By Tamar Asedo Sherman
The first question that comes to mind when anyone receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) wants to go back to work is: Will I lose my disability benefits?
The complex answer: Not necessarily.
The simple answer, the one you will hear from the experts, is that you can work part-time and keep your Social Security benefits, but you must be careful not to exceed the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) limit (currently $860 per month) or you lose all your benefits. But that’s not entirely accurate. You are allowed to deduct from your earnings all expenses related to your disability that are necessary for you to work. So you really can earn more than the SGA limit, depending on how much money you spend on disability-related expenses.
These deductions are called IRWEs, or impairment-related work expenses. There are several criteria to see if the expenses qualify:
• The individual with a disability must pay for the item or service (not get reimbursed by insurance)
• The item or service must be related to your disability
• If you did not obtain the item or service, you would not be able to work
• You must pay for the expenses in the month in which you are working
• Expenses must be reasonable; that is the cost is the standard amount for that service or product.
The types of services or products which qualify include:
• Attendant care services performed to help you prepare for work or help you while at work
• Transportation costs, including taxi services and modifications to vehicles (but not the vehicles themselves)
• Medical devices such as wheelchairs, pacemakers, respirators, prostheses
• Prescription drugs and medical treatments including physical/occupational therapy prescribed by your doctor in an attempt to control the disabling condition
• Some modifications to the home are deductible. If you work outside the home, only modifications to the exterior, which permit access to street or transportation, such as ramps, are deductible. If you work inside the home, modifications to create accessible workspace is deductible.
The Social Security system allows people with disabilities to test their ability to return to work and gradually become self-supporting and independent. At the same time, you can continue to receive Medicare coverage, even if you do go back to work. The process entails two phases of trial employment.
Phase 1 allows a trial work period of nine months within a 60-consecutivemonth period. During that time, you can earn as much money as you want and still receive your SSDI benefits until you accumulate nine months, not necessarily consecutively, in which you earned more than $620.
Phase 2 begins after you have used up your trial work period. Then an extended period of eligibility begins that lasts for 36 consecutive months. During this time, you will continue to receive your check during any month that you earn less than the SGA level of $860. For any month in which you earn more than the SGA, you will not get your benefit check. Guidelines are more flexible for people who are self-employed
If you stop working again within five years, your benefits can be started again without having to file a new application. Most individuals with disabilities who work will continue to get hospital and medical insurance under Medicare for at least 93 consecutive months. After that time, you might be eligible to buy Medicare coverage at the same monthly cost that retired beneficiaries pay.
For more information on working while receiving Social Security benefits, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/work or call 1-800-622-1213.
Tamar Asedo Sherman works as an employment specialist at UCP-Suffolk in Hauppauge, New York. She welcomes comments and questions from readers at action@unitedspinal.org.
