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Answer: No, each person’s situation is different and therefore the amount of the benefit each person receives will be different. For individual’s who receive SSI, if they don’t have any unearned income, are not married, living alone, and are not working, then they will probably receive the full SSI check of $623 (in 2007) per month. However, if they begin working or have any unearned income, the amount of SSI will change.
The amount of an individual’s SSDI check depends on when Social Security determined that the person was disabled, how much FICA was paid over the individual's work history, and how many credits that were earned. These factors will cause SSDI checks to vary from person to person.
Question: Does an individual automatically lose health care benefits (e.g., Medicaid coverage) when he or she begins to work earning minimum wage?
Answer: No, work does not automatically cause loss of health care benefits for individuals who go to work. For individuals who receive SSI benefits, there is a safety net called 1619(b) that protects from the loss of Medicaid when an individual goes to work. 1619(b) is available to SSI recipients whose SSI decreases to zero due to their work earnings. In order to be eligible for 1619(b) it must be earned income or wages that force the SSI check to zero. In addition, the individual must continue to meet all of the other SSI eligibility requirements. He or she must continue to be disabled according to SSA standards and have resources less than $2,000. Individuals can keep their Medicaid through 1619(b) until they earn what is called their state threshold. This is an amount that varies from state to state and can range from $15,000 per year in the Northern Mariana Islands to $49,000 in
https://s044a90.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0502302200
Some individuals who receive SSI have extremely high medical costs and the state threshold amount for the state in which they live is not an incentive to return to work. For these individuals, it is possible for them to receive what is called an individualized threshold. A person with a disability can request an individualized threshold through the local SSA office.
For individuals who receive SSDI benefits and have never worked while on benefits, they will have at least eight and a half years of Medicare coverage when they do begin working. The first nine months of Medicare would be covered under what is called a Trial Work Period (TWP). The following 93 months are called Extended Medicare Coverage. Even after the Extended Medicare Coverage ends, it does not mean that the individual will lose this medical benefit. Following Extended Medicare, individuals are able to purchase their Medicare coverage. This means that they would pay a premium to keep their Medicare.
Medical coverage, both Medicaid and Medicare, are extremely important to a large number of people with disabilities. It is critical for them to understand that going to work does not mean that their medical coverage will immediately end. This is a myth that has long been prevalent in the disability community.
Question: I know an individual who is still getting the same SSI check even though he is working 20 hours a week earning minimum wages. Is that possible? Whose responsibility is it to tell Social Security that he is working?
Answer: If an individual is working 20 hours a week earning minimum wages, he or she should not be getting the same SSI check as when not working. It sounds like this person has not reported earnings to Social Security. Reporting earnings or wages is a critical part of receiving benefits. It is the responsibility of the person who receives Social Security benefits to report this information to Social Security. Eventually the IRS shares information regarding individuals’ work history with Social Security; however it usually takes several years. Individuals are responsible for reporting the following information to the Social Security Administration:
- Beginning or ending of a job,
- Number of hours worked per month,
- Amount of money earned per month,
- Changes in address,
- Changes in marital status, and
- Changes in living arrangement.
Individuals who do not report their earnings will receive an overpayment from Social Security. This is when Social Security gives an individual a check that they should not have received (or were not eligible for). Overpayments can sometimes be very large if the individual is unaware of how benefits work and when a check should and should not be received. Fortunately, Social Security is very good about working out payment plans with people so that they do not have to repay large sums at one time. Often, Social Security will reduce the amount of the individual’s check for a number of months or years until the overpayment has been repaid.
Question: How can individuals with disabilities afford all the related expenses for working such as specialized transportation? Wouldn't they be better off not working and just getting a SSI or SSDI check?
Answer: Social Security has a work incentive that helps individuals go to work and keep the supports that they need in order to work. This work incentive is called Impairment Related Work Expense or IRWE. In any month an individual is working, he or she can use this work incentive, no matter how many months or years the job lasts. The individual gets “credit” for these expenses every month as long as he or she meets the rules associated with the work incentive. These rules are as follows.
From Virginia Commonwealth University Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Workplace Supports and Job Retention, Region III CRP-RCEP, Rehabilitation Services Administration. Used with permission. www.crp-rcep.org.
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