Ticket to Work Program: An Overview

Summary:
This overview is the first of eight articles about how the Social Security Administration's new Ticket to Work program affects you as a job seeker and how you can best take advantage of its benefits.

Issues Addressed by This Series of Articles About Ticket to Work

Background

Ticket Distribution and Usage

Eligibility

Other Provisions of the Law

Any Questions or Comments About Ticket to Work?

Related Links

Related Content

Share your opinions with eSight Careers Network:

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Issues Addressed by This Series of Articles About Ticket to Work

This series of eSight articles discusses these eight topics:

1. Overview
   
   
2. Ticket to Work Program: How to Use Your Ticket
   
   
3. Using a Ticket Protects You From Initiation of a Medical Review
   
   
4. Ticket to Work Roles, Responsibilities: Program Manager, ENs and VR Agencies
   
   
5. Ticket to Work: How ENs, State VR Agencies Are Paid
   
   
6. Settling Disputes Which Arise in Ticket to Work
   
   
7. Alternate Participants: How Ticket to Work Will Affect Them
   
   
8. How health care coverage will change when you
   start working
   
   

Each of these topics is an article. Those which are already in eSight's database contain a link, and you can access them by selecting those links.

Check eSight's growing Ticket to Work Forum for further information -- and ask your question if there's an issue about this program that you would like to have further clarified.

Submit your question about this ground-breaking legislation at the end of the Ticket to Work Forum document. Or, if you can help us clarify an issue, please submit your comments to the Ticket to Work Forum.

The Ticket to Work program holds out the promise of career advancement and greater independence for those of us with disabilities who learn how to take full advantage of the opportunities it offers.

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Background

On December 17, 1999, President Bill Clinton signed the "Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999" (Public Law 106-170), establishing the Ticket-to-Work and Self-sufficiency Program (which I will refer to as the Ticket to Work program). According to the Federal Register of December 28, 2001, this legislation aims to:

• Help Social Security disability and SSI beneficiaries to obtain, regain, or maintain jobs by expanding access to employment, vocational rehabilitation and other support services
  
  
• Provide health care and employment preparation and placement services to individuals with disabilities
  
  
• Encourage states to allow individuals with disabilities to purchase Medicaid coverage
  
  
• Give individuals with disabilities the opportunity to maintain Medicare coverage while working
  
  
• Reduce dependence on public funds
  
  

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Ticket Distribution and Usage

Under the Ticket to Work program, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will be issuing "tickets" to most Social Security disability and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries who are blind or disabled. The ticket recipients, in turn, may voluntarily assign those tickets to public or private SSA-approved "employment networks" (ENs) or "state vocational rehabilitation agencies" (VRAs) of their choice. An additional stipulation is that recipients must choose those ENs and VRAs which will accept the assignments.

ENs will be able to choose who they serve. A beneficiary may discuss his or her rehabilitation and employment plans with as many entities as he or she wishes. SSA will pay the providers for these services after the beneficiaries achieve certain levels of work.

The Ticket to Work program will be phased in the United States over a three-year period. SSA will distribute the tickets to beneficiaries in three phases, beginning early in 2002 and ending in 2004.

During Phase I of the Ticket to Work program, tickets will be distributed to beneficiaries in the following 13 states in June 2002: Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont and Wisconsin.

Phase II is to be implemented in calendar year 2002 and will include these 20 states: Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and in the District of Columbia.

Finally, Phase III will take effect in calendar year 2003 in these remaining states and U.S. territories: Alabama, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming as well as in American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

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Eligibility

In order to participate in the Ticket to Work program, the Final Rules and Regulations specify that you must meet these criteria, among others:

• Must be age 18 to 64 and be eligible for disability payments
  
  
• Must be in current pay status for monthly cash benefits
  
• Must either have a permanent impairment or a nonpermanent impairment that is expected to improve, and
  
  
• Must have undergone at least one continuing disability review
  
  

The following groups of people are ineligible to be involved in the Ticket to Work program:

• Beneficiaries with non-permanent impairments who have not undergone at least one continuing disability review
  
  
• Individuals under the age of 18
  
  
• 18 year-olds who received Title XVI payments as children but for whom adult disability status has not yet been determined
  
  

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Other Provisions of the Law

Final regulations concerning Ticket to Work are effective January 28, 2002, and other provisions of the "Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999" have already been implemented, as explained on Social Security's site.

Here are other major provisions of the Ticket to Work program:

Deferral of Medical Disability Reviews. In addition to those who use tickets in the Ticket to Work program, Social Security disability beneficiaries who have been receiving benefits for at least 24 months will not be medically reviewed solely because of work activity, starting January 1, 2002, as long as earnings are not above the established limits.

Expedited Reinstatement of Benefits. Beginning January 1, 2001, Social Security or SSI disability beneficiaries who stopped receiving benefits because of earnings from work can request reinstatement of benefits within 60 months without filing a new application, if they are unable to work because of their medical conditions. They may receive temporary benefits for up to six months while waiting for their cases to be reviewed.

Work Incentives Outreach Program. The law provides for a community-based work incentives planning and assistance program to inform beneficiaries about work incentives and services. Social Security has also established a corps of "work incentives specialists" within Social Security offices to help answer people's questions.

Protection and Advocacy. The law authorizes Social Security to pay state protection and advocacy programs to provide information, advice and other services to disability beneficiaries.

Studies. Under the law, Social Security must conduct a demonstration project to evaluate the concept of reducing Social Security disability insurance benefits by $1 for every $2 a beneficiary earns over a certain amount.

More Health Care Services. Starting October 1, 2000, more people with disabilities who work have the option to get Medicare or Medicaid coverage. States may permit working individuals with incomes above 250 percent of the federal poverty level to purchase Medicaid coverage.

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Any Questions or Comments About Ticket to Work?

I encourage you to check Related Content for additional eSight articles about Ticket to Work.

Submit your Ticket to Work questions or comments to our Ticket to Work Forum by using the "Share your opinions with eSight Careers Network:" tool at the bottom of the page. eSight is here to help you!

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