>> Good afternoon everybody, this is Ray Cebula from Cornell University's Yang-Tan Institute and I'm here today with Djuna Mitchel from the Social Security Administration. And we are going to give you a lot of information about work incentives and how these work incentives can help you make the transition from benefits receipt into the workforce in a fairly harmless and seamless way. We have lots of information, so we're going to be moving fairly quickly through stuff and we know you're going to have questions. We're going to give you a way to ask us questions during this session. We'll also give you some information to get those questions answered after the session, because the chances are; we're not going to have a lot of time. You have a webinar console on the right hand side of your screen. There is a Q and A tab at the top and if you click on that Q and A tab, it's going to open the Q and A box. That's the question and answer box. You can type any question you have into the bottom of that box and hit, "Send." Jamie will be monitoring those questions. If we do have time for questions at the end, she will be taking questions that pertain to the most people as possible. We're not in a position right now to answer personal questions about your individual situation. So she will be screening those. Those personal questions that you have are more suited to our helpline and we'll give you that information. If you do have an issue with the conference today, if you're listening through your speakers and want to switch to phone, just click on the audio button at the top of your screen, and you can use phone and the little boxes are all pointed out there. You can switch that down and call into today's session. I'll give you the phone numbers for that in just a second. Now the webinar today, we believe is fully accessible, and we want to know that it's fully accessible. And as the audience members, you are the folks that can tell us if you're having any difficulties or not. So if you are having any problems with accessibility, with hearing us, with seeing us, with captioning -- anything, at all please let us know. And more importantly if you happen to know of a program or a fix that we can make to our sessions, that would be very helpful as well, because if we have a problem and an answer, all the easier for us to fix it the next time around. Now the toll free number for today's session, if you do need to dial in, is 1-855-749-4750 and the access code is 649399359. You should write that all down. I'm going to ask Jamie to type it into the chat box so it will appear on your screen. But write that number down in case something goes wrong because it's going to be difficult for us to flash back for you. And the close captioning link today is www.edi.cornell.edu/captions.cfm?activity underscore id equals 4100. The webinar PowerPoint and accessible PDFs and the text are located in the link that you received with your confirmation. We do have one correction and we'll point that out when we get to it. Excuse me, you're going to have to forgive me -- I've got a bit of a cold today. The transcript for today's webinar will be posted to the website in about two weeks. So if you want to come back and review the session or download it -- I think Michael told me you can download these to your iPods now, or your smart phones. So if you do want to review the information that we're giving you today, in about two weeks Michael will have that posted in it and it can be found at www.edi.cornell.edu/m-wise-webinars.cfm. And again, we're going to have a question and answer period if we have time at the end of today's session. You can submit your questions in the Q and A box like we told you. If you do have access to that chat box, that's fine as well, or you can email them to webinars@choosework.net. If you have questions after the webinar today, you can always get those questions to us at support@chooseworkppw.net. So there's lots of ways to get in touch with us. Excuse me, so the agenda is chocked full today. Welcome and introductions have been had -- have been had already. I'm Ray, I work at Cornell University and I've been working here with Jamie and Gordon for a couple of years now producing these webinars to get information out. I'll introduce our guest when I hand it over. But she is from Social Security Administration and has been a presenter with us in the past. Now today we have a lot of stuff. We're going to be talking about the, "Ticket to Work Program." We're going to be talking about timely progress reviews, what is substantial gainful activity and what is the trial work period? Now if things are going along well and you're working we need to know about the extended period of eligibility. We need to know about earned income exclusions. We need to know about expedited reinstatement in case something goes wrong. Plans to achieve self-support are a great resource, and most surely we need to know what's going to happen to medical benefits, both Medicaid and Medicare while you're working and we're going to provide you with some answers to those, some information, and some resources so that you can get more information. Now I've got some questions for you guys and before we get into the meat of today's session, I just a few questions so we can find out who is listening in. Now, we know that sometimes more than one person is listening to this webinar with you -- somebody else might be sitting at that computer and what I'm going to do, if I can figure out how, I'm going to open this poll and it says, "How many other people are participating with you?" Do not include yourself. So how many other people are sitting watching the screen with you right now? [ Silence ] All right, the percentages are coming in pretty quickly. All of these questions are just that easy and just that quick. [ Silence ] All right. I'm going to close that one down and we have a 20-second window for that. [ Silence ] You can still vote while we're waiting on that 20-second window. All right, how did you learn about today's webinar? Was it via email, FaceBook or Twitter, the website, a friend or family or some other reason? [ Silence ] It should say some other manner. [ Silence ] All right. I'm going to close that one down too. Remember you can still make a selection during this 20-second window that we have. [ Silence ] All right, the next question I have here is, "What do you hope to learn from today's session? Do you hope to learn something about the, Ticket to Work, work incentives for SSI recipients, work incentives for SSDI recipients, employment network information, or something else? [ Silence ] All right, lots of answers coming for this one and everybody wants to know everything, Jamie. Djuna, we have our jobs cut out for us today they're going to keep us hopping. [ Silence ] Okay. This is a really quick and easy one, "What is your gender, male or female?" [ Silence ] It's always the women that get off on a start -- on a quick one. I think every time we do this, the women answer faster than the men. [ Silence ] All right, we're going to give you a couple of more seconds to get those answers in. I've got one more easy one for you. [ Silence ] All of this information helps us figure out who's chiming in, and how we can get in touch with you and what our next webinars should be about. And our final question is, "What is your age?" And there are several age groups broken up. [ Silence ] All right, we're going to close that one and let those few seconds go. [ Silence ] Okay. Thank you very much for your help. Jamie's going to process all that information and she'll report back to us at the end. Right, Jamie? No, I'm just kidding you. [Chuckle] Okay. Now why would you choose work? There are lots of reasons to choose work rather than remaining on public benefits be they SSI, SSDI or whatever else is out there. Having more income is the number one reason. There is always going to be more money at the end of the month, gaining independence, independence from the agencies that you now depend upon and independence by having more money. You'll be able to make your own decisions, be more active. All of that is gaining independence -- so that you can basically be financially stable and self-sufficient. Learning new skills and we're going to talk a lot today about how you can learn new skills or if because of your disability, you want to return to the same job you had and can't quite do it the same way you did before, how do you learn how to do that job a bit differently? Almost any time you're going to work place, you're going to learn new skills and that just keeps us all on our toes basically. It keeps us all busy; it keeps us all interested. Meeting new people -- all of these new people that you meet at the workplace are very valuable. New friends cause new social arrangements to be made. It caused me to get married. You know, you'll be invited to Christmas parties -- you won't be as isolated as you are if you remain in your home. All of these things gaining independence, learning new skills, meeting new people are what we call the other good things that come along with work. The main factor of course is the money -- earning more income but it allows all of these other great things to happen great things to happen, great things to happen. I think everybody who is running this webinar, net because we work and we have great relationships. So I just want you to think about those things and we've got a great success story for you. This is one of my favorite success stories. Megan had a major depressive episode in 2008 and she ended up on disability benefits to keep herself afloat financially. But she decided that it wasn't enough and that she wasn't happy and she used her, Ticket to Work to help her achieve a fulfilling life. She enjoys her new job and has returned to competitive ballroom dancing, and she's quite good, as you'll see. So Mike, if we can queue up that video, please. Let Megan tell you her story. [ Silence ] [ Music ] [ Silence ] [ Music ] >> [Background music] I believe it was around January of 2008 I kind of got sick and I took another position, and from that position I ended up getting fired. And I had a mental breakdown. And so my disability was a mental illness and it took a lot of time for me to get everything back together. I ended up actually having to file bankruptcy. It was really great for me that I was introduced to the disability program. After so many months in the disability program, you can get a Ticket to Work, and then that will help you actually get back into working. But it also allows you to get medical assistance which helps you -- for me to be able to see a psychiatrist, and doctors, and get my medicine and everything like that. Staying at home is not as fun as it looks, but also it's not me. I'm 27, so I don't want to be at home my whole life and have a lot of things to do. So that really made me want to get back to work because that's what I should be doing. That's what I want to be doing. First thing that I received in the mail was my Ticket to Work and with that, it included some websites and templates about what the program was and places you could go and people you could give your tickets to. And so, I found actually Transcend and I called them. >> Hi Megan. [ Inaudible Conversation ] >> Megan came to Transcend about a year ago. She was seeking a job in the IT DNA synthesis field. She knew exactly what she wanted to do and she worked with our employment counselor in developing her resume, fine-tuning her interview skills, identifying employers. And after only a few months, she was able to obtain employment actually as a temporary agent doing what she wanted to do. >> One of the big problems or concerns that I had was, would I lose my disability benefits if I started working? And then I couldn't continue to work and then I would have to start all over again. >> So at that point, she connected with me for benefits counseling and I was able to walk her through what -- how her benefits would be affected by that work. She received Social Security Disability Insurance. So she was happy to learn that she had what are called trial work period months and she was able for nine months to work at a full-time position and not have any decrease in her benefits. She still receives full benefits. After those nine months were over she had an additional three months called her grace period months. And after those months are over, she has an additional three years where her disability check will only be suspended based on her earnings and if she's not able to keep the job, she can go return to her Social Security Disability Benefits. >> It made me feel supported that I could do it, and I could try and if it didn't work, I could come back but I could keep trying. The job that I do is a document control specialist and the easiest way to explain that is its part librarian so people return things to me and I check them out. It's part teacher because when they return things to me, I check it to make sure that it's correct and if it's not I ask for them to redo it. >> What made Megan a success in her job search first and foremost was her willingness to go back to work. And our job after that really is, how can we support her to make that happen? >> I would classify Megan as a success story in that she was able to do what she wanted to do, where she's continuing to work now. And if she's earning enough that she's going to be working her way off the disability benefits. She's happy in what she's doing and as long as she's happy, we're very happy for her. >> The impact has been great. I have a year left to pay off my car and then it's mine forever [chuckle] and get my life back under control. I'm looking to move out on my own and just making a lot of good choices that are good for me and just moving forward. [ Music and Cheering ] One of the biggest things that I like to do is I like to take competitive ballroom dancing and also when I got into my disability, I gained a lot of weight. So that's was not fun for me, I couldn't dance. And so now it's been more fun and I'm enjoying [inaudible] and like the costumes. So that's a big deal. [ Music ] And now I have a lot of focus. I'm not going to say that sometimes I don't fall back into the abyss. But now I know and I've received the tools from Transcend, for myself and from the people that did put me in contact with [inaudible] to pull myself out, and to keep going. I don't think that I will ever not fall back, but I don't believe that I will never keep moving forward. This is a program that can help anyone no matter what your disability is, no matter who you are or where you live. This is something that can help you move forward and continue on with your life. [ Music ] [ Technical Sounds ] >> Okay. I always like to hear Megan's story and that's one of the great success stories. In a little while, we'll be giving you some websites where you could see some more success stories because there are lots of them from people from all different walks of life and all different parts of the country. And they're just fun to -- fun to watch. Its good to see people succeed. Okay. What do we do if you're ready to start working? If you're thinking about it and you've made a decision, "I want to go to work." Where do you begin? Now the good thing is there really isn't a wrong door in the Social Security Program. You can get back to work any way you want to. But what we're going to do is give you several options to start that. Now, the good thing about the Ticket to Work program and all of the work incentives is that that they are there to help you get to work and make this journey to work, or to a new career a smooth one. Gathering information and resources is key because this should be something that is carefully planned. As you saw Megan work with Becca Smith at Transcend, now she had somebody who helped her plan this return to work. There are folks out there who can do that and what we want you to do is, think about working with those folks. You know, do you need some education or retraining or a few courses? Do you need to learn some computer skills or do you need some technical skills. Do you know how to use a wrench? Do you know how to use a hammer? What kind of job do you want? All of these steps that you need, we can help you plan for and planning takes a lot of the guess work out of what might happen to your benefits. And by planning, we can remove that fear and allow you to focus on work. Building your employment team and I do really mean building your employment team. This is for you and you will be the boss. You're the coach of this team. Lots of ways to get started -- there could be lots of people on this team. There could be Becca Smith who is a benefits planner. It could be somebody from an employment network. It could be a teacher. It could be a friend. It could be a relative -- anybody who is in your support network could be part of this team. So you have plenty of options to get started. One place to start is the Ticket to Work Helpline and you can reach them toll free at 1-866-968-7842 or if you use a TTY, 1-866-833-2967. They can begin to help you build your employment team. You can learn more about the Ticket to Work by reading the blog, watching other success stories, or looking at the information that's under the Social Security website at www.socialsecurity.gov/work, the Social Security website, that work site, is a phenomenal place to give you all of the information that you need and it's a very safe way of doing it. No one's going to know you're on that website. You can go in and get information without making any obligations or talking to anybody. So it's a really great way to start if you're still questioning whether or not work is for you. You can find an employment network, an employment network we'll talk about a little later in detail. But it's a private agency that can help get you some rehabilitation assistance, some job placement assistance, or some on the job supports. You can find out where they are on the Social Security website. You can also work with your state BR agency through this process -- whichever agency will work best for you, be it an employment network or the state agency. Remember you're the coach of this employment team. Your responsibility is to stay connected. You need to be in constant contact with the members of the team to make sure you're moving forward. And as you explore options, they can help you figure out what is about to happen. If you take this step to the left, XYZ will happen. If you take the step to the right ABC is going to happen. And that way you can make an informed choice about which options are right for you. Now the Ticket to Work program is a great program that is free and voluntary and it is available to both SSDI and SSI recipients. So everybody who's listening to us will be able to participate. There are no paper tickets. You might have seen that little notice in Megan's video. The paper tickets stopped about a year and a half ago. But that doesn't mean you don't have one. You don't need it, you know, if you call that Ticket to Work helpline, you'll be able to find out whether or not you have a ticket that is active and available to be used. And most of the stuff that we're going to talk about is under the Ticket to Work Act, and what do you do when you're ready to work. If you're ready to earn more money, this program can help you improve your earning potential. As I said, with a plan you can't lose, you will always have more money at the end of the month -- always. If you need the personal fulfillment that comes from working, the Ticket to Work is going to give you the assurance and the stability you need to feel confident while you make this transition. As I said with a plan, you're not going to be worried about what's going to happen to those cash benefits. They're being replaced with earned income. You're not going to worry about what's going to happen to your Medicaid or Medicare. This program will make sure that you can keep those benefits as long as you need them. If you want to be able to get your benefits back because it doesn't work out -- it might not work out for lots of reasons. You heard Megan say sometimes she just doesn't feel up to it, but she still considers herself moving forward. That's the wonder of this program, but if you are unable to continue to work, there is a provision called "expedited reinstatement" that gets you on a fast track back to receiving benefits. And the track is so fast that we can call it almost immediately. If you were to apply for expedited reinstatement today on February 6th, there's a really good chance that there would be a check ready for you on March 1st. It's a real great way and that provision lasts for five years after you have been terminated because you went to work. So after you lose those cash benefits because your income is too high, five years Social Security has a safety net available for you. If you're overwhelmed and don't know where to turn, well we're giving you information. We're giving you a lot of information so we'd expect you to be overwhelmed. But we are also giving you resources; services and people that you need to develop this work plan. And we don't want to discourage you by giving you lots of information. We want to encourage you and let you know there are folks out there who can help. Now, one of the things you're going to hear over and over again, when you start going back to work is the term SGA, Substantial Gainful Activity and it's only going to apply to those of you who have SSDI, the Title II Benefits. So you've been working in the past, paid taxes and these are insurance benefits. And what is Substantial Gainful Activity? Well, it's what Social Security uses to measure your ability to work. Are you able to work? Now substantial, means that you're performing significant physical or mental services to an employer full-time or part-time. We're not talking about having to work full-time in order to perform substantial gainful activity. Gainful mean that you're doing something that is generally considered for pay or profit. Now even if you don't actually make a profit, part of this process when we get into the nitty gritty would allow you to start your own business and I think everybody is pretty aware that if you start your own business it could be sometime before you actually make a profit. But that doesn't mean you're not working hard. So in order for you work to be substantial gainful activity it has to be both substantial and gainful. Now that's a lot of words but what we start at is looking at your monthly earnings and we're talking about countable income. We're going to take away some of your earnings using some of the work incentives we're going to talk about today. But if your countable income in the calendar year 2003 is $1,040 or more per month and you are disabled, not -- but not blind, you're performing substantial gainful activity. If you are a person with blindness in 2003, that earnings level is $1,740 or more per month. So remember that -- if you are disabled and not blind 1,040, if you are blind, $1,740 per month. That's where we start looking at SGA to determine. So those are the important dollar figures for 2013. They'll change every year January 1st. Now what is a Timely Progress Review? This Ticket to Work is a plan to go back to work that's what you're going to be putting together a plan. In order to continue with the Ticket to Work, you have to be making timely progress. And every year whether you're on SSI or SSDI, Social Security is going to look at whether or not you're making progress according to your plan. Now, are you making success in achieving your work goal? Your employment team, particularly that EN or that state agency is going to develop an IWP, an Individual Work Plan. And that's going to be all about you. They're not developing it for you; they're developing it with you. They're not telling you what job you should get. They're putting a plan together to get you the job that you want. It's going to include your work goals, your educational goals, and your training goals. And every 12 months is a distinct period, so you will have goals that need to be achieved within 12 months. So long as you continue to make progress, Social Security is not going to complete a medical review of your case. Now everybody gets a medical review. You all know that. But if you are making progress you're not going to have that medical review. Now the red book, Social Security's red book, which is available online it can be downloaded and can also, be downloaded in Spanish is a great place to get some basic information. Now the first 12-month review, Social Security is going to look to see if you have worked three of those 12 months at trial work period earnings level. We'll talk about the Trial Work Period but let's say right now, its $720 a month. So you'd be required for three out of those 12 to earn $720 or you've completed 60% of a full-time course load towards a degree, a certificate, a technical trade, or vocational program. So there are many ways to meet these progress reviews. Get the number of months per year that you've worked and the amount of completion towards your certificate is going to increase every 12 months. So the next -- the second 12-month review will require you to work a few more months. But we're giving people lots of time. This is just telling Social Security that you're serious about this and the protections that you receive in return for being serious about this take away a lot of the pressure so that you can focus on your return to work. Now the great thing is, we talked about that you will be excused from scheduled medical continuing disability reviews. It's a great thing. If you do not meet the timely progress reviews, those continuing disability reviews will happen. Again, this is completely voluntary. If you are involved with a plan to return to work and you believe that it's not working for you, you can stop. But understand that if you stop, the continuing disability reviews will again happen. Now let's get into some of the nitty gritty of some of those steps that we were talking about. What is a trial work period? Now once again, trial work is going to apply only to those of you who have SSDI. If you're an SSI recipient, do not pay attention to this [chuckle] because it's only going to confuse you. A trial work period is a nine-month time period that Social Security allows for you to test your ability to work. Now these nine months do not have to be consecutive. They don't have to happen in a row. But they do have to happen within five years. How does Social Security know that you're in your trial work period? You have to report. You report your earnings to Social Security. Social Security knows that they've $720 in calendar year 2013 and you've used trial work month. But notice you can earn as much as you are able to do and do whatever type of work you want to and have no effect on your cash or your healthcare benefits for nine months, so that if you return to work and earn $720, you've used a trial work month. But if you return to work and earn $3000, you have also used one trial work month. And in both of those cases, you get your full SSDI benefit and receive your healthcare and that can go on for nine months. So it's a great way to decide -- to test your ability to work and then determine if you're able to continue, because nine months is a good long time to test both your physical, your mental stamina, and your ability to maintain regular work hours. Now once again, if you start that trial work period and you can start it the first month that you're entitled to a benefit and it has to be after you've filed your application. But the first time Social Security pays you a check, you can start your trial work period. If you happen to have gone to an employment network at the state VR agency and you're using your Ticket to Work and start your trial work period, not only are you getting your benefits and your healthcare. But those continuing disability reviews also stop. The only thing that's going to get in the way is if you medically recover and are not using the Ticket to Work, benefits could stop before. Generally in those situations, someone's returning to their former job at the same rate of pay and Social Security can look to see if you are still disabled. It's a rare instance but we do need to let you know that it can happen. Now as soon as that trial work period ends, you begin what's called the extended period of eligibility, the EPE. And that extended period of eligibility is 36 consecutive months and it runs whether you work or not. It just happens. Social Security at the end of your trial work is going to evaluate to determine whether or not you're able to do substantial gainful activity and again $1,040 a month for beneficiaries who are not blind and $1,740 for beneficiaries who are blind. Any month during this 36-month EPE, extended period of eligibility where your monthly income is above the SGA level, you will not receive a cash benefit. Any month where your income is below this level, you will receive a cash benefit. So it's incredibly important to report Social Security constantly if you're income is changing month-to-month so that they know whether or not to pay you. Now notice I said cash benefits. Your Medicare benefits and your Medicaid benefits are continuing. They will not be impacted during these periods. More information about the extended period of eligibility -- there's a lot to talk about here. It is specific as we said to SSDI beneficiaries. I did say it was going to run even if you're not working. This is a great safety net. It's the next safety net. As I said you get your benefits if your income drops below SGA by calling Social Security. And what I am going to do right now I just realized and told that I was supposed to switch the presentation and of course Jamie knows me better and Djuna knows me well enough to know that I'll just keep talking. So thank you for that, Jamie, and I apologize Djuna for stealing your thunder, but let me move backwards one slide and you go right ahead and take over [laughter]. >> That's quite all right, Ray, you were in flow. I didn't want to mess up the flow. Let's see. Can I go -- actually can we go forward one slide, please? As Ray said, the extended period of eligibility is specific to SSI beneficiaries and it starts the month after your trial work period ends. So let's say your last trial work period month happens to be this month, which is February. Your extended period of eligibility would start on March 1st and it would run for the next 36 months, whether you work or not. Now the great thing about this is, yes, it runs whether you work or not, but if you happen to be working that means that you can restart your benefits without a new application, without a disability determination and without a waiting period. You can just contact Social Security and come back on during that timeframe. So because I have a periodic disability as well, that flares and ebbs and flows. And so that was really a very helpful work incentive for me. Next slide, please All right. Let's see, when you work during the extended period of eligibility, you receive benefits any of the months that you're earning below SGA, which means that if you're working and something changes and you're below SGA meaning your earnings after you factor out your sick leave, your vacation time because Social Security doesn't want to want to know about that. They just want to know based on the money that you earned for when you actually worked after you count all of your other work incentives that might apply is, is this below SGA or above SGA. That's all they really want to know. If you happen to be a person who's not blind, that number that you're looking for is $1,040. If you happen to be someone who is blind, it happens to be 1,740. So basically, those are the numbers that you're looking for. Whether or not you get a check, it depends on contacting Social Security, reporting your earnings correctly, and whether or not you've hit that particular number. Go ahead. All right. Now you successfully work your way off benefits if at the end of the 36 months you're above SGA. Now let's say -- the good news is I realized 36 months is a long time but there's some really good news here. If something goes wrong, there's another work incentive called expedited reinstatement that runs for five years. It basically means that without having to go through the whole process again, you will be able to get your benefits back. Now what will happen is for about -- for six months while we make a decision as to whether or not you still qualify for benefits, you'll get the same benefit you received at the time when it stopped. You'll get temporary -- that temporary benefit for six months while we make a decision and then that gives you some form of income while we, you know -- while we get our paperwork and stuff together. So it actually works really, really well, and it is actually a very quick process especially in comparison to the original application. Next slide, please. All righty. We get to talk about expedited reinstatement some more. Next slide, please. All right. It really is a fast track. And basically, if you make that request within five years of when your benefit stopped and it's the same disability and you're saying that you can no longer perform SGA, you can have the temporary benefits for up to six months while we make a determination as to whether or not you're still disabled. So you have some income, we have some time to make a decision, and you also can still -- you also can have your medical benefits in play. So again, really quick, works really well -- definitely a good work incentive. I haven't had to use it yet, but I do know people who have used it and they've had really good experience with it, in terms of, being able to make their ends meet during a time of transition. Next slide, please. All right. For those of you who are receiving SSI, this is a work incentive that applies to you. So please, if you turned your sound down, turn your sound back up, I'm talking to you. Next slide, please. Earned income exclusion, specific for SSI beneficiaries. It's actually one of my favorites. Social Security does not count the first $65 that you earn in a month. The first $65, they forget that it's there; they don't count it when they look at your countable earnings, and then, even after that, they only count one-half of the reaming earnings. So this means that they count less than half of what you earn when determining what'll happen to your SSI payment. Less than half. Is that not totally awesome? Next slide, please [chuckle]. All right, now we're going to do a little math calculation. I'm not that great in math, so bear with me here. Ed receives $850 from wages each month and $13 of unearned income from another source. Now, Social Security has a $20 general income exclusion. So we disregard -- that $13 of unearned income, we disregard that. There's $7 of the general income exclusion left. Can someone click it for me, please? All right. So we look at Ed's income, we subtract the $7 from the general income exclusion; he's got $843 in remaining earnings. Then we subtract the $65 of the earned income exclusion. That brings it down to $778. Now we cut that in half, that's $389, which means that Ed only has $389 in countable earnings when he actually earned $850. That is a pretty good deal, at least in my opinion. I wish the IRS counted it that way, but I digress. Next, please. So when you look at the current federal benefit rate, which is actually $710, I know that the materials you received may have said a different number, but the current federal benefit rate for SSI is for this year is actually $710. So you subtract -- take the $710 subtract the $389 in countable earnings and Ed still gets, in addition to the money that he earned and the unearned income that he has from another source a $321 SSI payment, plus he's still got his Medicaid. That's not bad, that's not bad at all. Next, please. So Ed actually comes out that particular month with a total of $1,184. Good looking out for Ed. Ed is having a good month. Next slide, please. >> Yes, Djuna I just wanted to reinforce that because Ed now has $1184. Last month, without working, Ed only had $710. That's a lot more money for Ed to use and that's what we meant when we were talking about more money at the end of the month and more independence. Ed has now the ability to make many more choices than he did before because of that extra money. >> I couldn't agree with you more. Oh, we get to talk about PASS, another one of my favorite work incentives. I'm a happy woman [chuckles]. [Inaudible] SSI work incentives, this is actually truly a great one, a PASS or a plan to achieve self-support. Next slide, please. So when you receive SSI, if you decide that you would like to return to work, one of the options that you have available to you is to set aside money in a PASS plan. Like let's say you get SSI, but you also have unearned income from another source and you'd like to be able to put that money aside to, say, go to college, or take a course in mechanics, or, you know, whatever will get you to your vocational goal, whatever that goal might be. I know that there are some people who use it to put it towards their college tuition, to study, to, you know, get to whatever that dream job is for them, they used money in a PASS to do that. So you would write your PASS because it's going to allow you to set aside money for a specific period of time and spend it on that work goal. And when you do that, your SSI check would actually increase so that you would have that money to put towards that work goal and still be able to maintain your income and be able to afford your basic necessities, you know, food clothing, shop. They don't' count the money that you set aside in your PASS plan when they look at your countable income. So if we jump back to Ed for a minute, and let's say that Ed decided to have a PASS. Ed's countable -- let's say Ed decided to put aside $200 a month in his PASS, then Ed's countable income actually drops another $200 down to, what is it? $121? And that $121 is the money that would be used to figure out how much Ed's SSI check is. So you can pursue your dreams and still keep your SSI and you still have your Medicaid. PASS is an awesome work incentive. Next slide, please. Okay. Your PASS -- your employment network or a [inaudible] agency can help you set up a PASS. It has to be in writing. It has to be specific to you. It has to identify a work goal. It has to have a specific timeframe. Now, if something happens and you need to change that timeframe, your PASS can be amended. You can apply to have it amended, you can have it adjusted. We'll, you know -- we'll work with you, we know that life happens so -- but there has to be an initial timeframe. You have to show what income you receive, other than SSI, and how that will be used to reach your goal. If you can show all of that including how you're going to pay your bills and still be able to survive, more likely than not your PASS will be approved and then reviewed periodically, usually about once a year. Next slide, please. Okay. Now, medical benefits, Medicaid and Medicare, what we want to know about because -- I can't speak for anyone else but I know that if I can't go to the doctor and get my meds I'm not doing anything, so very, very important. Next slide, please. Your state may have Medicaid buy-in, if you happen to no longer be entitled to free Medicaid. There may also be another work incentive in play that will allow you to keep your Medicaid after you go to work. It's called 1619B, but I don't want to get too far into it right now because I could talk about it forever. As you can tell, I actually really do like talking about work incentives and I could go on, and on, and on, and I'm trying to be mindful of what time it is so if I'm running long someone stop me. >> You're doing just fine, Djuna [laughter]. >> Okay. So your state may have a Medicaid buy-in program. As long as you meet the definition of disabled under the Social Security Act then you would be eligible for SSI payments, if you were not earning, you can still -- you can keep your Medicaid. If you're [inaudible] getting your SSI and your state decides you're disabled, your state will consider whether or not you're working when it makes the decision. Medicaid is determined on a state-by-state basis. There are federal guidelines, but there are some states that have additional issues in play with it. Next slide, please. Okay. Now, Medicare, slightly different animal. Most people with disabilities who work will continue to receive, for at least an additional 93 consecutive months, that's seven and a half years. If you don't want to do the math it comes out to about seven and a half years, more or less, of part A, which is the hospital insurance, part B which is the supplemental medical insurance and part D. And you don't have to pay a premium for part A, and that 93 months starts at the -- on the last -- it starts the first day of the month after you complete that last trial work period month. So about the same month that you would start your extended period of eligibility, that 93 months starts at that same time so that you can make sure that you've got that medical insurance for that really long period of time. All righty, let me see. I lost my screen for a second. Just a moment. There it is. All right. Next slide, please. All right. But as I said, the 93 months starts the month after the last month of your trial work period and to qualify you have to already have Medicare, be working at SGA and not be medically improved. That's another -- basically the medical improvement again that goes back to that continuing medical review and how important it is to have that medical review not say that you're medically improved. That's really, really important. You have to be able to prove that you still need the benefit. So your cash benefits might stop because you're working but you will have your health insurance for that 93 months which as I said -- I said seven and a half? I stand corrected its seven years and nine months, a mass major [inaudible]. Next slide, please. If you're under age 65 and disabled and you're no longer entitled to the free Medicare part A because you successfully returned to work, you may be eligible for a program that helps pay the part A premium. So to be eligible for this, you have to continue to have a disabled impairment, sign up for A, and have limited income and resources and not already be eligible for Medicaid. So that's how you keep your part in play. Next slide, please. Every state has its own Medicaid office. However for help, you should call 1-800- Medicaid and that's -- I have trouble when they give me words instead of numbers. So I'm going to say the numbers for you. That's 1-800-633-4227 again 1-800-633-4227 or if you're using a TTY 877-486-2048, again 877-486-2048. Go to -- they'll ask for your Medicaid number, go to the main menu, choose other choices and another question. They'll give you the contact information for your state Medicaid office so that you can ask additional questions about how the Medicaid program works in your state. Next slide, please. [ Noise ] >> Okay. Djuna I think these are my slides again. Thanks an awful lot. >> Yes. >> And we are going to have time for some questions, and we do have quite a few in the box. So we'll get to those. >> Okay. All righty. >> Now we talked about Ticket to Work, we talked about some of the programs that you can use; we talked about the PASS plan. We tried to let you know that your health benefits are almost the last thing you need to worry about and that you will have more money. There are lots of other deductions and exclusions that we weren't able to cover today. Now, what we do want you to do is go to www.socialsecurity.gov/work. You'll be able to see all of the deductions that will be available to you and all of these work rules and they are very, very extensive as Djuna mentioned. Social Security is really looking to help you succeed here. Nobody's trying to pull the rug out from under you which is the reason why those healthcare benefits stick around for such a long time. And just to add to that if in fact you are no longer eligible for healthcare because of your connection with Social Security, many, many, many states have other options that will continue to make you eligible for benefits. The medical benefits are very, very particular to your state. But I can promise you and Djuna you can back me up if you want to, that your health benefits will be protected for a very long period for time and such a long period of time that I really want you to focus on going back to work and earning money before you start worrying about those health benefits. Now, building that employment team -- you know, we talked about that at the beginning we're going to run through it one more time. That's the way to start and as I mentioned earlier there's no wrong door for this purpose, there's no wrong door at all. If you want to call that Ticket to Work helpline at 1-866-968-7842 or for TTY 1-866-833-2967, there are experts on the phone who will be able to answer any questions you have or help you get started. I know a lot of you have asked some questions, I've tried to answer some of them [telephone ringing]. It's very, very difficult to answer questions when you're putting information into a box like this. Always better to talk to somebody and there's no obligation on your part to get an answer to a question. So please feel free to use that helpline. If you want to do this, very, very safely as I said before, www.socialsecurity.gov/work. [Background music] Look at more success stories take a look at the blog. You'll find stories from people all across the country who have used the Ticket to Work and are now independent of benefits and as you saw Megan having a ball with her puppy and her ballroom dancing. I just love watching that dancing video or you can find an employment network. Again, voluntary totally voluntary you can shop for an employment network. Look at the www.socialsecurity.gov website and find out who in your area is providing employment network services and just look at the names and get phone numbers. Look at the names and find out what types of people they help. Not all of these employment networks are able to help everybody. Some people might focus on individuals with mental health issues; others will focus on people with physical disabilities. And you don't want to waste your time going to an employment network that has no experience helping you. But you can talk to them and figure out what they can do for you and whether or not you want to work with them. Talk to several of them. Also your state VR agency, that vocational rehabilitation agency is there. Now that's the most likely source if you need a lot of education, if you need some very expensive durable medical equipment that's probably the most likely place where you'll end up. But those employment networks can still be available to you after you're finished with the state rehab agency to let you get on the job services and support to keep you at work once you've started. I said you were the boss. You are the boss and because you're the boss and this all depends upon you and your willingness to make timely progress towards your work goal, you have to stay connected to your employment team. And again that employment team will be NBN, the state VR agency; it could very well have a relative on it. It could have someone who is planning this return to work with you. It could have a teacher, a doctor, anybody you want to be part of your team, this is all about you. Now before we get into the questions and answers -- excuse me, got to give you some information, some more resources. We have a FaceBook page. If you're into FaceBooking you can get onto www.facebook.com/choosework and like us and you'll get information constantly. And if you're into Tweeting, you can Twitter at www.twitter.com/chooseworkssa and if you follow us on Twitter you'll get Tweets about the Ticket to Work. You could probably all tell I have no idea how to Tweet but I do FaceBook. Hey and the Ticket to Workhelpline, once again I want to give you that. It's a toll free number where you can get simple questions answered or begin this journey back to work and that is 1-866-968-7842 or for TTY users, 866-833-2967. Okay and Djuna, I did have question come across the box that I wanted to ask you. Somebody was asking about equipment that they needed, some durable medical equipment and they use a wheelchair and they're paying for that and is that a type of expense that Social Security would consider when somebody went back to work? >> Yes, I actually use the wheelchair myself. That is considered an impairment-related work expense. It's something that you need because you have a disability that you have to have in order to work. Usually what happens with it, as I always suggest that people prorate it over a number of months like over the course of a year or something like that. If we're talking about the chair itself, if it's something like your expenses for your tire replacement or a cushion replacement or something smaller, you may want to only take it in the month that you actually purchased the piece of equipment in question out of pocket. And I apologize if you're hearing the construction noise. There's a building going up next door [laughter] so I apologize if you're catching the construction noise. >> All right, and just like that Djuna wouldn't we -- you'd also be able to use other expenses. We're not talking just about wheelchairs and durable medical equipment, but anything that is related to your disability that you pay for out-of-pocket and need to work, can be used as a deduction. >> Yes, I used to -- when I was on benefits I used to use my co-pay on my prescription and the charge with my psychiatrist because I had to see my psychiatrist periodically to get the prescriptions in the first place. So those were impairment-related work expenses because without my medicine I can't work -- I can't function. >> Yes, absolutely wonderful. Thank you for that. Now I'm going to take this question because somebody's asking how will going back to work affect my Section 8 and that's a loaded question because it lets me go on forever. Not about Section 8 but about planning. If you do want some information about how all of your benefits will be affected by your earnings, you need to contact -- we generally call them benefits planners but people in your state may call it something else. But there are people around who help plan the return to work, not so much as you're going to go to school you need this type of equipment but what's going to happen to your SSI? What's going to happen to your SNAP, your food stamp benefits and what's going to happen to Section 8? Well Section 8 is not going to be affected at all. If you have new income because of work, for the first 12 months, 100% of your income is disregarded. So your rent will not be affected for the first 12 months that you work and earn money. For the second 12 months, they'll only consider 50% of it. So as you can see, all of the other benefits that you're receiving also have work incentives. Every benefit program wants you to be able to get back to work and the housing authorities are going to give you a total of 24 months of total and partial disregards for your housing rent. Okay, here's another one. If you go to school and need a note taker, do I have to pay for this or is this something that I can get through the Ticket to Work? You know, I'm going to take a shot, Djuna, but I want you to respond, as well. You can do either one of those things. If you're able to pay for the note taker and you're receiving benefits, it's not going to do you a whole lot of good because it's not really an impairment-related work expense. It's just going to cost you money. However if you are using that ticket it is very possible that either the state VR agency or that employment network will provide that note taker. >> Ray I don't -- if we're talking about someone going to school who is maybe using an actual physical person as well... >> Yeah. >> ...there are some schools that provide note taking as part of work study so that you may be able to get a fellow student who would perhaps do something for you at a reduced rate and maybe again your VR or your EN would be happy to assist you with that expense. >> Yes, that's a great idea, Djuna, that's an excellent idea and particularly if you're at a community college. Now all community colleges have excellent offices to assist disabled students. They have great services that are available and most four-year schools do that as well, and it's an accommodation the school might have to actually provide those services for you. So there are many ways that you can get those. Most certainly you can choose to pay for them but if you're not able to do that there are many, many ways and different avenues to get those services. Okay. Now I'm looking at the question box again and Bernadette is asking, "Is there any information on autistic folks who have a combination of SSI and SSDI? What happens to SSDI if most of the SSI is cut due to earned income?" Okay that's a real specific question and what I need to tell you Bernadette, is that it doesn't matter whether you're autistic, whether you have a mental impairment, whether you have a physical impairment. All of these benefits are going to be impacted the same. The only difference that we've mentioned today is blindness. There are special rules for people with blindness, but everybody else's benefits are going to be impacted the same way. But the important thing you asked is what happens if you have both benefits and many, many people have both benefits. It's critically important for you to keep in contact with Social Security because you basically have two claims representatives, as well. One takes care of the disability insurance; one takes care of the SSI. All of the work incentives that we talked about will apply to one or the other benefit but they do apply at the same time. So planning services are critically necessary so Bernadette, I'm going to suggest that you're the perfect candidate to call the Ticket to Work helpline at 866-968-7842 because when you have both benefits, these cases become very complex and you're going to need some help in planning because those benefits are going to bounce around. And I don't want to discourage you. I do want to encourage you but I want you to have the right services to support that. There's no reason why. As a matter of fact my neighbor has a young adult who's autistic and has worked from SSI onto his own SSDI benefits and is continuing to work, and his mom's goal is for him to work and he will eventually be independent of benefits someday. So this can work, that's a great example. Kim is asking, "How do you find a benefits specialist?? Well that's a good question -- that's a really good question. You know, you need to contact -- you know, you can actually there are lots to contact. You can contact Virginia Commonwealth University, they will have some information. If you happen to be from the New York area, you could contact Cornell University. But you might want to contact your independent living centers, your one-stop centers and see if they either have benefits planners on staff or if they know of people. There have been some major changes to those programs in the last few months but there are still planners out there. And it's just a little more difficult to find out where they are. But I suggest the independent living centers or I would suggest contacting your one-stop centers [telephone ringing]. Those are probably the best way to find out and ignore my phones. >> Ray. >> Yes. >> Ray, some of these state VR agencies also have them, so that might be another source and another option. >> Absolutely. >> Because usually even if they don't have them on staff, they may know of people who do it -- do it as that as their job. So that may be another possible resource for finding a good benefits planner. >> That's a great suggestion Djuna, that's an excellent suggestion. All right. I'm trying to go through. All right, Djuna what happens if I don't see myself as really being able to ever reach $1,040 a month? Is the Ticket to Work for me? >> The Ticket to Work really is about eventually coming off of benefits. So you may not want to access your ticket but I really encourage you to try. I encourage you to try working whether you choose to access your ticket or not. I encourage you to give self-sufficiency a chance, give yourself a chance, give your dreams a chance. Try working. You may not think that you can reach $1,040 but you know what? It's entirely possible. You go to work you're getting the rhythm; you find a job you really like and $1,040 you may hit it without even realizing that you did it. I mean don't limit yourself -- I mean, I know it looks like a huge number. Don't limit yourself just try give it a shot. I would go for a ticket. Ticket is my preference. I did some things before there was ticket I'm now telling my age how long I've been benefits I... >> [Laughter] We're both there Djuna. >> I started dealing with benefits and actually got off of benefits just as ticket was beginning to start. So please don't do the math on my age trust me I'm not there. But anyway so try. I know it seems like a huge number but give it a shot. It really is very easy once you get into working and once you find something that you really like, something that gives you true and genuine joy, it's very easy to hit that number. >> Yes, absolutely I agree. I agree whole heartedly and somebody's asking the opposite question and I'll take a first shot at this one Djuna. >> Okay. >> "What if my SSDI is well over $1,040?" Now, you know, that's a great question because benefits can go up as high as $2,500 a month and what we're telling you is that if you earn countable wages of $1,040, your cash benefits might stop. That might not sound like a good deal, but that is why planning is so important. If your benefits are $2,500 a month, and you're not able to earn $2,500 a month, there are going to be some other plans that have to be put into place until you're able to do that. A benefits planner, an employment network, the state VR agency should all be able to help you make an appropriate plan so that you're not swapping $2,500 in Social Security benefits for $1,000 of income a month. That's not a good deal. I think everybody will own up to that. The question is how can you exchange what you receive in benefits for earnings? That sound okay with you, Djuna [chuckle]? >> That sounds absolutely exactly what I would have said. Okay. Let me say this I'm speaking as an individual but think I can safely say this. Social Security is not out to hurt anyone. We want to encourage people to be self-sufficient. We don't want anyone to do anything that's going to be detrimental to their health. We want people to continue to be well. If you're in a situation where perhaps, you know, you can't quite get to the number that you need right now, then we'll be with you while you work your way up to that number. But we are not in any way out to put you in a bad spot. That's not the goal here. >> Yes, somebody else has just chimed in and said, "Exactly my position. My benefits are too high." Your benefits are never too high to consider work. They are never too high. It may be that at this moment in time you're not physically, or mentally able to work enough to replace those benefits. But that doesn't mean that at some point in the future you won't be because if your benefits are that high, you had a really good job and worked really hard to get those benefits. And I'm not ever going to tell somebody that they're not going to be able to do it again. I think that everybody can or should at least consider taking some of these steps. But do it carefully because you don't want to be in a worse position. Nobody wants that for you. All right. And let's see what else we have. Djuna we have somebody who's saying they don't think this can realistically happen. >> Oh, okay. I'll just -- okay, well it worked for me, it worked for Megan, I know other people that it's worked for. I think it can happen with the right benefits planning and the right amount of determination and hard work on your part and the right employment team I think it can happen. The question is, are you willing to have that moment of enthusiasm? Will you let me be your Jiminy cricket? Let me be your voice of enthusiasm for just a moment and let me tell you that it may take some time. It's not an instant thing unfortunately it's not Minute Rice. It's a journey because it took me a grand total of -- it took me a very long time to work my way off, but I'm off. I own my own home, I'm happily married. It is possible. You just have to find the right team, and the right mix, and decide that you're going to give it a shot and you're going to give it your all and you're going to be determined and just don't give up. >> I agree and again, this is not an obligation on your part this is completely voluntary. So there's nothing to stop you from contacting an employment network, or the state VR agency and see if they can help you put a plan together to make this happen. No one's asking you to put yourself in a worse position. But all we're asking you to do is get enough information to see if you can do it. And, you know, that positive attitude is going to be a part of it. So Djuna, we're coming right up on 4:30. I do want to let everybody know that once we get the attendance list put together, you will be getting a survey to let us know what you thought about today's session. I hope you learned a few tips, I hope you have enough resources. Remember, a great way to start is to call that Ticket to Work helpline at 866-968-7842 or TTY users can reach that Ticket to Work helpline at 866-833-2967. And I want to thank Djuna for playing with us today. It was a great time and please have a great afternoon and think about it. That's all we're asking and make some contact for some more information. Have a great afternoon.