Social Security Disability

 

Associated with disability benefits is the Medicare benefit. The SSA automatically enrolls people receiving disability benefits for a period of two years in Medicare. That means you will have received disability benefits for two years before being enrolled in Medicare.

The clock starts ticking on the two year period from the date you were entitled to receive disability and not from the month when you received your first check. This is important because in almost every case, you do not get your first check for at least three months. Sometimes it takes SSA six months to catch up with you.
The system is slow and while the government is trying to speed it up, the number of cases increases every year adding to the backlog problem. That is not an excuse or an alibi for the government, it is plain fact and something you should know about.

The SSA gives people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – also called Lou Gehrig's disease -  Medicare beginning with the month they become entitled to disability benefits. They do not have to wait the full 24 months or two years.
Medicare is a two part program. It provides hospital insurance and medical insurance. Hospital insurance helps pay hospital bills and some follow-up care and is premium free. You already paid for this part while you were working through the taxes that were withheld from your paycheck.

The medical insurance part of Medicare helps pay doctors' bills and other services and is not premium free. Should you desire to be covered, you will pay a monthly premium to the insurance company from which you buy it.
Obviously Medicare is a benefit for people with disabilities. No matter who you use as your social security disability advocate, be sure to ask about your right to Medicare.

 

 

The SSA has formulated special rules for people receiving Social Security disability benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) so they can work and still receive monthly payments. The amount you are able to earn is barely above subsistence levels but at least you can have a few extra dollars coming into your household.

They have what they call a trial work period which allows you to test your ability to work for at least nine months. This is important because some folks only think they can go back to work. Once actually back, they find out they can’t do the job.

During this nine month period Social Security says “you will receive your full Social Security benefits regardless of how much you are earning as long as you report your work activity and you continue to have a disabling impairment.”

Social Security defines a trial work month by earnings. In 2008, a trial work month is any month in which your total earnings are $670 or more. As with anything involving your disability or disability claim, pay close attention to the dollar amounts Social Security states in their letters and information packets.

The self-employed are allowed to earn more than $670 because of expenses. If you are self employed you get to figure in your expenses. Also, if you spend more than 80 hours in your own business this counts as trial work period.
You do not have to work those nine months consecutively. Social Security specifically states that the trial work period continues until you have worked nine months within a 60-month period. Therefore, your trial work period could be 5 years in duration.

Social Security also has a period of eligibility they call the “extended period of eligibility.” This period starts, as you might guess, after your trial work period. During this period you have 36 months during which you can work and still receive benefits for any month your earnings are not “substantial.”

According to the SSA, earnings of $940 or more ($1,570 if you are blind) are considered substantial. This is for the year 2008. The SSA adjusts these figures on an annual basis so it is likely to increase by at least the Cost Price Index.

The SSA does not require you to complete a new application nor do they mandate a new disability decision for you to receive Social Security disability benefits during this period.

The question that naturally comes up is what happens if my earnings become substantial? The SSA has a remedy they call Expedited Reinstatement.

This means that if your benefits stop because your earnings are substantial, the SSA says, “you have five years during which you may ask us to start your benefits immediately if you find yourself unable to continue working because of your condition. You will not have to file a new disability application and you will not have to wait for your benefits to start while your medical condition is being reviewed to make sure you are still disabled.”
This is to help people maintain their living condition even though it may be only at subsistence levels. At least the money isn’t completely shut off while you wait another two to three years before your checks start again.

Another question people ask is what happens to their Medicare benefits should their earnings become substantial. If you are still disabled but your benefits cease because of your earnings, your free Medicare Part A coverage will continue for at least 93 months after the nine-month trial work period.
93 months is almost a full 8 years. If you had been in the trial work period for 60 months, or 5 years, you will have another 93 months, or almost 8 years, of free Medicare Part A coverage.

If your earnings are still substantial, you will be able to buy Medicare Part A coverage by paying a monthly premium. Since you paid a premium for Medicare Part B coverage, you will have to continue paying the premium to remain covered.

Some folks no longer wish to carry Part B. That is understandable but to end the coverage, the insured person must request it in writing. The sounds strange but remember this is the SSA and they wrote their own rules.
Medical conditions forces people with disabilities into paying for services people without disabilities don’t pay for. The most common situation seems to be having to take a taxi to work rather than public transportation or using your own car.

This is not an uncommon phenomenon. If it is the situation in which you find yourself, inform the SSA. These expenses may be deducted from your monthly earnings keeping you eligible for benefits. However, you must inform your SSA case worker so they can see if it applies in your situation.