Benefits and Work

How much you get in Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Adult Public Assistance (APA) benefits each month depends on your countable income. The more countable income you have, the less you get in SSI and APA.

However, the SSI and APA programs have many rules that can help you if you work, so that when your earned income goes up, your overall situation improves:

• Some mean your benefits don’t go down as much when your earned income goes up.
• Some mean you can go over the resource limit, but keep getting SSI and APA benefits.
• The Ticket to Work program can help you with job-training and finding work.
• Some mean that if you stop getting benefits due to work, you have a safety net that can help you get back on benefits more easily if you need them and can also get affordable health coverage.

Rules That Mean Your Benefits Won’t Go Down as Much as Your Earned Income Goes Up

In general, your combined total amount of SSI and APA benefits will go down 50 cents for every dollar your earned income goes up. That means you’ll always end up with more total income when you work. However, some rules mean that your benefits will go down even less or not at all.

Some Work Expenses Are Not Countable Income

When you go to work, you have extra expenses. Some of these are called Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWEs) and money you use for IRWEs won’t be counted by the SSI and APA programs. If you are blind, they are called Blind Work Expenses (BWEs).

Because SSI and APA won’t count the money you spend on IRWEs and BWEs, your total countable income for the two programs will be lower and your total benefits will stay higher than they otherwise would be.

You need to report your IRWEs or BWEs to Social Security and the Alaska Division of Public Assistance (DPA) when you report your income, including receipts or cancelled checks for your expenses.

Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWEs)

For an expense to be counted as an IRWE, all of the following have to be true:

• You bought an item or service that you need to work.
• You need it because of a disability.
• You paid for it yourself and nobody reimbursed you for the cost.
• You paid a reasonable price for it.
• You were working during the month you paid the expense.
• You can fully document the expense with receipts or cancelled checks.

IRWEs are approved on a case-by-case basis. If you have any questions about IRWEs or about how to tell Social Security about them, talk with a benefits planner.

Blind Work Expenses (BWEs)

Blind Work Expenses can be any expense you have that lets you work. Unlike an IRWE, a BWE does not have to be related to your blindness or other medical condition or disability. Examples include:

• Federal, state, and local income taxes
• Social Security taxes
• Visual and sensory aids
• Translation of materials into Braille
• Professional association fees
• Union fees

If you have any questions about BWEs or about how to tell Social Security about them, talk with a benefits planner.

Unlike IRWEs, BWEs are subtracted after dividing by two, rather than before.

The Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE) for Students Under 22

The Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE) lets students getting SSI and APA benefits earn up to $2,290 per month without having those wages be part of their countable income. That means they can work and keep getting their SSI and APA benefits. The SEIE has a $9,230 annual cap, so if you earn more than that in a year, your earnings will be counted and your benefits will go down.

The SEIE can help you if you get SSI and APA benefits and are both:

• Under 22 years old, and
• Regularly attending school.
  • This usually means you have to go to school more than:
    • 8 hours per week for college students
    • 12 hours per week for grades 7 – 12
    • 12 – 15 hours per week for job training
  • If there are reasons beyond your control that prevent you from going to school this much, Social Security may make an exception to these rules.

Tip: The SEIE’s monthly and annual caps let you have a higher-paying job during the summer months and then a part-time job during the school year without going over the annual cap.

Programs That Let You Earn More, Save More, and Keep Getting Benefits

There are several ways for you to save more than the $2,000 resource limit ($3,000 for couples) and keep getting SSI and APA. At the same time, the money you save up with these programs isn’t considered countable income by the SSI and APA programs, so you also get more in benefits.

ABLE Accounts

If your disability began before you turned 26, you can open an ABLE account where you can keep up to $100,000 in resources and not have them counted by SSI or APA. ABLE accounts mean that if you get a job, you can start saving up some money without losing your benefits. Additionally, the money in an ABLE account gets tax advantages similar to the way retirement accounts work.

However, ABLE accounts have restrictions:

• They can only be opened through specific programs or institutions.
• You can only open one ABLE account.
  • Alaska's ABLE account program is Alaska ABLE Plan.
  • You can choose to open an account in another state’s ABLE program.
• You and the other people making contributions on your behalf have a limit on how much you can deposit each year. Combined, you cannot deposit more than $18,000 in 2024.
• You can only use money in an ABLE account for specific things, such as:
  • Education
  • Housing
  • Transportation
  • Help getting and keeping work
  • Health care
  • Assistive technology, and
  • Other approved expenses.

Learn more about ABLE accounts.

Plans to Achieve Self-Support (PASS)

The Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) program lets people who get SSI and APA benefits earn more money and save up that money in a special account. A PASS can also help people who do not qualify for benefits become eligible.

The money that you save up must be used for a work-related goal. It can help pay for:

• School or training
• Starting a business, or
• Equipment, support services, and other expenses related to your goal.

The PASS program has two basic benefits:

• You can save up resources without losing your SSI benefits.
• If you have income, you can put it into the PASS and it won’t be counted as income by SSI, which means your benefits amount won’t go down as much.

To set up a PASS, you must:

• Get SSI benefits or become eligible for SSI benefits due to an approved PASS application.
• Have income other than SSI (for example, SSDI benefits or wages from a job) or have resources over $2,000 that you can use to fund your PASS.
• Have a work goal that will help you earn enough money to lower your SSI benefits or get off SSDI benefits altogether.
• Be able to write a plan that shows how saving a certain amount of money will let you reach your work goal. You can get help writing your plan from a PASS specialist.
• Be under age 65. If you are 65 or older, you may be able to set up a PASS if you were getting SSI benefits based on disability or blindness in the month before you turn 65.

Read more about PASS or talk to a PASS specialist.

The Ticket to Work Program: Job Training and Help Finding Work

The Ticket to Work program helps adults with disabilities prepare for, find, and keep work. To qualify, you must:

• Be 18 – 64 years old, and
• Get SSI or SSDI benefits.

When you are ready to think about work, you can get started with the Ticket program by contacting an Employment Network (EN). ENs are organizations that can give you the various free employment services that Ticket to Work provides, including:

• Vocational Rehabilitation
• Training
• Referrals
• Job coaching
• Job counseling, and
• Placement services.

While you are in the Ticket program, Social Security does not make you do medical Continuing Disability Reviews (CDRs) as long as you make timely progress in meeting your employment goals. That means you don’t lose your eligibility for SSI, SSDI, or APA for medical reasons.

Learn more about the Ticket to Work program.

Rules That Help if You Stop Getting Benefits Due to Work

While there are many rules that can help you keep getting monthly SSI benefits, if you earn enough, you will eventually stop getting those benefits. Even so, there are SSI rules and other programs that will keep helping you.

If You Need SSI Again

If you stop getting SSI because your income goes up, but then your income goes down again, you may not have to reapply for SSI benefits.

If it has been less than 12 months since your last SSI payment or if you qualify for SSI 1619(b), you can get your SSI benefits started up again by reporting to your local Social Security office that you are no longer working.

If it has been more than 12 months since you got SSI, you can ask for Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) for SSI if:

• Your SSI benefits amount went to zero because of your income
• You can’t work at the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) level because of your disability
• Your current medical impairment is the same as the one that originally made you eligible for SSI, and
• You stopped getting SSI benefits less than five years ago.

If you qualify for EXR, you can get up to six months of temporary SSI benefits while Social Security makes sure you still qualify.

Health Coverage Rules

Many people who get SSI and APA worry that if they work, they’ll lose the Medicaid health coverage that comes with APA benefits automatically. Fortunately, you can usually keep Medicaid coverage even if your SSI and APA cash benefits go to zero because of earnings. And, if you can't keep your Medicaid, there will be other coverage options.

The APA RC Limit Is Higher than the APA Payment Standard

The first thing to keep in mind is that the APA Refused Cash (RC) Income Limit is higher than the APA payment standard. What this means for you is that if your countable income is higher than the APA payment standard, your APA payments stop but your APA-related Medicaid coverage continues as long as your countable income is below the APA RC limit.

For a single person living alone, the APA RC limit is $1,751 per month. However, since not all income is countable for APA, you could actually work at a job and make way more than this amount and still qualify for Medicaid benefits. Learn more about how your income is counted.

Note: The APA RC limit does not mean you have to refuse to get APA cash benefits. What it means is that you may qualify for APA-related Medicaid even if you don't qualify for APA cash benefits.

Medicaid through SSI’s 1619(b) Rule

If you’re on SSI and Medicaid and your SSI benefits amount goes to zero because you go back to work, SSI’s 1619(b) rule means you can keep your Medicaid coverage.

To keep your automatic Medicaid coverage under 1619(b), you must:

• Have been eligible for SSI benefits for at least one month
• Need Medicaid coverage to keep working
• Still have resources below the SSI limit of $2,000 ($3,000 for a couple)
• Have less than $86,438 in gross earnings, and
• Still meet all other SSI rules.

Learn more about Medicaid in DB101’s How Health Benefits Work article.

The Working Disabled Medicaid Buy-In Program

If your earnings cause your income to go over the 1619(b) limit or cause your resources to go over SSI’s limit, you should look into the Working Disabled Medicaid Buy-In, which has a much higher income limit and higher resource limit.

To qualify for the Working Disabled Medicaid Buy-In, you must:

• Be 18 years old or older
• Be a U.S. citizen or a qualified immigrant
• Be working and earning too much for APA-related Medicaid
• Have a disability that meets Social Security’s medical standards.
  • Note: For the Working Disabled Medicaid Buy-In, SSA’s disability rules related to income do not apply.
• Have unearned income at or below the APA RC limit ($1,751 per month). If you are married, the limit is $2,593 and your spouse's deemed unearned income is also counted.
  • Note: The APA RC limit is also called the "Expanded Refused Cash Income Limit." What it means is that you may qualify for APA-related Medicaid even if you don't qualify for APA cash benefits.
• Have household countable income at or below 250% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG), including other members of your family you live with. That’s $3,919 per month if you live alone.
  • Not all of your earned income is counted. If you live alone and have no unearned income, you could actually earn up to $7,923 per month and still qualify for the Working Disabled Medicaid Buy-In. (That's as much as $95,070 per year!)
• Have less than $10,000 in resources ($15,000 for couples). The house you live in and one car are not counted.

If you get Working Disabled Medicaid Buy-In coverage, you may need to pay a monthly premium. The amount you pay is based on your income and your family’s income.

Learn more in DB101’s How Health Benefits Work article.

Other Health Coverage Options

If you lose Medicaid coverage, there should be another health coverage you can get, such as employer-sponsored coverage or private individual coverage. And, if you can’t afford the individual coverage, the government may help you pay for it through tax credits.

Learn more about individual coverage in DB101’s How Health Benefits Work article.