WISE Ticket to Work Webinar
Preventing and Managing Overpayments: A Webinar for Social Security Beneficiaries
December 19, 2018

Speakers: Stacey Plizga (Moderator); Djuna Mitchell, Kimberly Bolton, & Connie DaValt (Presenters)

STACEY>> Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to today's Ticket to Work webinar, Preventing and Managing Overpayments: A Webinar for Social Security Beneficiaries. My name is Stacey Plizga and I am a member of the Ticket to Work team and I will be your moderator for today's webinar.

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As mentioned earlier, my name is Stacey Plizga and I am a member of the Ticket to Work team, and I am very excited to be here with everyone today, moderating this webinar. We are delighted to have with us three speakers from the Social Security Administration who will share information about Social Security's Ticket to Work program and how to prevent and manage overpayments.

Our first speaker, Djuna Mitchell, is a social insurance specialist at the Social Security Administration, serving as a project officer for the protection and advocacy of beneficiaries of Social Security and Work Incentives Planning and Assistance or WIPA programs. Prior to working for Social Security, she worked as a WIPA project director and a Community Work Incentives coordinator.

Our second speaker, Kimberly Bolton, began working with SSA in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she processed initial claim application, screen for potential SSA and non-SSA benefit entitlements, and processed post-entitlement workload actions. She now works at the SSA headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, as a project analyst.

Our third speaker, Connie DaValt, has worked as an SSI claims representative, a disability specialist, a technical expert, and Work Incentives Coordinator. Currently, as a WIC, she is a liaison for community partners, conducts training on Social Security Work Incentives, and troubleshoots complicated work issues for Wisconsin and Northern Illinois, SSA offices.

We're excited to have these three speakers with us today to share their knowledge and their expertise, and we would like to say thank you to all of our participants for joining us today. We have a very informative session planned where our guest presenters will discuss what an overpayment is and what you can do to prevent or manage an overpayment.

Throughout today's webinar, you will find answers to questions related to what overpayments are, preventing and managing overpayments, and reporting wages to Social Security. We'll also talk about Social Security's Ticket to Work program, which [inaudible] to receive SSA security disability benefit and want to work.

So, at this point, it is my pleasure to introduce to you Djuna Mitchell who will discuss the Ticket to Work program and information on overpayments. Actually, our next speaker is going to be Connie, and Connie is going to discuss the ticket to work program and information on overpayments.

CONNIE>> Well, good afternoon, everyone. This is Connie DaValt and I'm enjoying talking to you today and go over some information about our programs, and particularly, about overpayments.

So before we get into the overpayments, I'd like to discuss the two different programs that Social Security administered. We have the SSDI program, which is the Social Security Disability Insurance program. SSDI is for individuals that have paid into the social security system and have enough current work as well as the disability.

That individual can receive benefits, but also family members can receive benefits on that person's record. An example is, if someone on SSDI benefits has a child under the age of 18 or under the age of 19, who's a full-time student, they can draw benefits on that worker's record.

Also, if they have a child that was disabled prior to age 22, that child can continue to receive benefits on that worker's record as well and there are spousal benefits that can be due on the worker's record. So when I talk about SSDI, think of it as an insurance program, you've paid into that program, and then if something happens, you can draw benefits benefits back out of that program.

The second program that we have is the SSI, or Supplemental Security Income program. The SSI program is a needs based program, so it's for individuals with limited income and limited resources. The SSI funds are paid out of general tax revenues, not out of social security revenues. So individuals no matter what age, if they have a disability or if they are over age 65 and have limited income and limited resources, those individuals can be eligible for SSI benefits.

We have people that are on SSDI, and we have individuals that are on SSI, and then we have some individuals that receive both benefits. So they have rules for SSDI, certain rules for SSI, so they have to know a lot of information if they're a concurrent beneficiary, someone that gets both benefits. Now that you know kind of the difference between the two programs that we have, let's jump into what are overpayments. Next slide please.

All right, so what is an overpayment? An overpayment is when you receive a higher cash payment than what you were owed for a month. So the overpayment is the difference between what you received and what you were due. Let me give you an example, for someone that's on SSI. This year the highest amount of SSI we can pay, federal amount, is $750 a month. Let's say someone got their SSI check on the first, and then later in the month let's say they won the lottery and they got some money that they were not expecting, well because of that income that came in, they actually weren't due an SSI check that month so they're gonna be overpaid. So the difference, they got the 750, they were due nothing, so the overpayment would be $750. That's what an overpayment is. Next slide.

Overpayments and social security benefits. As I mentioned in the opening, SSDI can be paid to you and sometimes other members of your family. If the worker is overpaid benefits, then it's also possible that the family members or the people receiving benefits on their records are overpaid as well. To help avoid overpayments we have to be very certain to report when you start or stop working, but also if you've changed the hours that you work, or rate of pay.

As you can figure it would be very different if you had first called and said, "I'm going to work 20 hours a week and make $10 an hour", and then if you got an increase in hours and all of a sudden now you're working 40 hours a week, that's gonna be a very different estimate. So it's important that when there's a change, hours, rate of pay, as well as when you start and stop a job, that you contact social security right away. Next slide.

What can cause an overpayment? Well, work can cause an overpayment, and actually that's one of the biggest reasons that people get overpaid. A lot of times it's that earnings ends up being more than they estimated. Just like in that example that I gave you, you estimated you were gonna work a certain number of hours and you ended up working more. That can make a difference. That rate of pay too, sometimes if you get a little raise, if it's only let's say $0.25 an hour, that doesn't seem like a lot. But if you multiply that over all the hours that you work in a week and then to hours in a month, that can really make a difference and can cause an overpayment. Sometimes people forget to report to social security that they started a job and we discover that information later, then that again can cause a pretty big overpayment if we're not notified of work timely. Next slide.

Can we move ... There we go. All right, what else can cause an overpayment? Some other things, particularly if you're on SSI benefits, we're gonna talk about this a little bit later in the presentation but things that can cause an overpayment if you're on SSI is a change in your living situation, also change in marital status can make a difference. For someone who is on SSI we look at the spouse's income and resources as well as the individual receiving benefits so it's important to know if you're married and living with your spouse.

Other things that can cause an overpayment are resources. I had mentioned that SSI is a needs based program, so when you’re looking at resources, are things that a person owns, and there's a certain limit as to how much someone can have. So if they go over those limits, that can cause an overpayment.

If a person is no longer disabled, according to social security rules. Everyone that is on disability benefits has a medical review every usually one to seven years to see if their condition has changed. Once they do that review, if they determine that you're no longer disabled according to the social security rules, then an overpayment might occur.

Also if benefits were incorrectly calculated because of information that we didn't have, maybe incomplete or inaccurate information also things can lead to an overpayment. Next slide.

Reporting your wages every month really helps avoid getting overpaid, and I can't say this enough. Social security can't make an adjustment to your check unless they know what the earnings are [inaudible]. It’s important that you communicate these changes to Social Security [inaudible] the address, the marital status, resource, employment, all these things. Keep that line of communication open. Next slide.

All right, now we're gonna move on to reporting work and wages. I think [inaudible]. Are you available now? [Inaudible] All right so, reporting work and wages. When should you report [inaudible]? Well, you need to report your wages within the first six days of the calendar month with income that you received in the previous month. So in other words, when I get paid for December, I need to let [inaudible].

Some of our individuals have some assistance managing their money and for those people, they can report or their representative payee can report the wages. If the person has a living with spouse, they can report wages for SSI that living with spouse, we would need to know their wages in order to determine the SSI payment, so we would need those wages as well.

And then if we have a child beneficiary, because we have children that are receiving SSI, we do look at mom and dad's income to determine if their SSI benefits should continue. So mom and dad can report for the beneficiary. Next slide.

How do I report my work and wages? We've got several different ways that you can report. One of our newest ways, and is very popular, is through your My Social Security account on the socialsecurity.gov website. You can also report your wages through your local social security field office. SSI has a couple other ways to report. They have a mobile wage reporting app that you can report your wages right on the computer, and SSI also has a telephone wage reporting system that you can phone in each month and then relay the information as to how much your gross earnings are, and that information goes directly onto your SSI record and your benefit is calculated based on the information that you provide.

So let's talk about my Social Security Account. In order to report your wages online, you need to sign up for a my Social Security Account. It's a free account, and it allows you not only to report wages online, but also do things like review your earnings. It lets you change your address if you're SSDI, change your direct deposit. It also lets you request a replacement Social Security card in some states or replace your Medicare card. All these things you can do online. We really encourage everyone to set up a my Social Security Account.

Now in order to report to your wages online, Social Security has to have your employer in our records already, so you can't use your Social Security account to report that you've started in a new job. So you would have to call Social Security, either our 800 number or your local Social Security office and let them know when you started the job, who you're working for. We'd want an estimate of how many hours you're going to work and your rate of pay.

Once we have that information in our records, then you can log into your Social Security Account. That employer will pop up, and you can go ahead and report your wages. It's a step-by-step process that is very easy if you've done anything else online. It walks you right through it. It lets you choose your employer. It asks you how often you're paid. Then it asks for what your earnings were and what your pay period was, what date you received the paycheck.

So you can use this method for both SSDI and SSI. The most important thing to remember about this, though, is we already have to have your information in your Social Security record. So make that first call to the office and then you can start reporting your wages online.

Next slide.

Well, some other things I already mentioned, a couple things that you can do online, but you can also get estimates of future benefits. You can see your latest statement. You can review your earnings history.

Now some of our notices are coming online as well. I know recently there's been a cost of living raise, and that information has gone out on people that have online Social Security accounts. You can find that information there.

Again, request to replacement Social Security card. If you're just filing, you can check the status of an application, so it's really good idea to go ahead and sign up with your my Social Security Account.

Next slide.

So, other ways to report wages. Well, everyone has their local field office, and a little bit later I'll tell you how to find your office if you don't know which one is yours. To report your wages, you can contact your local Social Security office. You can bring copies of your pay stubs to local office, or you can mail them to the office. Just a little hint, if you mail in your pay stubs, you might want to use certified mail. It does cost a little bit, but it records that you did send the pay stub, so that way you don't have to worry about them getting lost or misplaced or not getting to the Social Security office as you thought they would.

Right. Next slide.

So, another way to report wages, now this is for our SSI recipients. You can download the SSI wage reporting app right onto your smart phone, and then you can easily report your wages. It's a great way to report wages if you don't want to do it through your my SSI Account. Information, when you do SSI wage reporting, it goes directly on your work record, so it makes it easy. There's no one that has to look at those pay stubs and input them into the computer. You're kind of taking away that middle man. The information that you give us, that goes directly to adjusting your check for the following month. So it's a great thing to do.

The other thing is our telephone wage reporting app. There's a special phone number that you would call, again within the first six days of the month. That's important to remember that timeframe. You call, and again, you report your gross monthly wages. Keep that in mind whenever you're reporting wages. No matter which program you're on, Social Security always looks at the gross wages. Those are the wages that are before the taxes are taken out, so that's the higher figure when you're looking at the growth versus the net wages.

Right. Next slide.

Before you start reporting those wages, either on the phone app or the mobile app, any of those things, you first have to call Social Security and report that start of work, so that we can get that employer in our records.

A reminder that Social Security is available from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM at our 800 number, so that number is 1 (800) 772-1213 or 1 (800) 325-0778, that's the TTY number. Now your local field offices are going to have different hours, shorter hours than that. Sometimes it's easier to get in first thing in the morning or a little bit later in the evening if you want to call in and make changes, report changes.

Right. Next slide.

STACEY>> Hey, thank you Connie for sharing tips on how to report work and wages and also the information on the overpayment. We are going to take a few moments and address some questions that have been coming in thus far, but before I do that, I want to see if -- Djuna, are you there with us now?

DJUNA>> Can you hear me now?

STACEY>> We can hear you. Excellent. Well, welcome.

DJUNA>> Thank you.

STACEY>> So the questions, we're going to start off with you, Djuna, since we have you available. And if you could tell us, what advice can you provide for people who are self-employed in regard to over payments?

DJUNA>> Well, the advice I would provide for anyone regarding overpayment is make sure that you keep very good records, particularly if you're self-employed, you want to keep track not only of your earnings but also of the hours that you're working, because depending on which benefit you're receiving, the number of hours you're working toward your business in a given month, they also come into play.

STACEY>> Okay. Thank you, Djuna, I also would like to see if Kimberly is on the line with us.

KIMBERLY>> Yes, I am.

STACEY>> Okay. Well, we had a little bit of audio trouble with Kimberly, but we will try to get her back on. We are going to move forward with additional questions that we have received from our audience, and the next question has to do with reporting wages. So Kim, we will start with you on this one and can an EN report my wages to SSA?

I'm sorry, Connie are you able to take that one? I'm sorry.

CONNIE>> Sure, sure. So you're asking if employment network, that someone with our Ticket to Work program, can report wages to SSA, and yes they definitely can do that, but I want to say that it is always the beneficiary's responsibility that the wages get reported. So if something happens and the EN and doesn't get the wages to us, but you believe they got to us and you became overpaid, the beneficiary would still be responsible, because they're the ones that have to take charge of their records. So yes, an EN can do that, but I just want to remind everybody that it is still the beneficiary's responsibility to make sure that happens.

STACEY>> Okay. Thank you Connie. And there was another question on reporting wages and this one, if you can address for us, is have you report your earnings if you are self-employed?

CONNIE>> Well, if you're self-employed, we want to get a good estimate right up front, and I know that's hard, because especially if you're starting a new business you may not have an idea of what your earnings are going to be. So with self-employment, Social Security actually looks at the net earnings.

Remember how I was talking about with pay stub, we always look at growth. Well there's an exception with this self-employment, and we look at net earnings. So if you're starting a business, we'd want to talk to you to get a kind of good idea of what an estimate is, but once you've been in business then we're going to use that tax return. So even though we're going to estimate at the end of the year, when you get that tax return we'll want you to provide that to us, so we can go back and verify everything.

As Djuna said, not only do we look at income for self-employed individuals, with the SSDI program, we also look at the hours that they're putting into their business. We need to know both of those things.

STACEY>> Okay, thank you. So Connie, when reporting wages online and you are asked what state you received the check from, is that the state you work in or the state you live in?

CONNIE>> Your wages are going to be reported, usually on a state wage match. So it wouldn't be the date that your employer is in. Usually, we don't ask what state you work in, but we do get information from the state where the employer is located.

STACEY>> Okay, thank you. Connie, I've heard about something called SSI telephone wage reporting. Can you talk a little bit about that?

CONNIE>> Yes, so that the telephone wage reporting is where, during the first six days of the month, you can call a special 800 number and relay the information as to your gross wages for the previous month. I don't have that 800 number with me right this second, but you could find it on our Social security.gov website. Again that's the one that, once you report those wages, it directly goes to your SSI record without having that middle man. I've talked to a lot of people who have used that wage reporting and it works very well, but again, Social Security has to know about that employer before you're allowed to report wages that way.

STACEY>> Okay, thank you. Another question that would be for you, Connie, if you're required to report the employer EIN or Employee Identification Number in the past, is it still correct that you are still required to report the EIN?

CONNIE>> Well, Social Security needs to know that EIN, especially if you're going to do the online wage reporting. Now a lot of times Social Security can get that information from our computer system. It's not something that the employee normally has, but if the employee is able to get that information and have that when they report their wages, that would be wonderful. It would be a big help to us. Like I said, we do need that in order to make that online wage reporting happen. Sometimes we just can't get that number, and then that's an exception to the online reporting, but yes, if the employee knows that number, that's a great help.

STACEY>> Okay, and actually, I do have here the SSI telephone wage reporting number, so I would like to share that with everyone. The phone number for the SSI telephone wage reporting is 866 dash 772 dash 0953, and I'll repeat that one more time. It's 866 dash 772 dash 0953.

Going back to you, Connie, what happens if a beneficiary enters their pay stub information?

CONNIE>> What happens when they enter the information, did you say?

STACEY>> Yes. Right.

CONNIE>> So if you're an SSI recipient, that information goes directly onto your SSI record. So like I said, it eliminates the middleman, because when you send your pay stubs in, let's say to the local field office, someone has to look at those pay stubs, enter the information onto your record and then that adjusts your check. So when you do the wage reporting, it eliminates that.

Now with the SSDI, it's a little bit different, because income each month doesn't always affect a check with Social Security disability benefits. It's a little bit different. We're looking at trial work months and the extended period of eligibility and things like that. So in that case, when someone enters their wages through the online wage reporting, it alerts the field office if those wages are of the trial work period level or the substantial gainful amount. That way, Social Security can take a look at your record, to see if adjustments need to be made.

STACEY>> Okay, thank you. And Djuna, like to bring you into the conversation here. What is an employment network?

DJUNA>> An employment network is a service provider of the beneficiaries choosing, that provides goods or services to help the beneficiary in their return-to-work effort. It would be the provider that you choose ... I always liken it to, if you were going to hire someone to help you, the beneficiary would determine what kind of help he or she would need. Then they would go through the list of providers, look at what services each of those providers offer, and then I would recommend actually calling or contacting the provider in some way, to find the provider that is the best fit for you and your particular situation.

STACEY>> All right, thank you for that explanation. Djuna, how would someone be notified if they received an overpayment?

DJUNA>> If they received an overpayment, actually, like I had in the past when I was a beneficiary, it's normally by letter. It's normally a letter. It's very short. It probably is going to come with a green envelope that says, "Dear Beneficiary, you were overpaid in the amount of X number of dollars, due to ..." It may indicate what type of circumstance. It'll say, "Please remit X number of dollars within 30 days."

If you don't think that there was an overpayment or if you think that there may not have been something applied to you that should have been, you can contact Social Security and ask for assistance with the situation. You can also reach out to your local protection advocacy agency for assistance with that situation, and they can help you by advocating on your behalf and trying to figure out, by working with Social Security, once you sign the appropriate documents, what exactly happened in your particular situation.

STACEY>> Hey, thank you. Is there a mobile app to help individuals report their wages, if they receive SSDI and not SSI?

CONNIE>> So the mobile app and the telephone wage reporting, those are just SSI options. For SSDI recipients, the option that you have right now would be the my Social Security Account, my wage reporting. It would be an online.

STACEY>> Thank you, and Djuna, what should someone do if they realize that they received an overpayment in the past?

DJUNA>> Okay. What I would do if I realized I received the overpayment in the past? Hold onto those funds if you still have them. I would put them in a different account, put them to the side, because eventually Social security will ask for that money back. You could also reach out to Social Security, and I would work out some type of a payment option. I know from personal experience that they will perhaps ask you for some financial information, but they will work with you to come up with a payment plan that will allow Social Security to be paid back, but not put you an uncomfortable financial situation.

STACEY>> Hey, thank you. So Connie, do you have to report passive income, like lottery winnings or an inheritance?

CONNIE>> That's a really good question, and it depends on which program that you're on. If you're on the SSI program, that's the needs-based program, so any income that you received, no matter what kind it is, yes.

So any income that you receive, no matter what kind it is, yes. Lottery, inheritance, all those things need to be reported. If you're on SSDI, though, those are things that we would not consider. So, again, way back going to the beginning slides, it's important to know which benefit you're receiving.

STACEY>> Okay. And Connie, why do we wait one month before reporting?

CONNIE>> It's because you don't know what your gross wages are for the full month until the month is over. Most people get paid every other week, so let's say if you're paid every other Friday, this Friday might be the last paycheck that you get. It could be even the last day of the month. So we want to make sure we have the entire month's total before we report. So that's why we wait until the following month.

STACEY>> Okay, thank you. And we've noticed that a person using the mobile app shows the earnings as estimated. What does SSA need to do to verify those earnings?

CONNIE>> We show them as wages reported by the beneficiary. So that's the way it might show up on a certain kind of earnings statement that you get. Social security, for anybody that reports that way we compare at the end of the year your reported earnings to what was reported on your W2 or what was reported to the IRS to make sure those earnings equal. So, like Djuna says, it's important to keep pay stubs because if it turns out what you reported isn't what your employer reported at the end of the year, we're going to have to figure out where we went wrong in that so then even though you reported we would still ask to see those pay stubs.

STACEY>> Great. So keeping track of that is extremely important for this. Great.

CONNIE>> Yes.

STACEY>> And, Connie, what is the best way to deal with fluctuating earnings when on the SSI benefit?

CONNIE>> So if you have fluctuating earnings the best thing then is to make sure you report them every month. With SSI, income in one month affects the SSI check two months later. So usually if we have wages reported timely we can adjust the SSI check. Now there is an exception to that rule, and that is if your wages are so high that you're not eligible for an SSI payment at all. Then it affects the current month. So that could lead to overpayments just because you're very close to that cut off limit. But the best way to do it is to report those wages so that we can make the adjustments timely.

STACEY>> Okay, great. And, Connie, can the my wage report method be used to report wages?

CONNIE>> Yes, that's what that my wage reporting is. You have access to that under the socialsecurity.gov website, when you set up your my SSA account. One of the options when you get into your my SSA account, if we have your employer on record, is to do my wage reporting online.

STACEY>> Okay. And then would somebody need to report their wages if they're not making SGA?

CONNIE>> You always need to know when someone's working. So we need to have a report of when they started work. And, like I said, the amount of … Their rate of pay and their hours they're working. If it's their SSDI only, and they're not earning SGA, which this year is $1,180, they really don't need to give us their pay stubs every month because it's not going to make a difference. But if they're not sure, we'd rather have them report those wages monthly than not. But, yes, if they've already gone through their trial work period and they're working below SGA and social security knows that, we won't need to see those wages monthly. But again that's just for SSDI.

STACEY>> Okay, great. Thank you. And then, again, Connie, if someone earns less than the trial work period monthly amount, would they still need to report wages?

CONNIE>> Just like with the SGA, we always need to know that a person's working so that we can keep track. So make that first call, let us know what you're earning. If you're under trial work, let's say you just started a job, you're going to make $500 a month, that's well below the trial work period amount of 850. So we'd want to know about it. But then once you've reported it you don't have to send those pay stubs in every month because they won't be needed. But, again, hang on to them because if we would ever need to verify them at some point we might ask for them. And make sure that if all the sudden you get a raise or you start working more hours, that has to be reported so we can make the change.

STACEY>> All right. And one last thing here, Connie, could you explain a little bit what SGA stands for please?

CONNIE>> SGA stands for substantial gainful activity, and this really pertains to our SSDI individuals. For someone that's on SSDI, once they've completed their trial work period, which is a nine month period where people can attempt to work, if they earn over that SGA limit, this year $1,180, then their checks will stop. So it's important that we keep track of those amounts and that amount goes up each year, so that will be changing in January. But it's one of those milestones that if you're on SSDI, you want to keep that figure in mind because it may be a difference between getting a social security check and not getting a social security check.

STACEY>> Thank you, Connie. We do have a few more questions but at this time we are going to stop here and we will turn it back over to Connie, who will lead us through what to do if there is an overpayment and how to manage overpayments, and how to avoid being overpaid. And then after we hear from Connie we will have another opportunity to address more of your questions, so please keep those coming in. And over to you, Connie.

CONNIE>> Thank you. So now that we know what an overpayment is, and what could cause an overpayment, as well as to how to report our wages timely, let's talk about what happens if you become overpaid. Next slide.

So one of the first things that will alert you to the face that you have an overpayment is the notice that you receive, like Djuna mentioned. Now the notice will tell us a number of things. It's going to tell you the amount of the overpayment, it's going to tell you the month that you were overpaid and the reason for the overpayment. So all that information should be in that important notice.

If you're no longer receiving benefits, so let's say you earned over that SGA limit is one of the examples, so you're not getting checks anymore, or if you're currently receiving SSDI benefits, then that notice is going to propose that you repay the overpayment in its entirety within 30 days. Now if you're receiving SSI benefits, the notice will propose to withhold 10% of the maximum SSI payment. Now this year that would be $75. The notice is going to propose that we withhold $75 a month until the overpayment is repaid. Next slide.

So the notice is also going to explain when withholding will begin, and it will let you know what to do if you disagree with the decision. So, in other words, the notice will discuss your right to file an appeal. Now the notice will also tell you what to do if you agree with the decision, but if you feel you weren't at fault in causing the overpayment and you're unable to repay. Now this is called your right to a waiver. Those are two very different things, so let's talk about the differences. Next slide.

So if you believe that the decision made by social security was incorrect, then you should ask for an appeal. So an example of that would be let's say in the notice it says that you had wages of $2,000 a month, but you actually only had wages of $200 a month. So maybe there was obviously a keying error, clerical error. That's wrong, right? So you would ask that an appeal, someone else take a look at that decision, and if it's incorrect make the change for you. So you'd want to ask for that appeal within 30 days. If you do within 30 days, then social security will not start collecting the overpayment until a decision is made.

So the timeline is really important, and if the notice says this you have 60 days to file the appeal. But you have to refund within 30 days if you do not want your check adjusted. You want to be really cognizant of those things.

You can appeal in two ways. You can appeal either online. You can do going on to socialsecurity.gov, our website. You can complete an online appeal. Or you can request an appeal form, which is Social Security Form 561. It's a request for a reconsideration.

Now, the request for the reconsideration is pretty simple, I could say. There's one statement that needs to be completed. On the form it says, "I do not agree with the Social Security Administration's determinations and request recon. My reasons are." So, from our example, we would say, "Social Security had my earnings incorrect. I didn't make $2,000. I made $200. I'm enclosing my pay stubs, so you can see the difference." Easy enough.

With that form, you fill that section out and then it asks you, "How would like this review done, this appeal done?" The first choice is a case review, which is the most popular. Basically, it's saying, "Here's some more information so that you can make a new decision on my case." So, somebody else is going to take a look at it and make a decision for us.

You can also choose to have an informal conference. If you do that, you'll actually meet with the person who will decide your case. You can tell the person why you think you are right and give more facts at that time.

The third option is a formal conference. You fill out like an informal conference, but you can also get people to come in and help prove that you were right. You can bring like witnesses with you. Like I said, most people just choose the case review. They submit the new evidence to show what was incorrect and then Social Security makes that correction.

All right. Next slide. So, that was the appeal.

Well, now the other choice, if you believe that overpayment is correct, so, yup, we have wages correct. All right. You feel that you weren't at fault in causing the overpayment and you can't afford to repay it. Then you would ask for a waiver.

Now, there are two parts to requesting that waiver, so I just want to say that again. Two things: one, you have to be not at fault in causing the overpayment and you can't afford to pay it back.

Now, if you asked for a waiver, Social Security will ask you why you believe it wasn't your fault and they may ask for financial information to show that you don't have the means to repay the overpayment.

Now, as with the appeal, if you request the waiver within 30 days, Social Security will not begin collecting the overpayment until a decision has been made. If overpayment is waived, the debt is excused, so you're not going to be able to pay it back.

Now, a waiver request is completed by filling out Social Security Form 632, which is Request for Waiver of Recovery or Change in Repayment Rate. You're unable to do that online at this time, but maybe in the future, that will be something that will be added in.

The request for a waiver is a bit more complicated than that appeal form. The request for the waiver asks questions about why do you feel you weren't at fault in causing the overpayment. It asks things like, "Do you still have some of that money, or have you spent it all?"

And it asks for financial information because when they're looking at are you unable to repay, it asks for things like, "What's your household monthly income? What are your household expenses?" We take all those things into account when making a determination on a waiver.

Next slide. If you don't request an appeal for a waiver, Social Security will start withholding money from your checks as proposed in the notice. If you can't afford for the amount to be withheld, you can contact Social Security to discuss an alternative payment plan, maybe one that fits your budget.

Well, if you do that, Social Security may ask for certain financial information. We may ask for a verification of your living expenses. We may ask you to provide payments like your rent receipt, your utility bills, medical or insurance bills. We might also ask for things like your pay stub or your tax return, again, determining whether you have the ability to repay that overpayment or how much you can afford to repay by looking at your income and expenses.

If you're no longer receiving benefits, this is very important, it's important that you follow your repayment plan. If not, Social Security might withhold your federal tax return, collect your debt. But if you have a repayment plan and you're paying on that as you should be, then Social Security won't withhold that federal tax refund. That's an important thing to remember if you're no longer receiving benefit.

All right. Next slide. So, if you have questions about your overpayment, or would like to file an appeal or a waiver or a change of the amount of your withholding, we want you to contact Social Security at 1-800-772-1213. That's the toll-free number that's open from 7 AM to 7 PM.

Or you can get in touch with your local Social Security office and you can find that in a couple different ways. One is you can log into socialsecurity.gov and just search Local Office or Find an Office. It'll take you right to that webpage. Or if you want to type into search, you can type in secure.ssa.gov/I-C-O-N/main, M-A-I-N.jsp. That's the way to find your local Social Security office and they'll have their phone numbers as well.

Next slide. All right. So, let's take a few minutes to talk about what we can do to avoid being overpaid.

Next slide. I think I mentioned this earlier. It's one of the most common causes of overpayment is failure to report earnings in a timely manner. So, for SSI recipients, we covered this, but I'll mention it again. Wages must be report within the first six days of the month for the previous month in order for Social Security to calculate the correct SSI check amount. Even if using that telephone or mobile reporting app or the SSI Mileage Reporting, again, keep those original pay stubs. Keep them in a safe place because if Social Security asks for them, then you'll have them available.

You should also keep notices from Social Security, notices that talk about your change in your benefit and, of course, your overpayment notices, so that if you need to look back on them, you'll know where to find them and they'll be accessible to you.

Next slide. Be in touch with Social Security. Report, report, report. I can't stress enough that when it comes to avoiding overpayment, reporting is the main thing.

In addition to reporting your wages, there's a specific list of events that needs to be reported depending on what benefit that you're receiving. So, if you're not sure what needs to be reported, you should contact Social Security or go on to, again, the socialsecurity.gov website for SSI. If you just search 'SSI Reporting Responsibilities', then Understanding SSI Reporting Responsibilities pops up, as well as the link to that SSI Spotlight.

Now, if you're not SSI and haven't look at these, the SSI Spotlights are just great. It covers everything you'd want to know about SSI.

For SSDI, you could search 'SSDI Reporting Responsibilities' and it might direct you right to the Ticket to Work site, which will discuss wage reporting in detail. Or you can look at the pamphlet called What You Need to Know When You Get Social Security Benefit. Now, that pamphlet gives all the reporting instructions for people on SSDI. Not just the wage information, but everything else.

We're just going to touch on a few highlights of things you need to report today. So, I suggest if you don't have that booklet, so What You Need to Know When You Get SSI booklet, that you go online and print those off when we're done today.

Next slide. So, for SSI beneficiaries, it's important to report a number of things, in addition to earnings, so this is for you SSI folks out there. You have to report all income, even under-earned income such as unemployment or workman's comp. We mentioned winning the lottery or maybe getting an inheritance. All those things need to be reported if you're on SSI. Since SSI considers these sources, you need to report changes in things like bank accounts, life insurance policies, trusts, property, automobile. If you trade in your car and get a different one, you need to tell social security about that.

If you're a student and you're under age 22, you need to report changes in school attendance. We have a great work incentive for our students that if you're under 22 and going to school you get some deductions from your earnings when we calculate your SSI check. We need to know if you're going to school or not.

Other things that need to be reported: changes in marital status. I had mentioned earlier that if you're on SSI and you have a living with spouse, we're gonna look at that spouse's income. We need to know if you're married or not.

This is getting to be a pretty long list, isn't it? SSI also looks at a person's living arrangements. If you move, or someone moves into or out of your household it needs to be reported. The amount you're paying towards your living expenses, that needs to be reported if it changes. Speaking about moving, no matter what program you're receiving benefits from, it's very important that you keep your address current with social security. Most people get their checks by direct deposit, so as long as their check is coming, they sometimes forget to report that maybe they have moved. If they don't report their address, how are you going to receive those very important notices? Make sure any time you move, that you call and update your address with social security, or if you're on SSCI, you can change that address online as well.

We've spent a lot of time talking about reporting wages timely and that includes starting a job, stopping a job, change in hours, rate of pay, one thing that we haven't talked about too much is self-employment. Just a reminder, we had a question about this. You must report, if you start a business, right away, we've got some of you out there that are thinking of starting a business, so make sure you let social security know if that happens. It might be difficult to estimate how much you'll be earning, so we'll help you come up with a reasonable estimate. Then, once your tax returns are completely make sure you get those to social security right away so that we can update our records. Remember, timely reporting does make a difference and it will help over-payments from happening.

All right, next slide.

STACEY>> All right, thank you Connie and we are going to stop here again and address some of the questions that we have received. It sure seems like there's a lot of things for the participants to remember in order to avoid being over-paid. A lot of good things you talked about, things that they needed to do. Such as changes in bank accounts, changes in vehicles, if they stop working or if they change their hours or rate of pay. A lot of good things, a lot of good tips for them to avoid over-payment, so thank you for that.

What if someone is notified that they received an over-payment, Connie, but they can't afford to repay the money? What would they do at that point?

CONNIE>> That's one where they'd like to contact their local office and explain that they understand they have to repay the money, but we would look at their income coming in and their expenses to try and come up with a fair amount, something would have to be paid back. By looking at those expenses, and we collect that information on the waiver form. On the first page of the waiver form, one of the things to check is, I cannot afford to use all my monthly benefit to pay back the over-payment, however, I can afford to have so much a month withheld, or so much I can pay back. Definitely have them contact Social Security and we'll try to work out a reasonable payment plan.

STACEY>> All right, thank you Connie. We talked about waivers, where can we find over-payment waivers?

CONNIE>> What do you mean where can you find them? On the website are you talking?

STACEY>> Yes, I believe so.

CONNIE>> Okay, so you can't do a waiver request online, you can do the appeal, the reconsideration online, but you can't do a waiver online. You can go on our website and search waiver to get some information about it. Otherwise, you'd have to call the office to get the request for the waiver form.

STACEY>> Thank you. What about if somebody received an over-payment during a period when they were working, but at this time they're not working anymore? At the present time.

CONNIE>> Depending which benefit they're on, if they're no longer working then their checks probably have started back up again. Then we would propose withholding part of that SSI check or possibly the entire SSDI check until that over-payment is repaid. If they're no longer working anymore, if they're on SSDI and relying on, that's their only income is the DI checks, they definitely want to get in touch with social security to come with a reasonable monthly repayment plan.

STACEY>> All right. We're going to check and see if Kimberly is on the line with us. Kim are you with us?

KIMBERLY>> Yes I am.

STACEY>> Okay. Attempt to bring Kimberly back on line, but we're still having some audio issues there. We do have some more questions on wage reporting. Connie, I'm going to direct these to you and if you feel that they are not appropriate for you, then Djuna, if you can jump in and help out, that would be appreciated. If not, then we will certainly follow up on that. I would like to move on with additional questions that were received and a question that we have was, Connie what should an individual do if they forget to report wages?

CONNIE>> It's a good question 'cause sometimes when you start a new job you're just so busy working that new job that you're not thinking about anything else. As soon as you remember, make that phone call and let Social Security know. Don't put it off thinking that, well I've already been working a couple months I don't want to call them 'cause I'll be in trouble. No, 'cause if you wait another couple months then you're gonna get in more trouble as far as over-payments and things that could happen. As soon as you remember, oh I didn't call Social Security, pick up the phone and make that call so we can make sure that we're paying you the right benefits.

STACEY>> All right, so even if they forget, they should do it as soon as they can. As soon as they remember. Great, thank you. Could an employer report a person's wages for them, Connie?

CONNIE>> An employer could. We don't usually see that happening, but that's an option. Again, going back to whose responsible is the beneficiary. So if the beneficiary says, "Oh my employer's going to report", but then the employer does not, it's still gonna fall back on the person getting the check.

STACEY>> All right. What about if somebody has issues logging into my social security? Do you know who they would contact if they had issue?

CONNIE>> There's a couple ways. They can either contact their local office or if they are on the social security website, depending how far they are into their log on, sometimes it gives a help desk number and those folks are really good at getting people back into their account. Either the local office 800 number or the help number that might appear on the screen as you're logging in.

STACEY>> Great. I know that there's different ways to report wages, but if someone was reporting their wages by mail, would they need to send original stubs, or copies of their pay stub?

CONNIE>> We want to make sure that the information is clear and readable. Originals are always great, but if you do send originals, make sure you keep copies for yourself. If you can make a clear copy that's readable, most social security offices will accept that.

One thing we didn't talk about is when you do report your wages, this is important, we kind of missed it. You will get a receipt to show that that information has been added to your records. If you do the my social security wage reporting, you actually pull the receipt up when you finish reporting and you can print it off or save it to a file. If you do the mobile app for SSI or the telephone wage reporting, after you make that call or do it on the app, a receipt will be sent to you. If you mail your pay stubs in, once the Social Security Office records those wages, you will get a receipt showing that that has been recorded so you know it's been done. That's really an important part of the whole process. When you report your wages, make sure you get that receipt. Then you know we've got them.

STACEY>> All right, great. Thank you so much. We are going to stop here and we are going to turn it over to Djuna Mitchell who is going to share with us information on the Ticket to Work Program. So, over to you Djuna.

DJUNA>> I just want to make sure my audio is still connected. Can everybody hear me?

STACEY>> You sound great.

DJUNA>> All right, I just needed to check. It's been one of those afternoons. I also just wanted to say really quickly, before I get into Ticket, it really is preferable if the person who is earning, if the beneficiary reports their own earnings because if you wait for your employer to do it, or you wait for your employment network to do it, it's going to take time to wind from one section of Social Security to another. That delay could actually contribute toward there being an over-payment. So I really strongly recommend that the beneficiary does their own reporting through whatever method is most comfortable to them.

With that being said, I'll be happy to go ahead and talk about Ticket. Next slide please. All right, we know that going back to work is a journey and only the beneficiary can decide if going to work is right for him or her. In that journey, we know we'd like to provide you through Ticket with a number of options like determining if you want to work with an EN or with a different type of provider. Next slide please.

People go back to work to earn more money, to meet new people, to learn new skills and to gain financial independence. Work has a variety of benefits to it, both physical benefits and both benefits at an emotional level that can be very helpful to someone. I found it helpful myself, that was my journey. Next slide please.

All right, Social Security has work incentives that apply to each, they either apply to SSI or SSDI, or we have some work incentives that apply to both. The work incentives are special rules that allow you to receive training to improve the skills you have, to pursue your education to try different jobs, which is why if you're on SSDI the trial work period can be extremely helpful because that would be nine months where you could try earning, see what level of earning is good for you health wise and try some things out if you're not quite sure what you want to do. The trial work period, if you have that opportunity is just a chance to really test the waters and without putting your SSDI at risk in any kind of a way or changing the amount of SSDI you receive. Work incentives are also really good if you're just starting a new career, or if you're just trying to regain your footing again in the workforce and rebuild your confidence. Next slide please.

All right. Now, Ticket is Social Security's national employment program. It supports career development for people with disabilities who want to work. It's for people who are receiving Social Security, SSI or SSDI, due to disability from the ages of 18 through 64. It's free and it's voluntary. You do not have to access the Ticket program unless you choose to. We encourage you to make that choice, but we're not forcing you to make that choice in any way. Social Security ultimately wants to encourage people to work if it is truly what is best for you and your family. In most cases we believe that it is. Next slide please.

All right. Now, through Ticket you can get job coaching, job counseling, training, benefits counseling and job placement. The providers may do things like help you with your resume. They may offer work at home opportunities. I do know that there are a number of ENs who do that, they help people find work at home employment. Some ENs help beneficiaries to access funding if they need to get, maybe something as simple as getting the clothing, need it to go back to work or to go on a job interview. It really depends on what the beneficiary might need. They do offer a myriad of services. It really, as a beneficiary, I would strongly recommend taking a look at what it is you think you need and then taking a look at what's out there and really making some phone calls and interviewing the providers to see who is going to be the best fit for you. Next slide please.

Before we start taking questions, I also want to mention that your state vocational rehabilitation agencies are also employment networks. So that may be a good fit for you as well. Always, an agency to take a look at, especially if you need assistance with expenses towards returning to school or getting additional training. Consider them as well. You have a wide variety of providers to choose from.

All right, I'm ready for questions if anyone happens to have some and thank you very much for your time.

STACEY>> All right, thank you Djuna for the information on the Ticket to Work Program. We do have some time left, so we're going to address some additional questions. Djuna we will start with you and we talked about employment networks, where can we find a list of employment networks to reach out to?

DJUNA>> On the choosework.ssa.gov website there is a Find Help tool. You can use that Find Help tool and put in your zip code to find the employment networks in your area and also the national employment networks that serve your area. You can use that information to get general contact information for the EN and to get a general list of the services they provide. At that point you may want to contact that specific employment network and it does include the vocational rehabilitation agencies and ask specific questions about what services they provide and see how that might apply to your specific situation and where you want to go on your employment journey.

STACEY>> Great, so that was the Choose Work website which can also be found in that web links pod that we talked about earlier that is in the bottom right hand corner of your screen. That website is choosework.ssa.gov again, that's in that web link pod for you.

Okay, moving on Djuna, with you again, is there a way to report SSI or SSDI changes online or via mail if there's no online access?

DJUNA>> As I recall, and someone else can jump in if they have additional information, you can reach out to your local office by mail. You can also I believe do it through the app for SSI and also you can do some reporting by phone and I think there's a way to do it through My SSA account, but I'm not certain of that. I would defer to Kimberly or one of my other colleagues for more specifics on that question.

CONNIE>> I think she was asking maybe if they don't have computer access. Then definitely you can report through the mail with those pay stubs on some offices, you can fax pay stubs in. Or if you have other changes like with SSI, if you have living arrangement changes or things like that, contact your local office or use the 800 phone number.

STACEY>> All right, thank you Connie for jumping in there. Earlier Djuna mentioned the Choose Work Find Help tool, we have put that link in the web links pod, so if you are looking for that you can go to your web links pod and scroll down to find the Find Help tool.

Djuna can an individual use the Ticket program to work to become self-employed?

DJUNA>> I think there is a way to do that, but you would have to, it would depend on what your specific employment network is offering and what you might need to become self-employed. I may want to even reach out to your local vocational rehabilitation agency and see if and how they can assist you in doing that. Sometimes VR is able to assist you with resources that aid in self-employment.

STACEY>> Great. If somebody is looking for a list of service providers, who can go to, to help them to find that list?

DJUNA>> Service providers in terms of EN or what type of service provider?

STACEY>> In terms of ENs.

DJUNA>> Okay, that would be again the choosework.ssa.gov Find Help tool, you could also reach out to your local Protection and Advocacy agency may also have that information. You can find your Protection and Advocacy agency or PADs on the Find Help tool as well. If you put in your zip code it will give you their contact information and they may have information on local ENs.

STACEY>> All right, that Find Help tool is really something that can be utilized to help out the participants quite a bit it seems. Djuna, as part of an organization is called a WIPA, can you tell me what they do?

DJUNA>> I'd be more than happy to do that. WIPA stands for Work Incentives Planning and Assistance. WIPA assists beneficiaries who are working or have a job interview in the last 30 days or who are have job offer pending, to understand how working will affect their benefits. You can find your local WIPA again, on the choosework.ssa.gov Find Help tool. I feel like I've said that a lot today, but that tool really is very helpful. WIPA will help you understand what work incentives might apply to your specific situation and how work will affect the benefits you receive. They could also tell you not only what may happen with Social Security, but also how if you have a housing choice voucher, your housing choice voucher might be affected, or your SNAP or they also call SNAP food stamps, how those benefits might be affected as well.

A Community Work Incentives Coordinator, or CWIC at the WIPA will be able to help you understand and navigate how all those benefits might be affected just so that you can make the decision about working with a complete picture of how it will affect you and your family.

STACEY>> All right, thank you. We talked about the Choose Work Help Tool and I do have the web address here that I would like to share with everyone. It is https://choosework.ssa.gov/findhelp that is also in that web links pod, so you can find it there. We are just about out of time today, so I would like to thank Djuna and Connie for their participation today and for jumping in and helping out during some of the audio issues too, we certainly appreciate that. We are going to move on now.

If we were not able to answer your questions in the time that we had, you can reach out to the Ticket to Work helpline at 866-968-7842 or for TTY you can call 866-833-2967. You can also visit the Ticket to Work website at choosework.ssa.gov

Another way that you can stay in touch with us or connect to us, is by liking us on Facebook at Choose Work. You can also follow us on Twitter @chooseworkssa. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel at Choose Work and/or you can follow us on Linked In also @ticket-to-work

Many ways to stay connected with us. Please join us for our next WISE Webinar, which will be held on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Eastern time and it sounds so weird saying 2019, but that's just right around the corner and registration is now open for this January webinar. You can register online by going to choosework.ssa.gov/wise or you can call 866-968-7842 or for TTY you can call 866-833-2967

Your feedback is very important to us, so please provide your feedback and tell us what you think about today's webinar by taking our survey. To take the survey you can follow the links that will pop up after the webinar or you can visit the Ticket to Work website to complete the survey at choosework.ssa.gov/surveys/wise.

We would like to thank you again for attending today and please take the opportunity to reach out to any of the resources that we discussed and take the next steps in your career path. We have so many resources and support services to help you no matter what stage you are at in your journey. Thank you everyone for your participation. Happy Holidays to everyone and we hope you will join us again in January.