2008 Red Book

HOW DO EMPLOYMENT SUPPORTS HELP?

SSDI Employment Supports
SSI Employment Supports

The employment-support provisions are intended to assist you in your efforts to become as self-sufficient as possible through work. Employment supports can help you find a job or start a business, protect your cash and medical benefits while you work, or save money to go to school. If you work your way off benefits and later have to stop working, they also can make it easy to begin receiving benefits again.

We discuss each employment support on the following pages. It is important to view all of the employment supports as a total package to fully appreciate the multiple levels of support available to help individuals with disabilities achieve their goal of greater economic independence. Refer to the table in the next chapter, GUIDE TO EMPLOYMENT SUPPORTS, for a brief description of the SSDI and SSI employment supports. The last column in the table links to the location in the Red Book where you can find a more detailed description of the employment support.

SSDI Employment Supports

The SSDI employment supports provide help over a long time to allow you to test your ability to work, or to continue working, and gradually become self-supporting and independent. In general, you have at least 9 years to test your ability to work. This includes full cash payments during the first 12 months of work activity, a 36-month extended eligibility period, and a 5-year period in which we can start your cash benefits again without a new application (see our chapter, GUIDE TO EMPLOYMENT SUPPORTS). You may continue to have Medicare coverage during this time or even longer.

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SSI Employment Supports

The SSI employment supports offer ways for you to continue receiving your SSI checks and/or Medicaid coverage while you work. Some of these provisions can increase your net income to help cover special expenses.

Once you receive SSI, we consider that your disability continues until you medically recover, even if you work. If you cannot receive SSI checks because your earnings are too high, your eligibility for Medicaid while working may continue. In most cases, if you lose your job or are unable to continue working, you can begin receiving checks without filing a new application.

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