| "During
the 1990s the Social Security Administration determined
that less than 1% of the 9 million people of working
age with disabilities who receive SSDI ever return
to work on a continuous basis." |
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
 |
| |
| TICKET TO WORK
[ back to Resources
] |
| |
One fifth of all federal government spending is payment
of social security benefits to persons with disabilities
(SSDI) or with minimal income and assets (SSI). During
the 1990s the Social Security Administration determined
that less than 1% of the 9 million people of working age
with disabilities who receive SSDI ever return to work
on a continuous basis. Washington responded in 1999 with
the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Act (TWIIA). It
is a new federal program with the stated purposes of:
lowering barriers to work for people on SSDI or SSI; encouraging
those persons to utilize existing vocational rehabilitation
services in their communities; and to increase the number
of private providers of vocational rehabilitation services
to serve this population. In 2002 TWIIA was adopted by
13 states. More states will participate in 2003, and by
the end of 2004 all 50 states (including California) will
have adopted it.
The statute has two parts, the Work Incentives and the
Ticket to Work. The Work Incentives part offers a variety
of different means to promote employment among recipients
of social security: (1) the government has hired experts
called benefits planners to calculate the financial impact
of taking a particular job on your social security benefits
(2) when your earnings increase to the point of ending
eligibility for Medicaid, you can pay a small premium
to keep your health coverage, and can extend it for 4.5
years after you are off SSI (3) if your new job does not
work out, and you have to go back on social security,
you will be entitled to expedited re-instatement of benefits
for up to 3 years after your job ends (4) Protection &
Advocacy (a non-profit firm of advocates for the disabled)
will be utilized to resolve conflicts between the bureaucrats
who run the program and the consumers.
The government has contracted with a private firm called
Maximus to administer TWIIA. In each participating state,
Maximus will mail out a paper ticket to work to all recipients
of SSDI/SSI on its computer. While this should include
all people who actually get benefits, the great probability
is that some people will be missed. Such people can call
Maximus and demand inclusion, but only if they learn of
the program, something requiring more extensive publicity
than has yet been given. If you misplace or lose your
ticket, you can call Maximus for a replacement. Maximus
can be contacted by phone at 1-866-986-7842 or on line
at www.yourtickettowork.org
Under TWIIA, an Employment Network is any state vocational
rehabilitation department and any private provider of
vocational rehab services who qualifies by filling out
a 90 page questionnaire submitted to and approved by Maximus.
Each person receiving a paper ticket can bring it to any
Employment Network for vocational rehab services and receive
those services free of charge, because the cost will be
paid by Social Security (at a set discount) directly to
the service provider. Employment Networks are not obligated
to accept every ticketholder, and can exercise free choice
as to who they will and will not accept.
Will the program result in a net movement of people from
SSDI or SSI to gainful employment, and if so, how many
people? Critics of the program contend it has built-in
flaws that doom it to failure. For instance, the huge
burden of filling out the 90 page questionnaire may discourage
private service providers from entering the program. Further,
the government is not obligated to pay Employment Networks
at the immediately at the market rate in a lump sum. Rather,
the government gets to pay at a discounted rate in installments
over a 5 year period, and payments will terminate if the
client ceases to work. ENs are also allowed to reject
ticketholders without giving a reason, so disabled persons
who present the most challenges and the highest risk of
failure at re-employment are least likely to be accepted.
While YWIIA has its critics, it also has its supporters,
who remain hopeful it will have some success, however
modest, in getting people back to work. Since the program
is still so new, it is too early to tell either way. Even
if the ticket to work portion of TWIAA does not help a
particular individual, that person might still benefit
from the work incentives programs in the Act. |
|
| |
|
