Working While Receiving Disability Benefits

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  3. Working While Receiving Disability Benefits

Do you know you can work while receiving SSI and SSDI disability benefits?

A man with an intellectual disability serves a scone to a woman in the café where he works.

Yes, it is true! If you receive disability benefits and want to work, program rules known as “work incentives” make it possible. You can learn about work incentives from various publications published by the Social Security Administration (SSA), by attending an information session and/or by connecting with a Certified Work Incentives Benefits Counselor. You can also join the Sherlock Center's mailing list to receive news and information important to beneficiaries.

“My son John, 20, is a student who has been working part time for the last two years. We never knew that he was eligible for student earned income exclusion. We were put in contact with Joshua Hughes, and he was so helpful in explaining SEIE. It made a big difference in what John is earning. This was something he was entitled to but without the guidance of the Sherlock center and Joshua, John would not be benefiting from this program. We are so grateful for all they did for our son.” – Maria 
 


Offering support at all stages of employment
Services may be just in time, ongoing, and for the short term or long term. Some of the services you can receive from a Certified Work Incentives Benefits Counselor include:

  • Support with communicating with various agencies such as Social Security or Human Services.
  • Benefits Summary and Analysis (BS&A) – a written report summarizing the impact of employment on your current benefits.
  • Ongoing support when there are changes with your income, health insurance or household.
  • Developing a plan for coordinating and managing work incentives and changes in benefits.
  • Building a relationship with a benefits specialist can result in a long-lasting resource throughout your career.
  • A Certified Work Incentives Benefits Counselor can help you to learn how to manage your benefits.

Supporting you to understand changes to your benefits
If you have multiple benefits, it can be challenging to understand all of the different systems. Benefits like SNAP, Housing, Medicaid and others may change when you are working. When you connect with a Certified Work Incentives Benefits Counselor, you will find out:

  • About available work incentives.
  • How to report your earned income.
  • How to minimize overpayments.
  • How to access and maintain health insurance.
  • What happens when your income increases.
     

Still deciding about Work Incentives Benefits Counseling?

Print this list of questions.

The following are some things to ask yourself if you are thinking about work incentives benefits counseling. If you answer yes to one or more, services may be right for you. 

  • I have questions about how working may affect my SSI or SSDI payments. 
  • I am wondering what may happen to my Medicare or Medicaid benefits if I work.
  • I have received a letter from Social Security stating that my SSI benefits will soon be changing to SSDI benefits and I don’t know what this means.
  • Social Security sent a letter stating that I have been overpaid because of my earnings and I don’t know how this happened or what I can do about it.
  • I am working and have not reported my earnings or I don’t know how to report my earnings to Social Security.
  • I have heard the myth that I am only allowed to work part time when I receive SSI or SSDI benefits, and I am wondering if this is true.
  • I am wondering what will happen if my SSI or SSDI payments stop because of my earnings but I need them again in the future. 
  • I live in subsidized housing and I am wondering whether or not working will cause my rent to increase.
  • I receive SNAP benefits and I wonder whether working will cause them to stop or be reduced.
  • I have concerns about how working could affect my cost of care/share.
  • I want to have more information about how earnings will affect all of my benefits before deciding to work.

How you can access Work Incentives Benefits Counseling

Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) Program: WIPA is a free service that helps Social Security beneficiaries (youth and adults) who receive benefits based on a disability to make informed choices about working. Benefits counseling services are based on your benefits, earnings and/or goals. Referrals to WIPA are made through the Ticket to Work Help Line. Learn more about the Work Incentives Planning and Assistance Program.

RI Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH): If you receive funding from the Division of Developmental Disabilities, BHDDH, you can submit an Employment and Earnings Form to request work incentives benefits counseling. If you receive services from an agency, you can ask your agency's service coordinator to submit the required form. If you use self-directed supports, you can ask your plan writer or BHDDH social worker to help.

If you receive services from the Office of Rehabilitation Services (ORS), either from the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Program or Services For the Blind or Visually Impaired (SBVI), contact your counselor to request work incentives benefits counseling.