SSDI
Frequently asked Questions About SSDI and
Work Incentives for NJ Residents in 2004
1- Q: I know receive a check from Social
Security and I think it is SSDI but how can I find out for
sure?
A: If you were eligible for a disability check prior to
1997, you will generally receive your SSDI (Social Security
Disability Insurance) check on the third of the month. If
began receiving your benefits after 1997, your check should
come on the 2nd, 3rd or 4th Wednesday of the month. The day
chosen is the Wednesday that falls closest to the date of
the month on which you were born. For example if you were
born on the first of the month, you'll get your check on the
2nd Wednesday of every month. If you were born on the 30th,
you get you check on the last Wednesday of every month (the
3rd or 4th one --depending on the month). Find out for sure
by going to your local Social Security (SSA) office, don't
forget to bring identification, and ask for a benefits statement
or a copy of your "award letter." You should also
get the name of your "claims representative" because
you will need to report your earnings to Social Security after
you start getting paid.
2- Q: If I begin to work, will I lose
my cash benefits?
A: It is really a question of how long you work and how
much you earn. If you haven't worked since receiving a disability
check, your earnings will not affect the SSDI check for the
first nine months, this is called the TRIAL WORK PERIOD (TWP).
3- Q: How does the Trial Work Period
--work?
A: SSA will designate any month in which your gross earnings
(net earnings if self -employed) are $580 or more as a Trial
Work month. You get nine months of trial work time in any
given five-year period. This means that you don't have to
be working nine consecutive months at $580/month to be using
Trial Work time. After you have completed nine months, SSA
will review your work activity.
4 - Q: What if I have worked since I
have been getting a disability check ?
A: Monthly earnings that constitute a Trial Work month
have changed over the past few years. Go to the SSA office
and find out how many TWP months you have used. I also suggest
that you get help from a counselor from one of the organizations
below. They can help you plan and understand issues involving
Social Security and other disability related benefits.
They are:
The United Cerebral Palsy Association of NJ @ (877) NJWINS2,
njwins@cpofnj.org
The Epilepsy Foundation of New Jersey @
(866) 946-7465, njwins@efnj.com
To see what office covers your area visit:
http://www.efnj.com/programs/njwins.shtml
5- Q: Okay, I figured out how many Trial
Months I've used, now what?
A: Again, at the end of the nine months, SSA will review
your disability based on your earnings. If you are earning
more than what SSA considers SUBSTANTIAL GAINFUL ACTIVITY
(SGA) when reviewed, you will get three additional months
of benefits and then the benefits terminate. So if you work
for nine uninterrupted TWP months, you'll end up receiving
a full SSDI check for the first year after you begun work
- regardless of earnings.
In 2004, gross earnings of $810 a month are considered SGA.
If you haven't been earning more than SGA when reviewed, you'll
continue to receive a check and Medicare. Whether you exceed
SGA or not, you'll have a "safety- net" called the
EXTENDED PERIOD OF ELIGIBILITY (EPE).
6- Q: How does the Extended Period of
Eligibility act as a "safety - net"?
A: After your nine- month TWP, you will be able to receive
a disability check in any month your earnings are less than
SGA as long as you continue to be medically disabled. This
period lasts for 36 months after the TWP. For example suppose
you lose benefits in September of 2004 because of earnings
but continue to have your impairment. In March of 2005, you
stop work because your impairment has exacerbated and are
unable to work again until June of 2005; you'll be eligible
for a check for every month you were unable to earn SGA.
7- Q: Are there other any other incentives
that may smooth my transition back to work?
A. IMPAIRMENT RELATED WORK EXPENSES (called IRWE) allow
a person to deduct income that is spent on items that are
needed by a worker with a disability in order to maintain
employment. This incentive can be helpful to eligible beneficiaries
during the EPE. If you have to spend money to compensate for
your disability in order to work, SSA will exclude the IRWE
amount in determining SGA. For example, suppose you earn $1000
a month but you have to spend $300 a month for disability-
related transportation in order to get to work. SSA will disregard
the transportation cost and consider your earnings to be $700.
Since your countable income is less than SGA, you'd receive
an SSDI check. For more information visit: http://www.ssa.gov/work/ResourcesToolkit/workincentiveschart.html#IRWE
Another employment "support" that
may apply to some individuals involves what are called "Subsidies"
or "Special Conditions". If you receive some sort
of special consideration from your employer (e.g. more frequent
supervision, reduced productivity standard) or you have a
job coach/personal assistant that helps the you maintain productivity,
SSA may consider your earnings to be subsidized. Your countable
income would be reduced by the value of this subsidy. This
may bring your countable income below Substantial Gainful
Activity.
For more information:
http://www.ssa.gov/work/ResourcesToolkit/workincentiveschart.html#SASC
and http://www.ssa.gov/work/ResourcesToolkit/subsidies.html
8- Q: What happens after the three years
of the EPE?
The first month following the 36 months of EPE in which
your earnings exceed SGA, you will lose eligibility for your
SSDI cash benefits.
9- Q: I have pretty high monthly medical
costs. I depend on Medical Assistance to pay for medications
and other costs--won't earnings eliminate my eligibility?
A. New Jersey has a Medicaid Buy-in program, called NJ
WORKABILITY Medicaid, which means you can pay a monthly premium
of up to $25 and be eligible for full Medicaid coverage with
earnings up to about $47,340 a year. You do not have to be
employed full time to take advantage of this program. For
more information call 1 (888) 285-3036. Make sure you ask
for "NJ Workability Medicaid."
10- Q: One of my doctors is covered under
Medicare -- how does working affect that?
A: As long as you continue to have a medically determinable
disability you are eligible for Medicare for at least 93 months
subsequent to the Trial Work Period. If your earnings never
exceed SGA, you will remain eligible for Medicare. If you
lose your SSDI after the TWP because of earnings, but you
are still medically disabled, you continue to get Medicare
whether or not you get cash benefits. Your Medicare eligibility
terminates during the 93 months only if SSA determines that
you've medically recovered from you impairment.
11- Q: What if I get a decent paying job,
hold onto to it for three or four years, and then end up hospitalized
for my mental illness again - do I have to re-apply and wait
all that time again to get my disability check back?
A: No. SSA has a regulation that allows a five-year reinstatement
period for someone who has lost his or her SSDI solely due
to earnings (not recovery). This means that any time in a
five-year period subsequent to losing your benefits because
of earnings that exceed SGA, you can contact SSA and receive
at least six months of SSDI. SSA will review your claim. If
you are, in fact, unable to work due to disability, you will
continue to receive SSDI. If SSA finds that you are not disabled
you won't be reinstated but you won't have to payback the
six months of benefits that you received.
12- Q: Is there anything else I should
know?
Two points are worth emphasizing. First, if you begin
working and earning enough to constitute a TWP month, then
you must report your income to SSA. You should find out the
contact information of your Claims Representative; that person
will instruct you how to report your income. Always keep copies
of your pay stubs and record you contacts with SSA. Second,
earnings may affect other government subsidies that you receive
such as food stamps, housing etc. Contact the organizations
mentioned earlier, the Cerebral Palsy Foundation or the Epilepsy
Foundation of New Jersey , for help with these issues.
13- Q: How can I find out more?
Social Security has a web site that can be very helpful:
http://www.ssa.gov/work/Beneficiaries.html
You may also want to order some publications that you can
refer to in case you questions should arise. They may also
help you understand SSA terminology so you can more effectively
advocate for yourself in your dealings with SSA.
These publications are helpful and can be ordered by calling
(800) 772-1213:
- Disability Benefits - Pub # 05-10029
- Working While Disabled…How we can Help - Pub # 05-10095
- Work Incentives for People with Disabilities (Redbook)
- Pub # 64-030
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