Employment and Benefits in 2010 -

          Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and SSI

                                         Seminar Description

This basic training seminar focuses on the key points of title II benefits

(aka: Social Security, SSDI, SSDAC) and title XVI benefits (SSI).  Many people

do not understand how wages, unearned income, and resources effect medical

benefits and continuing entitlement to Social Security benefits and/or eligibility

for SSI benefits.  Thus, considerable time is spent on understanding how the benefit

is effected by income.  Our focus is demonstrating how a beneficiary can make an

informed choice of earning significant income and still qualify for medical benefits

and cash benefits, rather than pursue the commonly held perception that people

must limit their income to protect their benefits.

Imagine a SSDI beneficiary going to work in January 2010 with a monthly salary

of $3,000.  Assuming the person never medically improves, anytime between

January 2010 and the end of September 2018, if the person must leave employment

because of the impairment, she/he will be entitled to the cash benefit and Medicare

immediately.  She/he will receive the cash benefit provisionally for six months while

the SSA reviews the medical condition.  If the person has not medically improved,

the cash benefit will be reinstated after the provisional period.

During the seminar all commonly-used work incentives are covered, with multiple

examples.  Mike encourages the audience to ask questions to clarify their under-

standing of the use of each work incentive.  He illustrates how people can protect

their entitlement to benefits by maximizing their income and properly reducing the

amount of income Social Security actually counts.

Throughout the seminar, the eligibility for the appropriate medical benefits is

emphasized to illustrate the impact of wages on Medicare and/or Medicaid.  In the

appropriate states (over 40), eligibility for the "Medicaid Buy-in" program is dis-

cussed as many members of the audience are not familiar with this new form of

Medicaid for working disabled individuals and the state-specific qualifications.

The basic workshop covers:

           THE STRUCTURE OF BENEFIT PROGRAMS

           1. SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY INSURANCE

                        The process of SSDI: Eligibility to Termination

               SSDI WORK INCENTIVES

                        Subsidy

                        Impairment-Related Work Expenses

               MEDICARE                                     

               EXTENDED MEDICARE ELIGIBILITY

               EXPEDITED REINSTATEMENT OF BENEFITS

           2. SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME

                        The process of SSI:  Eligibility to Termination

               SSI WORK INCENTIVES

                        Student Earned Income Exclusion

                        Impairment-Related Work Expenses

                        Plan for Achieving Self-Support

              1619(b) ELIGIBILITY  (MEDICAID)

              EXPEDITED REINSTATEMENT OF BENEFITS

            3. TICKET TO WORK PROGRAM 

            4. WORKING DISABLED MEDICAID (if appropriate for the state)

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