The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel
Strategic Plan for 2006-2007
Version 1.2
2 Strategic Goals and Objectives
This section presents the three goals of the Panel. For each goal, there are several objectives. Although the goals are fairly general, the objectives are written to be specific and actionable.
Goal 1 Beneficiary Voice : Elevate and Incorporate
the Beneficiary Perspective
The Panel is charged with advising the Commissioner, the President, and the Congress on how to improve employment opportunities for beneficiaries and on issues related to work incentives programs. The perspective of the beneficiaries are critical to this process and must be heard, communicated, and integrated into recommendations made by the Panel.
Objective 1-1
Organize and analyze the direct input that the Panel has received from beneficiaries, creating a usable and accessible repository. The results of the analysis should be available in time to support the beneficiary summit.
Objective 1-2
Work with beneficiaries to plan and execute a beneficiary summit with clear outcome goals and follow-up strategy, by fall 2006. Reflect the results in the final report of the Panel.
Objective 1-3
Recommend and support the development within SSA of permanent structural changes that will give the beneficiaries’ perspective a voice in program planning and implementation. Examples of structural changes to give the beneficiary perspective a voice include:
- A national e-newsletter written by beneficiaries for beneficiaries
- A beneficiary advisory board to the Commissioner of the SSA, including a
balance of SSI and SSDI perspectives
- A Beneficiary Peer Support Network, a national core of work incentives ambassadors
made up of current or recent beneficiaries who would receive training and be
used as a peer support network, speakers’ bureau, and ongoing resource on improving
work incentives
- A seamless, local and universally accessible beneficiary-driven work incentives
information infrastructure.
Goal 2 Continuous Improvement : Improve Implementation and Marketing
of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act
The Panel is charged with advising the President, Congress, and the Commissioner of SSA on issues related to existing programs supporting beneficiaries and potential beneficiaries of the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program. This goal is to support improvements in implementation and marketing of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act. Specific objectives include:
Objective 2-1
Conduct routine reviews of relevant NPRMs and reviews of work incentives in both SSDI and SSI disability programs, with the goal of coordinating and simplifying rules.
Objective 2-2
Review and analyze Ticket analytical data and other data sources (e.g., BPAO, PABSS, GAO, NPRM, and marketing plan information) to evaluate universal EN participation, to ensure equitable beneficiary choice and increased self-sufficiency for alternative options and models.
Objective 2-3
Submit a proposal to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for defining a work standard, removing an upper age limit, and defining the medical improvement category.
Objective 2-4
Design and recommend a verifiable income reporting process that will prevent overpayments to SSA beneficiaries, prior to the final annual report of this Panel.
Objective 2-5
Recommend that Congress reauthorize demonstration authority for SSA, which is currently scheduled to expire December 2005. Recommend that Congress provide the necessary waiver authority for SSA to conduct SSI demonstrations.
Objective 2-6
Encourage implementation of improvements through monitoring of prior recommendations, and conducting briefings, focusing on “non-costly” improvements.
Objective 2-7
Monitor the Ticket to Work Program and Adequacy of Incentives for the provision of services by ENs, including review of issues already raised with Continuing Disability Reviews, the Ticket to Work payment system, and traditional cost reimbursement.
Objective 2-8
Make recommendations for the Ticket to Work marketing campaign.
Objective 2-9
Encourage integration and coordination of the Ticket to Work with other federal and state employment programs and initiatives.
Objective 2-10
Provide advice to CMS and the Congress as appropriate concerning Medicaid and Medicare provisions of the Act and their interaction with all existing policies. Specific issues to be examined include the direction of the Medicaid Infrastructure Grants, the lack of a definition of work in the Medicaid Buy-In and the lack of any evaluation component for the health care provisions of the Act.
Objective 2-11
Monitor integration of results from demonstrations, such as $1 for $2 Benefit Offset/Early Intervention Demonstration
Goal 3 Transformation : Develop A National Employment Investment Policy To Transform Approaches to Assets, Income, Health Care, And Supports for People with Disabilities that is Person-Centered, Culturally Competent, and Respectful of Each Person’s Values and Experiences
Beneficiary testimony and Panel analysis have demonstrated that the current need-based disability programs are not optimal and in some cases not very effective in moving people with disabilities towards economic self-sufficiency, due to underlying assumptions made by these programs. The federal government must transform its approach to assets, income, health care and supports. The Panel will develop a new model that recognizes the inherent value in employment and asset development for people with disabilities.
Objective 3-1
Develop a new model for federal income support policy grounded in the belief that all people should be afforded a meaningful opportunity to participate in the economic mainstream and obtain health insurance, with or without on-going supports and services.
Components of this concept might include:
- A new way of determining eligibility for cash supports and publicly supported health insurance, e.g., elimination of waiting periods for health insurance benefits
- A livable wage subsidy to workers earning less than such a wage
- Integrated public-sector employment incentives to supplement private-sector opportunities
- Incentives for saving, asset accumulation, home ownership, business ownership and long-term financial planning
Objective 3-2
Identify corollary reforms across federal programs to support Objective 3-1.
