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Job Support Services / Benefit Programs

Job Support Services / Benefit Programs

This fact sheet will help you learn how to get support on the job and keep your benefits.

Ticket to Work Program (TTW)

If you are between the ages of 18 and 63 and have a disability, and your receive Social Security benefits, the Ticket to Work Program (TTW)  can help you get a job without losing your benefits. TTW helps people who are receiving Social Security disability benefits find employment from a service provider or Employment Network (EN) of their choice.

MassHealth and Massachusetts Programs

MassHealth provides health insurance for people with disabilities.

Massachusetts Health Connector – apply online

Community Work Incentive Coordinators
If you are planning on returning to work, you can talk with a Community Work Incentives Coordinators (CWICs) free of charge. Project Impact & BenePLAN programs assist beneficiaries, family members, and professionals to calculate the impact of work might have on their Social Security and other benefits.

Both programs give individuals with disabilities, their families and significant others access to information regarding social security work incentives, public health insurance, long-term care services, employment based health insurance, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), and federal and state housing programs.

Project IMPACT / Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission
Project IMPACT provides individualized benefit counseling to beneficiaries of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and/or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), who are employed or seeking employment.
Contact: Joseph Reale, 617-204-3854 or send email to Joseph.Reale@mrc.state.ma.us
Project IMPACT Referral Form

Work Without Limits Benefits Counseling 
The WWL Benefits Counseling staff  provides comprehensive benefits counseling services in our state. The mission of the benefits counseling program is to inform SSDI and SSI recipients about the effect of work income on all public benefits, not just their Social Security benefits. To date, WWL Benefits Counseling has provided services to thousands of Massachusetts residents.
Toll Free: 877-937-9675.

Social Security and Disability Programs

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) pays benefits to you and certain members of your family if you are “insured,” meaning that you worked long enough and paid Social Security taxes.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a “Needs-Based” program that provides cash assistance payments to adults and children with disabilities who meet specific low-income guidelines. SSI benefits are also payable to people 65 and older without disabilities who meet low income guidelines.

While the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income disability programs are different, the medical requirements are the same. If you meet the non-medical requirement criteria, monthly benefits are paid if you have a medical condition that’s expected to last at least one year or result in death.

To be eligible for disability benefits, a person must be unable to engage in substantial gainful activity (SGA). A person who is earning more than a certain monthly amount (net of impairment-related work expenses) is ordinarily considered to be engaging in SGA. The amount of monthly earnings considered as SGA depends on the nature of a person’s disability. The Social Security Act specifies a higher SGA amount for statutorily blind individuals; Federal regulations specify a lower SGA amount for non-blind individuals. Both SGA amounts generally change with changes in the national average wage index.

SSA Guidelines for Substantial Gainful Activity 

The monthly SGA amount for statutorily blind individuals for 2020 is $2110. For non-blind individuals, the monthly SGA amount for 2020 is $1260. SGA for the blind does not apply to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, while SGA for the non-blind disabled applies to Social Security and SSI benefits. Amounts for 2020 and past years.  SGA for the Non-Blind Disabled—applies to Social Security and SSI benefits

Determination of Substantial Gainful Activity 

 The monthly SGA amount for non-blind disabled individuals for 2020 is such SGA amount for 2000 multiplied by the ratio of the national average wage index for 2018 to that for 1998, or, if larger such SGA amount for 2019 ($1,220). If the amount so calculated is not a multiple of $10, we round it to the nearest multiple of $10.

 

Massachusetts SSI State Supplement Program (SSP)
Massachusetts adds more money to SSI payments for Massachusetts residents.
As of April 1, 2012, the Social Security Insurance Supplement payments are from the state instead of from the federal. If you have questions, you should call the SSP Customer Service Center at 877-863-1128 or visit the SSP Massachusetts website.

 

US Department of Education Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)
Frequently asked questions on employment assistance, vocational rehabilitation and other services funded by the RSA.

 

Publications

  • Social Security 2020 Red Book – A Guide to Work Incentives – The Red Book serves as a general reference source about the employment-related provisions of Social Security Disability Insurance and the Supplemental Security Income Programs for educators, advocates, rehabilitation professionals, and counselors who serve people with disabilities.

 

 

Fact Sheet last updated on: 6/17/2020