Work team is here to assist. 
And finally, while we appreciate you being with us today, we also encourage you to join us for our next WISE webinar. This will be entitled Presenting Your Best Self to Employers, scheduled for Wednesday, June 17 from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Registration has opened on our Choose Work! website. That's choosework.ssa.gov. If you go to the blue bar, it's a spotlight that has our email address. And right in the middle, it says "Register now." That will open up to two options, including June. Please consider joining us and getting new tips on presenting your best self to employers. Thank you for attending today's webinar. This ends the session.