>> Hi everyone, thank you very much for joining us today for our Ticket to Work WISE webinar Debunking the Three Biggest Myths about Disability Benefits and Work. So for accessing today's webinar you can manage your audio using the audio portion at the top of your screen. It will look like a microphone or a telephone icon. All attendees will be muted and we encourage you to attend by choosing listen only from the audio menu and this will enable the sound to be broadcast through your computer. So also, please make sure that your speakers are turned on or that your headphones are plugged in. Again, continuing with accessing today's webinar. If you do not have sound capabilities on your computer or if you prefer to listen by phone you can dial the toll-free number 1-800-832-076, I'm sorry 0736. So once again, 1-800-832-0736 and the access code is 8458462. We want to make sure that you have access to the webinar today, so real-time captioning is provided during this webinar and the captions can be found in the captioning pod which will appear directly below the slides that you're looking at right now. You can also access captioning online by going to http://www.captionedtext.com/client/event.aspx?CustomerID=846& EventID=3075760. So for questions and answers, we've got a lot of people that are going to be participating on the webinar today. So for questions and answers, please use the Q&A pod to submit any questions that you have during the webinar and we will direct those questions accordingly during the question and answer portion. We will also take breaks during speakers so that you will be able to get some of your questions answered then. If you are listening by phone and not logged into the webinar you may also ask questions by e-mailing questions to webinars@choosework.net. Please note this webinar is being recorded and the archive will be available within two weeks on the Choose Work website at https://www.chooseworkttw.net./webinars-tutorial/webinar-archives.html. And lastly, for technical assistance, if you are experiencing any technical difficulties during the webinar, please use the Q&A box to send a message or you may also send an e-mail to webinars@choosework.net. So we have a wonderful agenda for you today. My name is Nancy Boutot with NDI Consulting and I will be your moderator and thanks again for joining us for Ticket it Work: Debunking the Three Biggest Myths about Disability Benefits and work. We have a couple great presenters today, Elizabeth Jennings from NDI Consulting and we also have Marlene Ulisky also with NDI Consulting. So before I had it over to our presenters I would like to give them a warm introduction by starting with Elizabeth. Elizabeth Jennings is the Deputy Director of National Disability Institute. Elizabeth is a national trainer on Social Security benefits and asset development strategies for persons with disabilities. And that includes favorable tax provisions, such as the earned income tax credit, financial education and protected savings opportunities. Additionally, Elizabeth has an extensive experience in building and expanding relationships between the disability and asset building communities. Her decade-long experience includes spearheading asset development initiatives in Florida and New York, creating collaborative agreements, executing grant allocations, providing technical assistance on federal disability policy, assisting individuals in job development and understanding the effect of work on public benefits. We also have Marlene Ulisky. Marlene worked for the Social Security Administration for a total of 35 years. In her first position she became an expert in developing relationships with partners across Florida to educate them on disability programs administered by SSA. She then worked with the Florida Office of Vocational Rehabilitation to establish the Partnership Plus Program under the Ticket to Work Program. Social Security had later rehired Marlene to conduct training and help manage critical integrity workloads. This work included Office of the Inspector General investigations, of work concealment, and medical and work continuing disability reviews. As part of the training and technical assistance team at National Disability Institute Marlene currently provides support to her colleagues and beneficiaries on complex SSA issues. So we are very lucky to have both of them here and without further delay I will turn it over to Marlene to kick us off. Marlene, you may be on mute.

>> Okay great. Okay, thanks Nancy. Like other webinars I think we're going to begin today by briefly talking about the disability benefits programs administered by Social Security Administration so that you understand them just a little bit better. I want you to know that the Disability Insurance Benefits Program and the Supplemental Security Income Benefits Program are federal programs, both are federal programs and they're nationwide programs. So all of you listening in today I think you'll get a lot of good information and a lot of good resources and maybe a lot of answers to some of the questions you have. I'm looking at the participant [inaudible] and gosh, there's over 600 folks on here. So a lot of this information is really getting out there to the folks who need it. You may be wondering why we usually begin the webinars to talk about the program and I think it's just so that you have a better grasp or a good grasp on the type of benefits that either you're receiving or maybe a family member is receiving or maybe it's a client. So you want more information to serve your clients better. Many of the roles are different for the different programs and many of the supports available within the program are different. But with that being said, I want you to know that the Ticket to Work program is, therefore, almost all adults receiving a disability-based benefit. And towards later on in the presentation toward the middle of the presentation we'll be talking more about eligibility for the Ticket to Work program so that you understand that one a little better. So with that I think we're going to get started and talk about the Disability Benefit Program. And the first one I wanted to talk a little bit is Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits and you'll hear that referred to as SSDI, sometimes you'll hear it referred to as SSA. But SSA isn't the type of benefit it just stands for as an acronym for the Social Security Administration. So the Social Security Disability Insurance Benefit Program it pays a benefit to you or maybe to certain members of your family if you have a disability and you meet certain rules. And one of the rules is to be eligible for this type of a benefit you must have paid into the trust fund. You must have paid through payroll taxes and those are [inaudible] taxes. And you must meet what they call an insured status requirement and that means that you've worked long enough and recently enough to be what they call insured. Some individuals still under the age of 22 could possibly qualify for a benefit under this program if they have a parent who is either, deceased, disabled or retired and receiving a benefit from the Social Security Administration. So in those instances, the disabled adult child which really is a type of childhood disability benefit could be receiving a benefit from a parent's record. The benefits under the Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits Program are paid from the trust fund. So as a result of that it's like an insurance program, there are no income or any resource limits associated with the program. And after someone has been receiving SSDI benefits whether it's the wage earner himself or a childhood disability beneficiary Medicare comes along with that after 24 months in most instances. There's a couple of exceptions where someone may get it sooner though. If you're not sure if you're receiving this type of a benefit one of the ways you know that you may be receiving this type of benefit is when you receive your check, when it is directly deposited. There are very, very few people who receive paper checks any longer. This type of a benefit is paid on the third of the month or on a Wednesday. If you're really not sure if you're receiving this type of a benefit you can always contact the Ticket to Work helpline and we'll be providing you with resources, with that information towards the end of the presentation. But for those who want that number right now, there is a toll-free number and that's 1-866-968-7842. So again, we'll provide you with a lot of resources at the end of the presentation so that you can get even further information. Now the other type of benefit program under which the Social Security Administration pays a disability-based benefit is called Supplemental Security Income Benefits. And that's the type of a benefit where an individual has as disability, but they may not have worked long enough or maybe recently enough to meet that insured status. Maybe they have gaps in their employment history or maybe they work intermittently or have gone possibly from job to job or maybe they had exacerbations in their medical condition or maybe they were hospitalized or they sought medical treatment and they couldn't work at that time. So an individual like that may be receiving Supplemental Security Income Benefits if they meet the income and the resource limits because Supplemental Security Income Benefits is a means tested program. And that means that the Federal Security Administration looks at all income and looks at the resources. And that can be income which is earned income or possibly earned income, money in the bank and other types of resources. For an individual the resource limit is $2,000 and for a couple the resource limit is $3,000. One of the ways you may know that you're receiving Supplemental Security Income Benefits is when you receive that benefit. If you receive that benefit on the first of the month it's likely Supplemental Security Income Benefits. And if you are receiving this year $733 a month or next year it goes up to $735 a month and those are in states without optional supplementation, it's likely that you are receiving Supplemental Security Income Benefits. Now Medicaid is linked to the Supplemental Security Income Benefits program in most states and it comes right along with it. But in a couple of states and it's just a handful of states you have to apply for it and establish your eligibility for Medicaid with another agency. Now there are some folks who actually receive benefits under both programs. And [inaudible] the most complex cases because different rules apply to the different benefits when someone chooses to work. The way someone may receive a benefit under both types of programs is maybe an individual has worked for some of their lifetime, but possibly they had gaps in their employment or they didn't earn that much money, maybe their wages were lower. So when they received their SSDI benefit the benefit was a low amount and the Social Security Administration was able to supplement them with Supplemental Security Income Benefits so long as they meet the other income and resource requirements of the Supplemental Security Income Benefits program. Now again, work affects both of those benefits differently. So if an individual who received a concurrent benefit and that's what it's called when you receive both a Supplemental Security Income Benefits and Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits. When you receive both of those types of benefits it affects them differently and I would encourage an individual like that to telephone the Ticket to Work helpline for additional information and resources on where they can go for some benefits planning advice so that they can make the best decision for them. So with that I think we're going to go onto debunking some of the three biggest myths about disability benefits and work and Elizabeth, would you like to take it away?

>> Elizabeth, you may be on mute.

>> There we go.

>> Wonderful.

>> Thank you so much. Hi everyone, it's really so wonderful to be here today with all of you. I feel so excited with how many people are on the line and that all of you chose to come on and get this information and be able to make some better choices for yourself about whether or not going to work is the right choice for you and what that's going to mean for you. And so at this holiday season I just want to give a big kudos and congratulations to all of you for making this first step and I hope that you get the information you need today. If not through all the slides, then through some of the Q&A so that you can take a next step forward. So today I get to talk to you about debunking the three biggest myths about disability and benefits and work. And I just want to tell you that I spent a lot of time talking to folks around the country on a few different topics, social security but also financial capability. And helping debunk some of the myths about what people with disabilities can do in general and it's a wonderful job that I have. But I think that this moment in time is the best of the year for me because the information we're going to share with you is going to change some of the ways that you think about your Social Security benefits and some of the possibilities that are available to you, particularly as you head into this new year and start to think about what this next year of life is going to look like for you. So I'll stop [inaudible] poetic and just jump right in. So here's the first myth, if I go to work I will automatically lose my Medicare or Medicaid. Now just take a moment for you to think to yourself do you think this is true, do you think this is false. And I'm really happy to tell you that the answer is false. So for those of you who receive SSDI or SSI you can see on the sides of the slides we have green bubble for SSDI, orange bubble for SSI. As long as you're receiving any amount of a benefit check you are still eligible for your Medicare or your Medicaid. Now I know some of you on the line may be in a Medicare waiting period, you might be in that first 24 month waiting period, but you're still eligible. And so I want to make sure you understand that if you're going to go to work and you're going to receive even a small amount of an SSDI or SSI cash benefit, then you don't need to be concerned. Your Medicare, your Medicaid are staying in place. So the answer starts to happen, well what happens if I am able to work and earn at a level that is going to bring me to a zero cash benefit and that's a really great question. And here is where you start to get some less than great information out there sometimes. So let's take this one by one as Marlene so well went over. So for those of you who receive SSI okay, so those of you who have SSDI you're welcome to listen, but this doesn't apply to you. For those of you who receive only SSI, Supplemental Security Income, even if your cash benefit goes to zero you may still be able to receive your Medicaid through a work incentive called 1619(b). And to be eligible for this work incentive you have to have been eligible for an SSI cash payment for at least one month. So you have to have had SSI for just one month. You have to continue to meet Social Security's definition of disabled. So by that we mean you didn't get notification that you've medically improved. That you're going to come off the rolls because Social Security no longer considers you to be disabled. This means that you are continuing to have a documented medical disability, so that's the second caveat. So you have to have been eligible for SSI cash payment for at least one month and you have to continue to meet Social Security's definition of disability. You have to meet the other non-disability SSI requirements. You have to -- so I should tell you so think about the asset limit, so have to continue to have assets below $2,000. You have to need your Medicaid to work. So Social Security determines that by asking you three questions. So they will ask you, have you used your Medicaid in the last 12 months? Do you expect that you will use your Medicaid in the next 12 months? And if you had an unexpected Medicaid bill in the next 12 months would you be able to pay it or not without the Medicaid coverage? So if you answer yes to any of these questions. Yes, I've used my Medicaid in the last 12 months or yes, I'm going to use my Medicaid in the next 12 months or yes, if I had an unexpected Medicaid bill I would not be able to pay it without my Medicaid, then Social Security considers that you need your Medicaid in order to work. And the final is that you have to have gross earnings below your state's threshold. So all of you are likely in multiple states and you can look up what your state's threshold limit is by googling SSI 1619(b) state threshold, by calling the Ticket to Work helpline and talking to the call center folks there to learn more about this benefit. I can give you an idea, the lowest state is Alabama which for 2016 was about $27,000 and the highest state, the most generous state was Connecticut with a 1619(b) state threshold of about $66,520. So let's pause there for a moment and just let that sink in. So some of you who are on the line who are receiving SSI may have been told you can go work but don't go and earn a lot, you know, you need to be careful. And you may have even been told that you most you can earn is say SGA, substantial gainful activity. Maybe that's ringing a bell to some of you. So SGA does not apply to you. And I want you to walk away from this remembering that your feeling, what you should be thinking about as far as like how much can I work and earn is not part-time, it's not the SGA amount, it's really your 1619(b) state threshold amount which could be around Alabama's rate of 27,000 a year or as high as Connecticut's rate of $66,000 a year. I know that's a lot to sink in, it probably sounds too good to be true, but it's not. This is Social Security's rule and it allows for people who receive SSI to work at the level that they're able to and continue to receive critically needed Medicaid until they reach that 1619(b) state threshold amount. Now if you think that you have a job opportunity or you're presented with a job opportunity that's going to allow you to earn more than your state threshold amount, before you decline take a moment to figure out, to meet with a CWIC, call the Ticket to Work helpline or you may even need to go and meet with your local security office. Because you can have an individualized threshold amount and this typically happens with folks who have very high Medicaid rates. I myself as a former benefit planner worked with someone who had HIV and her Medicaid bills were very high and we were able to get her an individualized state threshold amount because her earnings were going to be over the 1619(b) state threshold. So for those of you on SSI you have a lot of room to work and earn and hold onto your SSI and Medicaid even when you work at a level that your SSI cash benefit is no longer going to be. Okay, so we're -- I see I've kind of skipped a slide, I blend them together I'm sorry about that. I just got so excited about telling you about the 1619(b) rule. So we did go over there this. You want to make sure you continue to meet the definition of disabled. That doesn't mean that you can't go to work it just means that Social Security is checking to see if you still have a documented medical condition. And so you always want to keep that in mind. Don't be surprised when Social Security comes back to determine if that's true. If those continuing disability reviews give you some cause for concern just hold tight we're going to talk about those in a minute. Okay and now we're going to switch over to Medicare. So lots of you on the line receive SSDI. So those of you who receive SSI we already talked about you, we're going to switch over to the SSDI folks. Those of you who receive SSDI are going to wonder about how does work affect my Medicare. So I want to make sure you know that once you're receiving your Medicare you will continue to receive Medicare for at least 93 consecutive months, that's 8 1/2 years where you'll be eligible for your part A which is hospital insurance, your part B which is supplemental medical insurance if you've enrolled in that and your part D which is prescription drug coverage if you've enrolled in that. So you do not pay for your part A and some of you on the line do and some of you don't pay for part B and then part D as you know can get a little bit complicated depending on the kind of coverage you have and the kind of income level you're at and whether or not you're participating in a coverage program within your state. So when does 93 months start? So the 93 months start the first month after the last month of your trial work period. And I know sounds a little bit complicated, but as you start to go back to work and you get some benefits planning you'll come to understand more about your trial work and when that period of time is over, that's when your 93 months is going to kick in. And so that time clock kicks in if you are receiving Medicare, so if you're not still in a waiting period and if you're working at substantial gainful activity. So for those of you on the line who aren't aware of substantial gainful activity for 2017 it's 1,170 per month. And it's one of the work incentives that we're not going to go in-depth on today, but we will in future WISE webinars and we do have some great archived WISE webinars that give you some really good information about how the return to work rules work. And so if we could take a moment to give folks in the chat box access as to where the WISE webinars archive are that way you can go take a look. But the best way to know for you personally about the different work incentives and how they apply to you individually is called a ticket to work helpline and we're going to provide that for you in the chat box as well. So although cash benefits may stop because you're working your Medicare is going to continue and it's going to be for at least eight and a half years, including the time of the trial work period. So if you're under age 65, you're disabled and you're no longer entitled to the free Medicare hospital insurance part A because you've successfully returned to work. So this is at the end of the eight and half years. You may be eligible for a program that pays your Medicare part A monthly premium. To be eligible for this you have to continue to have a disabling impairment, you have to sign up for premium hospital insurance part A, have limited income, limited resources and not already be eligible for Medicaid. But the hope is that you're going to be coming off of the SSDI cash benefit and off of your Medicare after this pretty long period of time because you've returned to work and that work is going to come with opportunities to enroll in an employer funded health care program. There may come a time when you need more information about how your current Medicare healthcare benefits work or you're going to want to understand, now I do remember something's going to happen to Medicare, but I don't remember exactly what. So if it's a question specific to Medicare I'm going to encourage you to call 1-800-MEDICARE, that's their voice number or for TTY you can reach Medicare at 1-877-486-2048. If you've never called the Medicare line they're actually incredibly helpful, they have a lot of information at their fingertips. The Medicare documents that are sent out like the Medicare guides can also be very helpful, they're really quite clear. When you call you will be asked for your Medicare number and you may be transferred to the main menu. We're going to encourage you to choose other choices and then another question just to speed up the process for you. This way you'll be transferred to a representative. You want to make sure you tell them your state and they're going to give you a toll-free number where you can get additional information on specifically what to do around paying for Medicare part A. But this 1-800-MEDICARE number is really good for any question that you might have surrounding Medicare. So I just want to take a minute and add one more thing in. For all of you who receive SSDI or SSI your state may offer a Medicaid buy-in program. And the Medicaid buy-in programs were set up under the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Opportunity Act that created the Ticket to Work Program. And Medicaid buy-in program allows people who have a documented disability and are seeking to return to work and have earned income. It allows them to buy into a state Medicaid program. The reason why you would want to think about doing this is because a Medicaid buy-in program allows you to have much higher levels of income and importantly, much higher levels of savings. Some of the programs are very savvy about whether or not retirement savings are included. They've done a really good job in many states of setting these programs up, making it easy to participate, and it's an important component of you making an informed decision about what level of work. So based on the information you have today hopefully you feel a lot more comfortable understanding that you can return to work, you will not immediately lose your Medicare or your Medicaid if they're connected to your SSI or your SSDI benefit. But to make a really well-informed decision I would also encourage you to look at your Medicaid buy-in in your state so that you can better understand what the potential is even beyond your Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. What are the most options that you have so you can make an informed decision? And I think we're going to take a stop there just to see if there are a few questions.

>> Yes, thank you very much Elizabeth. Wonderful information and we do have a few questions that have come in specific to what you were just talking about. And the first is somebody has a question that you talk about 16199(b), but she was told that she had to have at least one dollar in SSI in order to keep Medicaid, so that goes against what you had said regarding 16199(b). So could you explain that again please?

>> Sure so, you know, that person isn't wrong, but they're taking the shortcut. So that person knows that if you have even a small cash benefit, even just one dollar in SSI then you automatically hold on to your Medicaid. But the shortcut is they're not telling you about the 1619(b) work incentive, so they've given you half the information. Yes, if you have just one dollar in SSI you're still eligible for your Medicaid, but under 1619(b) you're allowed to go to zero cash benefit and continue to work and maintain Medicaid eligibility as long as you meet that five point requirement and you don't go over your state threshold amount. And as you all remember even then, even if you think you're going to go over your state threshold amount before you stop yourself from continuing on what is likely a really -- sounds like a really great job path, you want to make sure you check to see am I eligible for an individualized threshold amount and that way you can make the best decision possible.

>> Great, thank you very much Elizabeth. And another one for you is somebody said that if they lose their cash benefit because they're working and this person is on SSDI will that person also lose their Medicare automatically?

>> So this is a great question and I'm going to answer and then I'm going to invite Marlene to chime in too. So when you start to understand the return to work process under SSDI you'll start to know that SSDI allows you to have high months and low months. Months where your earnings are over that SGA and maybe you're not receiving a cash benefit and months where you're under. And that's okay, that's part of the process of kind of figuring out what's the right level of work for you. Your Medicare is going to stay in place through that whole up and down period, that's why it stays for at least the seven years, nine months after the trial work period. And so it's allowing for that and understanding that, you know, you came onto the Social Security rolls because your disability was creating a real impediment to work. So taking that path back there's going to be some bumps in the road, there's going to be highs and lows and the Medicare is going to stay consistent through that. Now I'm just going to invite Marlene to add anything.

>> Oh thanks Elizabeth, but you did a great job of answering that. I just wanted to mention that with regards to Medicare, it kind of gets confusing because after someone completes one of their work incentives, a trial work period and if they're working at a real high level their benefits could be temporarily suspended in another work incentive period called an extended period of eligibility. But when someone's benefits are suspended that doesn't mean their Medicare goes away, as Elizabeth was saying, it continues at least that 93 months after their trial work period. And that's great, great protection, that's free Medicare part A and that's the hospital insurance benefits portion. And if the individual wants part B to continue, the supplemental insurance or part D to continue, the prescription drug coverage, they would just need to pay their premium each month, pay their premium or someone needs to pay that premium. In some states there's a Medicare savings program where the state can pay the premium, but if someone is working at a higher level it's unlikely that they would qualify for it. But Medicare continues at least that 93 months, it's a wonderful, wonderful protection. And even way down the road, down the road when someone is working, they're self-sufficient, they may have employer-sponsored health insurance at that time they could still when their Medicare finally terminates years and years later there's something called Medicare for the working disabled where they can purchase it. There's so many great safety nets and supports in the system where it's great just to work out there knowing that you have that coverage and have that health insurance and it won't always be there with you should something happen and you can't continue working. And then I just wanted to one more item. On the question before this I had my microphone on mute I apologize and I was talking to myself here. But when you all were talking about 1619(b) and people thinking that you had to have at least one dollar in SSI to qualify for 1619(b) it hit me why that happened. And that's because when someone initially applies for Supplemental Security Income Benefits there has to be at least one month where they're eligible for at least one dollar in supplemental security income before they could be eligible for 1619(b). So I think that's where that [inaudible] cane into play where they needed one dollar to qualify for 1619(b). So I hope that that added to Elizabeth's answer also.

>> Thanks Marlene that actually touches on a question that we had come in which is in terms of that eligibility for one month does that matter if a person is under 18 or over 18.

>> That stumps a little bit and I couldn't answer that accurately, so I have to defer my answer on that. I think for a question like that it would be best to contact either a benefits planner or someone at the Social Security Administration. I really don't have the answer to that one.

>> Okay.

>> And I apologize.

>> Sure, no problem. Another question we have before and then we can move on is somebody said that they understand that the trial work period is nine months, but they're wondering about Medicare and when that 93 months starts. Is that before the trial work period or after?

>> The 93 months it's actually 93 months plus the trial work period, so that actually totals 102 months. But in the law it says 93 months, so it would be a trial work period plus the 93 months and it is at least 93 months. And the Medicare could continue even longer than that, that's the minimum at least.

>> Wow, that's wonderful, thank you.

>> Welcome.

>> All right, so those are our questions right now. So Elizabeth, I will turn it back over to you to continue, thank you.

>> Great, thank you. You guys are asking really great questions not just evidence that you're engaged today, but also evidence that you've been thinking about this a lot, which I just want to again congratulate you on. Okay, so we have Be again, Ben is our little figure here wanting to know true or false. If I use my ticket to go to work Social Security will conduct a medical review of my case and I will lose my benefits. So we also got this question in the chat box and I'm happy to tell you that the answer is false. If you participate in the Ticket to Work program with either an employment network or your state vocational rehabilitation agency and make timely progress following your individual work plan Social Security will postpone your medical continuing disability review. So let's start off for a second by taking a moment to remind you of what the continuing disability review is. So when you came onto the Social Security rolls Social Security made a determination as to when they would give you a medical review. This again is they want to know are you continuing to have a disability, the documented medical disability that brought you onto the rolls. And so this is important for them as good stewards of the Social Security rules to come and check back, you know, things happen, people do recover and so they check back. Some of you are checked at one year, sometimes three years, sometimes seven years, but everybody gets checked. Even if you have a complex disability that you -- that happened to you at birth you are still going to be checked over a specific period of time to see if that disability continues to persist okay. So Social Security really wants to know are you making timely progress towards your Ticket to Work. Are you somebody who assigned your Ticket to Work and is really working towards the plan? So Social Security is going to check to see if you make timely progress. So I thought I might give you an example of this to kind of help sort of, you know, solidify this for you. So. Sorry, I just lost my place on my notes. So let's say you're somebody who wants to get a job as a file clerk or as a car salesman or in a great example that [inaudible] Berry, someone who spoke on the WISE webinar last year she gave. You know, she worked with someone who wanted to work at a pet store that's what they really liked. They wanted to work 15 hours at a pet store. So the first thing the individual did was they likely joined a WISE webinar, they learned more information, they called the Tickets To Work helpline to explore who in my area is an employment network, what are my options for who I assign my ticket to. And then they assigned their ticket to an employment network or to vocational rehabilitation. When you do that, when you assign your ticket you're going to start writing an individual plan with that group, an individual work plan. And that individual work plan outlines the kind of work you're looking for, what kind of education you need if you need any or what kind of education you have to achieve that goal, whatever goals you have in order to achieve that job. And it helps kind of plan out for everybody what the goals are, what steps are needed to achieve those goals and you and the employment network or vocational rehabilitation are agreeing based on this work plan that this is what you're going to work on together. So you may even see where it lists out your responsibilities, where it lists out the EN's or VR's responsibility, but this is an important document because it lists out everything that's going to be done and lets you have a clear idea that yes, this is what I'm striving for. So that's what Social Security wants to know if you're making timely progress on. They want to know approximately every 12 months they want to do a review to see are you making progress towards the goals that were listed in this individual work plan. So I remind you of that you say it's an important component of your return to work, partially to make sure that that work plan includes goals that you actually plan to work on and not things that maybe sound good, but aren't really something that you're going to be working on, maybe not in the first 12 months, maybe it's something to be added later, but that they reflect what you want to do and the goals that you plan to work towards. So Social Security is going to consider that you're making timely progress if at your first 12 month review you have worked 3 out of 12 months at the trial work period earnings. So again, that's a concept we're not really diving into today. But just so you have an idea in 2017, the trial work period level of earning is $840 per month. So Social Security wants to know in this first year have you earned $840 for 3 out of 12 months. Have you completed this is an or, or have you completed 60% of a full-time course load for one year toward a degree or certification, technical, trade or vocational program. So this isn't to mix you up, but it's to let you know some people in their first 12 months their goal is to, you know, do some work, to secure employment and start to work. Other people they have things they have to get done before they're going to be going to work, so they may be working towards a certification or a trade or they may be going back to school. So this gives some flexibility. If you're somebody who's going back to school did you complete 60% of a full-time course load? The question here is have you seriously been working towards your goal. The number of months per year that you work and the amount of completion towards your degree, certification, technical, trade or vocational program they increase with each 12 month review. And the goal here is to help everybody stay on track with what the goals are and also to help you to work with the EN or vocational rehabilitation to make timely progress. So we don't want you to sign a plan with an organization and then have the plan fit. This gives some urgency to everyone around we set a plan, let's move forward and get this plan moving. So if you do not meet the timely progress review requirements you can continue to participate in the Ticket to Work program. It doesn't toss you out of the program. It doesn't impact your cash benefit or your Medicaid or Medicaid benefit. But what can happen is you will no longer be excused from having your scheduled medical continuing disability review when Social Security decides that you are due for one. So everything stays in place, but the suspension of the continuing disability review that having your ticket assigned provides for you that no longer stays in place if you're not making timely progress on your goals. So I wonder if we should just stop for a moment there Nancy to see if there are some questions about that.

>> Sure. One individual has talked about expedited reinstatement, which I'm not sure if you've covered yet.

>> We're going to get to that next.

>> Okay, so the question just so you have in advance Elizabeth is how do I file for expedited reinstatement? So this is great because I think that means that people are already reading into, you know, wanting to get off benefits and then what's going to happen if I do need them again, so that's great. You talked a bit earlier about different states and someone wanted to know if the work incentive that you and Marlene have talked about are available in only some states or only in some parts of the country or if they're available everywhere.

>> Sure, that's a great question. So the only thing we've talked about that may not be available in your own home state is a Medicaid buy-in. States were allowed to decide if they wanted to offer a Medicaid buy-in, so it is in some states like my current home state of Virginia does offer Medicaid buy-in. My former home state of Florida unfortunately does not. So it depends on which state you're in, but it is over 30 states now that offer Medicaid buy-in so the odds are in your favor that the state that you're in will offer one. So it seems like you guys are actually good and we'll keep moving on to the final myth. So here's the last one, we have Ben one more time. If my checks stop because I go to work and then I have to stop working because of my disability I will have to reapply for benefits all over again. It took me forever to be approved for benefits and I cannot afford to wait that long again. As a result, I should not try to work. So this is a sentiment that I personally have heard in the field for a long time and it's really important for people to know that the answer to this myth is that it's false. You will not need to reapply if your benefits ended within the past five years due to your earnings and you meet a few other Social Security requirements that we're going to go over in just a minute. This is the work incentive called expedited reinstatement and if you haven't heard about it, you know, all the work incentives we've talked about today have been around for at least 15 years, many of them much longer. But expedited reinstatement is an incredible work incentive that was specifically designed to provide you a safety net so that you could feel confident in trying to return to work knowing that if it all went kaput. If your efforts went really well and you come off the rolls and then your disability escalates or, you know, maybe you had secured a job that was very understanding of your disability and some of the accommodations that you needed and that business went out of business or a new manager came in and just didn't have the same policies as the old manager. I've seen lots of different things happen. Social Security wants to make sure that you know that there's a safety net here for you. So here's how it works. First of all, we want to make sure that you know that expedited reinstatement applies to you whether you receive SSDI, SSI or both. And how it works is a fast track to getting back onto the rolls. So if you worked your way off of benefits and you request within five years of your benefits stopping, then you may be eligible for expedited reinstatement. What Social Security does is it reviews your benefits to see if you are eligible to receive what we're calling temporary benefits. It's up to six months of your cash and healthcare benefit while Social Security determines if you still meet the definition of disability, if you still have a documented medical disability that is preventing you from working at a substantial level. The good thing about expedited reinstatement, all right let me go back to that slide for you, is that it's relatively easy to request and I'm going to let Marlene show you how that's done in just a minute. But the other good thing about expedited reinstatement is that it's not your only option, you always have the option of reapplying for benefits. But the benefit, sorry for that pun on words, of expedited reinstatement is that it happens quickly so you don't have to go through the waiting process that you went through when you did an application the first time. And it allows you the confidence to know if I do go down this road, then there's a way back on. I'm not exiting the door completely, I've still got this kind of emergency air shaft if I need to come back onto the rolls. So I want to take a moment to give Marlene a chance as our, you know, super expert on how [inaudible] people request expedited reinstatement.

>> Okay, thanks Elizabeth. To request expedited reinstatement you would need to do that in your local Social Security office or one of the Social Security offices in your area. I know that if any instances you can file a claim for disability insurance benefits online, but the application for expedited reinstatement is not online so you cannot apply for that through the Social Security website. The best way to do this to file a claim for expedited reinstatement is to call the Social Security 1-800 number and it's 1-800-772-1213 and make an appointment to go into the office. I'm saying make an appointment because then you won't have to wait as long. Sometimes there's many of the offices because of all of the baby boomers filing for benefits the offices get quite crowded and I know that your time is very valuable, so it's always best to the extent possible to make an appointment before filing for expedited reinstatement.

>> Thanks Marlene.

>> You're welcome.

>> We have, so expedited reinstatement is a hot topic, we have several questions. The first is when I file for expedited reinstatement are you saying that my cash benefits start immediately.

>> Can I jump in Elizabeth or is that okay?

>> Oh yes, please yeah.

>> Okay and yes that is what Elizabeth was saying that the benefits do start immediately. They do a quick input into the computer and it starts up your benefit and you'll receive up to six months of benefits while the disability determination is being made. If you have the same or related impairment and you're not working or you're working under that substantial gainful activity level I would guess that you have little to worry about. But yes your benefits to start immediately and that's a really, really great protection because when Elizabeth started talking about expedited reinstatement the question was, you know, many folks waited a long, long time to have their claim approved for disability benefits. And as a result of that some folks really hesitate to work or to chance losing their benefit because they may be supporting their whole household or they may be the only wage earner in your family or may leave alone. And with expedited reinstatement it's available for folks receiving Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits or Supplemental Security Income Benefit or both, it's a great protection where benefits can start up immediately.

>> Wonderful, thank you very much Marlene. And somebody else has a question they're saying that their health is great right now, but what if I work at a high level and I lose my SSDI benefits and then I have a health crisis and can't continue to work is that an automatic qualification for expedited reinstatement?

>> That's another one there. That really, really is a good question and as Elizabeth has said, you guys are really thinking out there and throwing a lot of good questions. You're really thinking things through because I know that there's so many here that want to work. If you are receiving Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits and as Nancy just said, working at a very high level where your benefits are suspended or maybe you had a health crisis and you can no longer work what happens. And there's more protection in the system called work incentives and today we didn't have time to talk about everything which exists within the Social Security Administration as safety nets or protection. And I'll just throw this one out here so that you could look it up at the end when we talk about resources, it's called the expedited reinstatement. It's something for 36 months after your trial work period ends. If you stop working or fall below that substantial gainful activity level your benefits could be automatically reinstated without a new application. And it could be done quickly, it's just a quick trigger in the Social Security Administration computers where they do that locally and your checks can be directly deposited again quickly. It's not expedited reinstatement because you really weren't terminated you were like in I want to say suspended animation. You were still on the books, in the Social Security computers as being disabled, but you were working and you were using one of their work incentives, so your checks could start real quickly for 36 months or 3 years after your trial work period ends. So it's really, really a great protection. There's a lot of protections like that in the system.

>> Thank you very much Marlene and we have one more question before we move on and Elizabeth, I think this could be answered by you. We've got a lot of people asking how much money can I make before I lose my benefits. Do you have any answers for that?

>> Well this is the magic question right, this is why everybody came on the webinar so we can find out what's that magic number that is kind of my stopping point. And I'm really sorry to not give you this magical holiday gift of a magical number because it just doesn't exist. It's a little bit different for all of you on the line. So you have -- let's start with the folks who get SSI. So for those of you on SSI you have some decisions to make and the amount of SSI you get can be different across all of you because there may be some factors, you may have a spouse whose money counts against you, you may be living in somebody else's home and so you get a reduction. So you have some things to consider, but I want you to be watching for what is the 1619(b) state threshold in my state. So that to me is the ceiling you should be looking at. And if you have goals and aspirations to go above that amount do not turn that aspiration off. Call your local Social Security office, actually let me stop. Call the Ticket to Work helpline, let them know I really need to talk with the WIPA project so I can look at getting an individualized threshold so I can make a decision about how much money I can earn in this job opportunity. And it is possible if you have very high Medicaid costs, it is possible that you might be one of the people who qualifies for an individualized threshold. So that's the SSI folks. Okay, so please don't listen to folks who say, oh we have to keep your cash benefit, that's not how you keep your Medicaid or folks who say, you can only work part-time. That doesn't mean anything. So what you want to be watching for is your 1619(b) state threshold level in your state okay. And then for the SSDI folks well yours gets a little bit more complicated because you get a period of time where you can work and earn any amount of money and still maintain your cash benefit, that's the trial work period. And then you get this period of time that Marlene mentioned this 36 months where they're kind of checking to see how much money are you earning, are you over or under the SGA level. And the challenge in all of this is that you also have on top of all of this work incentives that can be used to help deduct some of your -- deduct the amount of money you earned to get to a countable amount. So just like when you do your taxes there are deductions that you may be able to make based on things you pay for yourself to go to work because of your disability, extra support you get on the job from the employer or extra support you may be receiving from a nonprofit. There's just so many factors for each of you that I'm so sorry to disappoint you, but that magic number doesn't exist. But I can tell you what it's not and what it's not is just people telling you, you can only work part-time. That part-time message doesn't have any substantiation within any of the Social Security rules, it just doesn't mean anything. So I know it takes a little bit more effort, but it's really important that you call the Ticket to Work helpline you get some information there. As you have a job offer and go to work, you get benefits planning with a certified work incentive coordinator, they work under the WIPA projects. And that you are joining these WISE webinars and doing your due diligence o understand just exactly what that feeling is for you, this is your individual feeling. And before I hand it off I will just say one more thing before I have Marlene join in on that. I know these rules sound difficult, but I myself started out with no information at all about Social Security. You can learn them, it's a little bit complicated, but when you start to break through the noise and focus in on your benefits and the rules that apply to you the world of Social Security gets much smaller and it becomes easier to understand what applies to you. And with a little support, particularly from a benefits planner you can understand this and you can make some really well-informed decisions.

>> Wonderful, thank you Elizabeth and I know you said you were going to turn it over to Marlene, but in the interest of time because we've had so many wonderful questions I think I'm just going to have you continue with the slides if that would be okay.

>> Oh yeah I forgot we're still doing slides. Okay, so we wanted to share with you a story, a success story. So this is Larry and you can access this story about Larry at www.chooseworkttw.net/library/larry-clay-success-story-sept-2014. So Larry and his parents worried about what would happen to Larry's benefits if he went to work just like many of you on the line are worried about that very same thing. But once Larry and his family learned about the work incentive he felt at ease knowing that he was not going to suddenly lose Medicaid coverage, that he was not going to suddenly lose his SSI cash benefit. That what would happen to his benefits would be dependent on his personal benefit and his choices around going to work, how much he would earn. And so Larry has gone to work, he stayed at work, he's really happy at work and his story is there for you to read and align with and understand that it's possible for you too. And I think with that I actually do hand it back.

>> Yes, thank you Elizabeth and Marlene we'll let you continue now, thank you.

>> Okay, now we've gotten to the portion of the program where we actually are going to discuss the Ticket to Work program. So at this juncture you may be wondering what exactly is the Ticket to Work program. And as Elizabeth referred you to a little earlier, you see the globes on the right side of your screen, one says SSDI and the other says SSI. And that means that the Ticket to Work program is applicable to folks receiving either type of a benefit under either program. The Ticket to Work program, it's a free program and it's a voluntary program. You can choose to participate in the program or you can choose to not participate in the program. You can participate in the program as long as you see fit. You can drop out of the program if you feel that it isn't benefiting you. The program is a self-sufficiency program and it does offer career development for individual between the ages of 18 and not yet 65 who receive either of the types of the benefits shown on your screen. So as we said earlier, most individuals receiving Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits or Supplemental Security Income Benefits would be eligible to participate in the program. So when we look at this next slide we're seeing Ben here and he's thinking about taking the next step and he's asking himself is there support out there to help him to work. It looks like he's made a decision that he does want to work, but like many of you out there or many of us he doesn't know quite where to start and how to take the first step. And like with many of the decisions in all our lives and they're decisions that we make on a daily basis the first step for many of us involves gathering information and gathering together resources, which actually is the key to planning the journey to employment. And employment is a big step, it's a huge step for any of us. And Ben wants his journey to be a smooth one, he doesn't want any surprises. And that's why Elizabeth was talking a little earlier about the Social Security benefit programs and the work incentives and how vital it is that an individual thinking about choosing work or someone who is already working contact a benefit planner. And a benefit planner is just another name for certified work incentive coordinator. And you can find a certified work incentive coordinator through our WIPA projects, that's W-I-P-A Work Incentive Planning and Assistance grantee and we'll provide you with the resources at the end of the presentation. But you can also find the WIPA or the CWIC through the Ticket to Work helpline by contacting them. So he's starting his journey, but in starting your journey to work it comes to a cross in the road and only you can decide if work is the right choice for you. Ben has come to that fork in the road and he really isn't sure at this point, but he's made a decision. He doesn't know if he can work full-time, he isn't sure if he can work part-time, but he wants to test the waters and I think he has decided that he does want to work. Just know that you can work part-time, you can test your ability to work and gradually move on to work more hours or more time on the job. But the choice is always yours because you're the driver in this journey, it's all up to you. And for many of you listening today you've come to that fork in the road and you're unsure of which direction you want to take or which direction you want to travel. But just know that there really are a lot of benefits to working. So why choose work? Well there are many reasons, there's four reasons shown on your screen. Maybe you want to earn more income because you've set some goals. Maybe you want to purchase a new vehicle or you want to save for a down payment for a house or maybe you want to save for an apartment or go on vacation or purchase a new TV or an iPhone. There are a lot of good reasons why many of us work. Whatever the reason now is the time to choose work or maybe you're someone who's choosing work to gain independence. You want to maybe further your education or get a good job, possibly move out of your parents' home or maybe you want to get an apartment and need to save for a security deposit for utilities. And again, I just say there's no better time than starting now. Or maybe you want to get out and meet new people. Work is one of the very best ways to meet new people and meeting new people has a variety of benefits. Not only make new friends, but you increase your circle of support. And lastly, maybe you're choosing work because you want to learn skills, you want to challenge yourself or be challenged. You want to obtain some on-the-job training, possibly in a new area or you want to go to classes maybe to learn some job-related skills. And again, the time is right and the time is now. So with this point, along the way we have talked about some work incentives, but we're going to take a little more about them. Like what are work incentives and work incentives actually are special rules under the Social Security Administration that allow you to do a number of things. They're intended to help you in your efforts to become self-sufficient through working. We've heard about some of the working incentives like expedited reinstatement and protection from medical reviews, trial work period and extended period of eligibility and continued Medicare and continued Medicaid. And there really are even a lot more. But all in all those work incentives allow you to do a lot of things. You could receive training for new skills or improve some of the skills that you already have. You can pursue an education, try different jobs, start a career and gain confidence. And I know that we asked a question a couple slides ago why choose work. But my challenge to you today is why not because the time is right, there's no better time than now. You've taken this opportunity to listen to the webinar, you're interested, you wanted to learn more, you've taken that big step so why not begin that successful journey now. So I think at this point we're running short on time. I was wondering if Nancy maybe you can show us some or [inaudible] some more valuable information and maybe some resources so that folks have that to refer to.

>> Sure absolutely, thank you Marlene. And when you were talking about expedited reinstatement I think that hit another hot topic, we have several questions on that. One is how quickly does extended, I'm sorry expedited reinstatement come back? Is it one month, two months, longer?

>> Shorter than that, it could be days. You make an appointment and go into your Social Security office to file for expedited reinstatement. And your appointment may be a little down the road because they book everything on a calendar and sometimes the calendar are very, very booked up. If you walk into your local office and you choose to wait and the waits sometimes are a little long, once your claim for benefits is filed with the Social Security Administration it could actually be days. So it's not a matter of months at all, it's something that could be done very, very quickly.

>> Wow, that's wonderful, thank you. So then that leads to my next question and that is the temporary cash benefits paid during expedited reinstatement are they considered an overpayment to be repaid if the expedited reinstatement winds up [inaudible]?

>> Being denied.

>> Right, denied and do they have to pay that back.

>> The benefits that someone has received during that six month period they're actually called provisional payments and they are not considered an overpayment and do not need to be paid back to the Social Security Administration if the claim is denied so long as there was not fraud involved. So in most instances of course not, they would not need to be repaid back to Social Security if the claim is denied.

>> Well that's great news, thank you. And then somebody has a question, what if they quit work, but the reason wasn't related to their disability can they apply for expedited reinstatement.

>> Well let me tell you this. Over the year I've been very lucky and I've liked most of my bosses, but I've heard stories where some individuals have had jobs and maybe they didn't get along with their boss or their boss was very difficult to get along with and they just outright quit their job. And in an incident like that if someone just outright quits they can file for expedited reinstatement so long as they meet the other requirements. The other requirements they have to apply for expedited reinstatement within five years of the date their benefits were terminated. They have to have a same or related impairment. They either must not be working or they are working under the substantial gainful activity level. And if they meet the requirements they can file for expedited reinstatement even if they outright quit their job.

>> Well that's great, thank you very much, good information. So we've got a few questions that are coming in about employment networks regarding Ticket to Work. And somebody wants to know how they can find an employment network in their local area. That would be either for Marlene or Elizabeth.

>> Okay, I could start out and maybe Elizabeth will have something to add, she'll probably have something to add to it. But there's a really great tool on the Choose Work website, it's www.chosework.net and there's a tool where you can find the employment networks, you could search either by ZIP Code or by city, by area and you can actually pull up all of the employment networks which serve you or serve your particular area. It can provide you with the impairment [inaudible], the services or supports provided and it will provide you with contact information too. It also provides you with information on the WIPA, the work incentive planning and assistance grantee so you can find the benefit planner which serves you or you in your area. And it also provides information on your vocational rehabilitation office. And I believe it provides information on the protection and advocacy component which serves your particular state, so it's really, really a good recourse.

>> Great, thank you Marlene. And then somebody said that you, it was either you or Elizabeth spoke about Larry earlier. Is there somewhere that people can read about other beneficiaries who have used the Ticket program and have been successful?

>> And I think Elizabeth was talking about Larry a little earlier. But there is on the www.choosework.net website there are a number of success stories and they're really great. In fact, I've watched several of them already and there's videos there, there are short clips there and it provides a lot of really motivational material on folks who actually were successful because they chose work.

>> Wonderful and we have a very loyal person out there who remembers when we talked about self-employment for individuals and they were wondering if expedited reinstatement is also possible for individuals who own their own business and are self-employed.

>> It is available. If they are self-employed, first of all for expedited reinstatement their benefits must have been terminated. If they are working though and they still maintain their business the question would be how is their business structured, at what level are they receiving remuneration, how were they being paid. There would be a lot of questions the Social Security Administration would ask if an individual who was self-employed is applying for benefits. What happened to the business, was it just dissolved. They would have a lot of questions they would need to ask first. But an individual who was self-employed is also eligible for expedited reinstatement.

>> Wonderful, thank you very much. And we have one last question and it has to do with a medical review. A person has never had a medical review and Social Security did not tell that person that they were going to need to possibly have a medical review. Does everybody have to have a medical review?

>> Well actually under the law medical reviews are required, so everyone is required to undergo a medical review either every year, every three years, every five years or the longest length of time is every seven years. The majority of individuals receiving a disability-based benefit have a three year diary, which means they would be reviewed every three years. The review process is -- the majority of it is a paperwork process where forms are sent to the beneficiary, they complete the forms, they indicate maybe medical treatment, dates of treatment, medication, daily activities, they answer questions related to that and they send it back to the Social Security Administration. The Social Security Administration would send the case to the state agency, which would request their medical record and make a determination of whether medical improvement has occurred in the case. If it has occurred in the case the individual does have an appeal right and the individual while they are appealing can ask that their benefits be continued if they request it within 10 days of receiving the notice.

>> Wonderful, thank you Marlene. And I'm going to take on the next question, lucky me because it's a question about the find help tool that you mentioned earlier. And I am going to start talking about that right now when I talk about some additional resources. So thank you very much for those absolutely wonderful answers. So folks, we are getting close to the end of our hour and a half and I did want to talk to you about the find helpful tool which if you go to www.choosework.net/findhelp you can use that to search for the right service provider for you. And there are many ways that you can search. You can do it by ZIP Code, you can do it by services offered, you can do it by disability type, you can do it by languages spoken or you can do it by provider type. So whether you are looking for an employment network or possibly a workforce employment network or vocational rehabilitation or possibly if you're looking for WIPA or if you're looking a PABSS for assistance, that's P-A-B-S-S. So you can use that choose work tool for all of those different searches. And for more information we've mentioned this number a couple times, but please know you can always call the Ticket to Work helpline at 1-866-968-7842 or for TTY 1-866-833-2967. You can also visit the website of www.socialsecurity.gov/work. We absolutely encourage you to connect with us. You can like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/choosework. You can also follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/chooseworkssa. We also have a YouTube channel and you can watch Ticket to Work videos on YouTube at www, oops sorry http://www.youtube.com/choosework. And lastly, you can follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/ticket-to-work. So again, we thank you very, very much for being here and we wish everyone a happy holiday season. And in a minute a survey is going to pop up, we would really love you to take that survey and let us know how we're doing, how we can improve these webinars for you. In the meantime, please jot this down on your calendar or go onto the Choose Work website. Our next Ticket to Work webinar is titled The Journey to Financial Independence and it will be on Wednesday, January 25th in the new year 2017, the time will be from 3 o'clock to 4:30 p.m. eastern time and you can register online at www.choosework.net/wise or you can call 1-866-968-7842 or for TTY 1-866-833-2967. I want to take another moment and thank our speakers Marlene Ulisky and Elizabeth Jennings very much. They did an absolutely fantastic job for us today and dispelled a lot of those myths that worry us from going to work and possibly losing our benefits, so we thank you both very much. And what you'll see on your screen right now is please tell us what you think. Please remember to take our webinar survey, the link is going to pop up after the webinar or you can always visit www.choosework.net/surveys/wise. Thank you everyone, have a safe and healthy holiday season and we will talk to you in 2017.