By Tamar Asedo Sherman
You might have received a “Ticket to Work” in the mail a couple of years ago, or maybe more recently. The ticket looks like a certificate and helps you seek services to return to work. Don’t be alarmed. You don’t have to use it. It’s strictly a voluntary program and you won’t lose your Social Security benefits if you choose to participate
Originally a feature of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999, the Ticket Program was designed to increase opportunities and choices for Social Security disability beneficiaries to obtain employment, vocational rehabilitation and other support services from public and private providers, employers, and other organizations. More than 10 million people with disabilities between the ages of 18 and 65 nationwide are eligible to participate and many are already working.
In case you’re not familiar with the Act, below are some of the main provisions:
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• It provides choice in obtaining rehabilitation and vocational services to help you go to work and reach your employment goals.
• It removes barriers that require people with disabilities to choose between health care coverage and work.
• It assures that more Americans with disabilities have the opportunity to participate in the workforce and reduce their dependence on public benefits.
Fear of losing health benefits is the major barrier preventing people with disabilities from going back to work. But this law allows states to provide Medicaid coverage to more people who are still working. States also may permit working individuals with incomes above 250% of the federal poverty level to purchase Medicaid coverage and provide medical assistance to workers with impairments who are not yet too disabled to work. To find out if these provisions are available in your state, call the State Medicaid office in your area or check the State Chart of Work Incentives Activity at www.ssa.gov/work/Beneficiaries/activity.html.
The law also expands Medicare coverage to people with disabilities who work. It extends Part A premium-free coverage for at least 4.5 years beyond the current limit (39 months) for most Social Security disability beneficiaries who work. That means a minimum of 8.5 years of extended coverage for most Social Security disability beneficiaries who work.
Again, this is strictly a voluntary program. You do not have to participate. But if you choose to, you can use your ticket to obtain services from state vocational rehabilitation agencies or private organizations called Employment Networks (ENs) that have agreed to work with Social Security. ENs can provide career counseling, job training and education, independent living training, peer mentoring services, job placement, job coaching and support services, as well as transportation assistance at no cost to you. What a deal!
You are free to consult with as many ENs as you choose without having to give your Ticket to any of them until you’re ready. You should feel free to ask questions about how the agency can help you reach your employment goal. And you can stop working with one EN and begin working with another one, or with the State Vocational Rehabilitation agency, if you’re not satisfied.
ENs also have choices as to which services they want to provide, where, and to whom. So what’s in it for them, you might ask. These service providers receive SSA reimbursement only when ticket-holders achieve “employment-related outcomes,” meaning a job. They can choose to work with only those people they think will be the easiest to place. But that’s also why EN providers will do their best to help you find work. They don’t get paid until you do.
An EN might want to obtain certain information about you from Social Security before agreeing to work with you. They might ask you questions about your disability, your work history, your friends, family, support system, and other concerns. This is necessary for them to decide if they can help you.
I gave my ticket to Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID) and wrote an Individualized Plan for Employment that specified that I would attend Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, to complete a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling with a goal of finding a job to help people with disabilities conduct their lives as independently and productively as possible, including returning to work. I’ve achieved my goal, working for United Cerebral Palsy-Suffolk as an employment specialist and graduating on May 21.
If you lost or misplaced your Ticket and want another one, or need help locating an EN nearest you, call MAXIMUS, the private company that administers the program at 1-866-YOURTICKET or 1-866-TDD 2WORK, visit www.yourtickettowork.com or www.socialsecurity.gov/work. You can also request a Ticket if you never received one, yet believe you are eligible.
Tamar Asedo Sherman works as an employment specialist at UCP-Suffolk in Hauppauge, NY. She can be reached at action@unitedspinal.org
