Since Deanna was getting two different checks every month from Social Security, Ruth said they needed to figure out how going to work would affect each benefit. “Remind me,” Ruth said, “how much would your new job pay each month? Is it $1,500?”
“That’s right,” Deanna said.
Ruth rubbed her temple.
“Bad news?” Deanna asked.
“Not exactly. Let me explain.”
By making $1,500 a month, Deanna wouldn’t be getting a monthly SSI check anymore. Ruth used the Countable Income Calculation (see sidebar) to figure it out. “In your case, your SSI cash benefit ends if you make more than $1,045 a month.” There was, however, a silver lining. Ruth said SSI rules—specifically something known as a 1619(b) provision—meant Medi-Cal would still pay for her to see her therapist. “Good,” Deanna joked, “because I’m going to have plenty to tell her after all of this.”
Countable Income Calculation, If Receiving SSDI and SSI
First, find your
Countable Unearned Income. This is your monthly
unearned income (an SSDI benefit, for example) minus a $20 “any income exclusion”. If you do not have unearned income, you apply this exclusion to earned income. In this example, Deanna receives $400 a month from Social Security Disability Insurance, so her countable unearned income will be $400 Unearned Income - $20 Any Income Exclusion = $380 Countable Unearned Income.
Next, find your Countable Earned Income. Take your monthly earned income (wages, for example), and subtract a $65 “earned income exclusion” along with any of the unused portion of the $20 “any income exclusion”, along with any Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWE). Take the resulting figure and divide by two to find your countable earned income. In this example, Deanna receives $1500 in wages, she has already used her “any income exclusion”, and she has no IRWEs. Her countable earned income will be $1500 Earned Income - $65 Earned Income Exclusion = $1435. $1435/2 = $717.50 Countable Earned Income.
Finally, add your Countable Unearned Income to your Countable Earned Income to find your Total Countable Income. So, Deanna has $380 Countable Unearned Income + $717.50 Countable Earned Income = $1,097.50 Total Countable Income.
Since Deanna's Total Countable Income is over Supplemental Security Income's 2008 monthly benefit rate of $870 for an individual ($1,524 for a couple), she will no longer receive an SSI check.
Deanna now had the first part of the equation solved: taking the job would cost her a $490 SSI check, but she could still see her therapist. Deanna still needed to know how her new job would affect her monthly payments from Social Security Disability Insurance or SSDI before she could really do the math.
For the past two years, Deanna had been getting $400 a month from SSDI. And for at least the first nine months at her new job, she could still get that $400 check on top of her $1,500-a-month work salary.
“Okay, now pay close attention,” Ruth told Deanna, “because I’m going to throw out some vocabulary terms you’re going to need to know about.”
Ruth uttered the first phrase: Trial work period. This was the time SSDI allowed beneficiaries earning more than $670 a month at their jobs to enjoy while they tested the waters in the workplace. The trial work period lasts a total of 9 months on the job, or jobs. Someone didn’t have to work 9 consecutive months to exhaust the trial work period—they could work three months straight, take some time off, then work another six months. “Well, if things go right, I’d work nine months in a row at the shelter,” Deanna told Ruth.
Once the trial work period ends, the next phased kicks in: The 36-month extended period of eligibility. Different rules apply for this phase. Deanna wouldn’t receive a check from SSDI during most of the extended-eligibility period. That’s because her new job was going to pay her $1,540 a month, far above the $940 Social Security allows for what it calls substantial gainful activity. Social Security does allow a 3-month grace period where someone like Deanna can collect her full SSDI even though she exceeds the substantial gainful activity limit. So, hypothetically, Deanna could collect $1,900 a month during her first year on the job between her work salary and her SSDI payments.
After Deanna made it through the extended period of eligibility, she’d be ineligible for SSDI cash benefits with an important exception during the following five years: if Deanna’s earnings fall below Substantial Gainful Activity due to her disabling condition, she may request to be re-instated to her SSDI benefit without a new application because of Expedited Re-Instatements. This is a kind of panic button she can press if things go bad again.
Deanna didn’t need to be a mathematician to see that taking to job at the shelter made financial sense. For at least the first nine months at work she’d continue to receive her monthly $400 SSDI check. Even when that ran out, she’d still earn hundreds more than if she didn’t go back to work and relied solely on her benefits. And perhaps more importantly, she’d still be covered by Medi-Cal and get to see her regular therapist. “What the hey,” Deanna smiled at Ruth, “guess I’m gonna be a working girl again.”
The SSI 1619(b) provision allows you to keep Medi-Cal through Supplemental Security Income program if you:
Received a SSI cash payment within the previous 12 months;
Continued to meet the disability requirement;
Met other non-disability requirements (assets);
Have $2,000 or less in countable assets;
Unearned income is under SSI limits;
Needed Medi-Cal health coverage in order to continue working; and,
Have an annual income that is below the “threshold” amount (i.e., insufficient to replace SSI and Medi-Cal). The annual threshold for California in 2008 is $34,346.
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