2020 Annual Report of the SSI Program

E. Incentives for Work and Opportunities for Rehabilitation

1. Work Incentives

Since the beginning of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, a number of disabled or blind recipients have worked and received SSI payments. Initially, the program contained a basic earned income exclusion that recognized the additional costs associated with employment. In addition, the law contained a number of special income exclusions designed to encourage work. The income exclusion for blind work expenses (BWE), plan to achieve self-support (PASS), and student earned income exclusion (SEIE) were among these provisions.

In the 1980 amendments to the Social Security Act, Congress provided additional incentives to help SSI disabled recipients become self-supporting. These incentives included:

•	Providing for an earned income exclusion for impairment-related work expenses (IRWE);

•	Changing the treatment of sheltered workshop earnings from unearned income to earned income, thereby qualifying sheltered workshop earnings for the earned income exclusion;

•	Providing for the continuation of SSI payments for certain disabled individuals enrolled in vocational rehabilitation (VR) programs whose disability ceased due to medical recovery (extended to SSI blind recipients, effective April 1988);

•	Establishing section 1619, which provides the following:

—	1619(a) allows us to continue to provide cash payments when the recipient earns above substantial gainful activity (SGA), an earnings level that would have previously made them ineligible for any payment; and

—	1619(b) allows recipients to remain eligible for Medicaid when their earnings reduce their cash payment to $0.

Table V.E1 presents the historical SGA and SEIE amounts.

Table V.E1.—SSI Substantial Gainful Activity and Student Earned Income
Exclusion Amounts, Calendar Years 1974-2020 

		SEIEa
Year	SGA level b	Monthly exclusion	Maximum exclusion for calendar year
1974 to 1975	$200	$400	$1,620
1976	230	400	1,620
1977	240	400	1,620
1978	260	400	1,620
1979	280	400	1,620
1980 to 1989	300	400	1,620
1990 to 1998	500	400	1,620
1999 to 2000	c 700	400	1,620
2001	740	1,290	5,200
2002	780	1,320	5,340
2003	800	1,340	5,410
2004	810	1,370	5,520
2005	830	1,410	5,670
2006	860	1,460	5,910
2007	900	1,510	6,100
2008	940	1,550	6,240
2009	980	1,640	6,600
2010	1,000	1,640	6,600
2011	1,000	1,640	6,600
2012	1,010	1,700	6,840
2013	1,040	1,730	6,960
2014	1,070	1,750	7,060
2015	$1,090	$1,780	$7,180
2016	1,130	1,780	7,180
2017	1,170	1,790	7,200
2018	1,180	1,820	7,350
2019	1,220	1,870	7,550
2020	1,260	1,900	7,670

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a

Under current regulations, this amount increases yearly based on changes in the cost of living.

b

According to regulation, SSA bases increases in 2001 and subsequent years on increases in the national average wage index. SGA rules do not apply to blind recipients under the SSI program.

c

Increased to $700 in July 1999.

 

We discuss the incentives for work and opportunities for rehabilitation in more detail in section III.E. In the following tables, we provide historical information on participation by SSI recipients in work incentive programs.¹

a. Numbers of Participants in Work Incentive Programs

In this section, we present historical data on participation by SSI recipients in work incentive programs. Table V.E2 presents historical numbers of SSI recipients categorized according to their section 1619 status. Figure V.E1 presents this information in graphical form.

Table V.E2.—SSI Federally Administered Blind or Disabled Working Recipients
as of December, 1987‑2019 

Year	In current-payment status			Total workers
	1619(a) workers a	Other workers  b	1619(b) workers   c
1987	14,559	142,664	15,632	172,855
1988	19,920	153,599	15,625	189,144
1989	25,655	161,928	18,254	205,837
1990	13,994	182,421	23,517	219,932
1991	15,531	186,824	27,264	229,619
1992	17,603	199,665	31,649	248,917
1993	20,028	210,322	35,299	265,649
1994	24,315	217,478	40,683	282,476
1995	28,060	223,573	47,002	298,635
1996	31,085	225,310	51,905	308,300
1997	34,673	228,093	57,089	319,855
1998	37,271	229,662	59,542	326,475
1999	25,528	245,825	69,265	340,618
2000	27,542	249,313	83,572	360,427
2001	22,100	247,555	76,455	346,110
2002	17,271	241,462	82,177	340,910
2003	17,132	235,453	71,097	323,682
2004	17,114	237,409	73,681	328,204
2005	17,621	240,744	78,205	336,570
2006	17,394	242,676	89,350	349,420
2007	16,939	242,854	97,551	357,344
2008	16,142	240,138	99,482	355,762
2009	11,900	236,741	91,534	340,175
2010	11,305	234,481	72,751	318,537
2011	11,763	235,248	65,768	312,779
2012	11,813	233,915	67,927	313,655
2013	12,054	232,196	67,818	312,068
2014	12,757	231,922	70,233	314,912
2015	13,098	238,577	76,333	328,008
2016	13,480	242,778	80,579	336,837
2017	15,210	238,117	88,890	342,217
2018	14,443	232,895	94,708	342,046
2019	14,368	225,763	102,076	342,207

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a

Includes disabled workers whose earnings are above SGA level.

b

Includes blind workers in current-payment status and disabled workers whose earnings are at or below SGA level.

c

1619(b) recipients are not in current-payment status but retain SSI recipient status for Medicaid purposes.

 

 

 

Figure V.E1.—SSI Federally Administered Blind or Disabled Working Recipients
as of December, 1987‑2019

[In thousands]

[D]

Table V.E3 presents historical numbers of SSI recipients who benefit from other selected work incentive provisions: (1) PASS; (2) IRWE; and (3) BWE. These recipients may be benefiting from more than one of these selected work incentive provisions. This information is available only for calendar years 1990 and later.

 

Table V.E3.—SSI Federally Administered Blind or Disabled Individuals with SSI Recipient Status
Participating in Other Work Incentives as of December, 1990‑2019 

Year	PASS  a			IRWE	BWE
	Non-workers	Workers	Total
1990	1,215	1,040	2,255	5,384	4,385
1991	1,969	1,601	3,570	6,546	4,330
1992	3,189	2,658	5,847	7,813	4,454
1993	4,528	3,602	8,130	8,629	4,406
1994	5,842	4,487	10,329	9,484	4,380
1995	5,719	4,603	10,322	9,940	4,433
1996	2,760	1,944	4,704	9,799	4,230
1997	1,290	708	1,998	9,637	4,116
1998	712	362	1,074	9,301	3,802
1999	698	347	1,045	9,520	3,971
2000	862	520	1,382	9,422	3,895
2001	1,024	576	1,600	8,798	3,642
2002	1,150	571	1,721	8,047	3,386
2003	1,181	524	1,705	7,604	3,074
2004	1,112	486	1,598	6,874	2,827
2005	1,089	493	1,582	6,310	2,552
2006	1,098	485	1,583	5,650	2,370
2007	1,003	512	1,515	5,161	2,142
2008	1,074	485	1,559	4,572	1,925
2009	1,037	420	1,457	3,862	1,643
2010	1,001	392	1,393	3,491	1,847
2011	882	405	1,287	3,339	1,570
2012	760	356	1,116	3,157	1,410
2013	612	336	948	2,982	1,284
2014	545	317	862	3,040	1,145
2015	480	341	821	3,188	1,161
2016	433	259	692	3,128	1,068
2017	363	272	635	3,065	1,022
2018	332	236	568	2,942	955
2019	295	185	480	2,941	876

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a

For years 1990 through 1996, data do not include PASS plans that exclude only resources.

Note: Working recipients participating in these other work incentives may be 1619(a) recipients, 1619(b) recipients, or other working recipients.

b. Average Earnings of Participants in Work Incentive Programs

In this section, we present historical data on average earnings of SSI working recipients. Table V.E4 presents average earnings of SSI recipients categorized according to their section 1619 status.

 

Table V.E4.—Average Monthly Earnings of SSI Federally Administered Blind or
Disabled Working Recipients, as of December, 1987‑2019 

Year	Blind or disabled workers with SSI recipient status
	In current-payment status			Total workers
	1619(a) workers  a	Other workers b	1619(b) workers  c
1987	$494	d $124	$739	d  $211
1988	522	d  127	721	d  218
1989	518	d  131	712	d  231
1990	712	145	746	245
1991	724	148	780	262
1992	726	150	781	271
1993	728	153	784	280
1994	746	157	803	301
1995	754	160	834	322
1996	764	162	881	344
1997	772	164	932	367
1998	772	182	954	390
1999	926	207	980	418
2000	945	239	1,048	481
2001	1,004	252	1,043	475
2002	1,043	253	1,094	495
2003	1,059	241	1,081	469
2004	1,076	246	1,070	474
2005	1,111	255	1,118	500
2006	1,166	258	1,193	542
2007	1,193	262	1,267	581
2008	1,235	259	1,340	605
2009	1,262	252	1,327	577
2010	1,260	244	1,266	513
2011	1,265	248	1,261	499
2012	1,298	257	1,318	526
2013	1,321	266	1,374	548
2014	1,332	284	1,431	582
2015	1,358	306	1,468	618
2016	1,384	337	1,484	654
2017	1,397	362	1,544	715
2018	1,453	396	1,631	783
2019	1,492	418	1,750	860

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a

Workers’ earnings are above the SGA level. See table V.E1 for yearly SGA levels.

b

Disabled workers’ earnings are at or below the SGA level.

c

1619(b) recipients are not in current-payment status but retain SSI recipient status for Medicaid purposes.

d

Estimated.

2. Vocational Rehabilitation/Ticket to Work Program

Provisions designed to make VR services available to SSI blind or disabled recipients have been part of the SSI program since its inception. From the beginning, the Social Security Administration (SSA) referred SSI recipients to State VR agencies, which provided services to those recipients they accepted as clients. Prior to 1981, SSA made block grants to VR agencies to fund services to disabled beneficiaries. The 1981 amendments changed this and established a “cost” reimbursement provision. Under this provision, we reimburse VR agencies for the cost of VR services furnished to blind or disabled SSI recipients who are successful in returning to work. For reimbursement purposes, we consider recipients to have “successfully” returned to work if they achieve SGA-level earnings for nine continuous months; or nine of 12 months if the reason for the non-SGA months was beyond the recipient's control and not related to their impairment.

The 1984 amendments authorized reimbursement for cases where the recipient medically recovers while engaged in a program of rehabilitation services approved by SSA and SSA determines that continuation or completion of such a program would increase the likelihood the individual will permanently leave the rolls.² The 1990 amendments authorized reimbursement for the cost of services the VR agencies provide in months in which the individual is not receiving Federal SSI benefits if the individual:

•	Has special SSI recipient status for Medicaid purposes under section 1619(b) of the Social Security Act;

•	Receives a federally administered State supplementation payment; or

•	Temporarily loses eligibility for SSI benefits for fewer than 13 consecutive months for a reason other than cessation of disability or blindness.

In 1994, SSA amended the regulations to include reimbursement to alternate private and non-State public VR providers (“alternate participants”) that provided VR services to recipients that a State VR agency had not accepted as clients. The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 subsequently replaced the alternate provider program with the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency program (Ticket to Work program).

Under the Ticket to Work program, a disabled beneficiary may obtain VR, employment and other support services from qualified private or public providers — “Employment Networks” (EN). The Ticket to Work program authorizes the Commissioner to provide payments to ENs under either an outcome payment system or an outcome-milestone payment system.³ By expanding the pool of providers and giving the providers incentives for achieving success, this program provides access to these services for persons with disabilities to assist them in finding, entering, and retaining employment as well as reducing their dependence on cash benefits.

Beginning in February 2002, SSA implemented the Ticket to Work program on a State-by-State basis and completed implementation in September 2004. As we implemented the Ticket to Work program in each State, we eliminated the alternate provider and the traditional VR referral process described earlier. SSA provides eligible individuals who receive SSI benefits due to blindness or disability in such a State with access to employment support services. Ticket-eligible beneficiaries may use the Ticket to obtain VR services, employment services, and other support services needed to return to work or go to work for the first time from ENs or their State VR agencies. Individuals not eligible for a Ticket may still request services from a State VR agency; the VR agency continues to decide whether each beneficiary is eligible for services under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

The Ticket to Work program legislation required that SSA establish a corps of work incentives specialists to disseminate accurate information about work incentives. In addition, the Social Security Protection Act of 2004 mandated that SSA provide a work report receipt to the beneficiary. SSA responded to these mandates with the following actions:

•	Most field offices have a Work Incentive Liaison (WIL) who works with outside organizations that serve disabled and blind people. WILs are field office points of contact that are considered subject matter experts and can assist a recipient with his or her needs when returning to work.

•

In fiscal year 2003, SSA established the Area Work Incentives Coordinator (AWIC) position and trained a total of 58 AWICs, assigning at least one AWIC to each Area Director’s Office. We created the AWIC position to improve the quality of employment support services provided to beneficiaries through training, outreach, and better coordination of support services. As of fiscal year 2020, there are 51 AWICs on duty.

•

In fiscal year 2004, SSA released eWork, a web-based design application that provides a uniform electronic system to process and control Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) return to work cases. Since eWork does not communicate with any SSI systems, SSA developed a web-based application, the SSI Monthly Wage Verification (SSIMWV), to process and control SSI work reports. The SSIMWV allows SSA employees to issue the mandated work report receipt in addition to processing the wage report. We released SSIMWV nationally in November 2006.

•

In fiscal year 2006, SSA awarded cooperative agreements in all States, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories under the new Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) program, which replaced and enhanced the former Benefits Planning, Assistance, and Outreach program. The WIPA program provides accurate information about work incentive programs and other employment support services, as well as planning and assistance services, to beneficiaries with disabilities to support and facilitate their transition into the workforce. Funding for the WIPA program terminated in the summer of 2012. We reinstated the WIPA program in August 2013. When the program restarted, some of the prior awardees were not available to provide services. SSA negotiated with some of the prior WIPA awardees to increase their coverage areas so that the program would continue to provide full coverage across the country. Ninety-five WIPAs received funding that expired July 31, 2015. SSA hosted a full and open WIPA competition in the spring of 2015 and awarded a new cadre of 83 WIPAs on August 1, 2015. Thirty-two of the 83 projects cover one entire state, and six of the 32 cover an entire state or US territory as well as all or part of another state or U.S. territory.

•

In fiscal year 2008, we implemented the Supplemental Security Income Telephone Wage Reporting (SSITWR) system nationally to help reduce wage-related improper payments and facilitate timely and accurate wage reporting. SSITWR is an automated system that uses a toll-free dedicated telephone number, with touch-tone entry and voice-recognition software. It allows SSI recipients, their representative payees, and deemors to report gross wages from the prior month over the phone. Beginning in fiscal year 2014, wage reporters can use the SSITWR on any day of the month to successfully report wages for the prior month. SSITWR posts successful wage reports to the SSI record without intervention from an SSA employee and adjusts subsequent SSI payment amounts before we issue the payment. The system also issues an automated receipt to the SSI recipient and his or her representative payee for each successful wage report as required by section 202 of the Social Security Protection Act of 2004.

•

In fiscal year 2013, we implemented the Supplemental Security Income Mobile Wage Reporting (SSIMWR) system nationally. SSIMWR is the first transactional mobile application available in the Google play and Apple App Stores for SSI recipients, deemors, and representative payees to report monthly wages using either Android or Apple smartphone platforms. A successful attempt automates the wage reporting process and posts the gross amount to the SSR, reducing improper payments and field office handling. SSIMWR functionality mirrors that of SSITWR, but on a mobile platform.

•

In fiscal year 2017, SSA released myWageReport (myWR). myWR is an online wage reporting tool which addresses Section 826 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 that required the Agency to implement a system that would allow Social Security disability beneficiaries and representative payees to report wages through electronic means and automatically issue a receipt. In fiscal year 2018, SSA expanded the use of myWR to SSI recipients, deemors, and representative payees. It allows wage reporters to report wages via desktop, laptop, or mobile device. Successful wage reports post to the SSI record without intervention from SSA employees and adjust subsequent SSI payments before we issue the payment. The tool also generates a receipt that can be viewed, printed, and saved on the reporter's device.

AWICs have also been very active in participating in outreach activities in their local areas and continue to be the primary point of contact for public information outreach in the communities. They have strengthened the relationship with our Ticket to Work program partners. AWICs also work closely with the regional PASS cadres in SSA to make joint educational presentations to the community about our employment support programs. The partnership has strengthened support of one of the objectives of the Ticket to Work program, which is to educate the public about the benefits of returning to work and becoming self-sufficient. We have made presentations directly to persons with disabilities and organizations that provide services to this target group, including presentations at:

•	Work Incentives Seminar Events4

•	Disability Employment Fairs

•	Disability Forums and Expos

•	Technical Colleges

•	Universities

•	Disability Resource Centers

•	One-Stop Career Centers (now called American Job Centers)

•	Small Business Administration Groups

•	Workforce Investment Fairs

•	Independent Living Councils’ Conferences

•	United Way Agencies

•	State Advocacy Groups

In 2008, we revised the Ticket to Work regulations to enhance beneficiary choice and improve the effectiveness of the program.  The revisions extended the program to all adult OASDI disabled and SSI blind or disabled beneficiaries, removed disincentives for Employment Networks to participate in the program, provided incentives for them to support beneficiaries through a more gradual return to work, and positioned them to better support ongoing retention of employment.

See section V.G.1.b for information on the evaluation of the Ticket to Work program.

Table V.E5 provides historical data on the number of VR agency reimbursement claims allowed and the amount of such awards for SSI recipients.

In the broader context of helping people with disabilities remain in the workforce, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 renewed SSA's authority to conduct demonstration projects involving the Disability Insurance program. SSA expects these new demonstrations to affect the SSI program since there are a large number of SSI recipients who concurrently receive Disability Insurance benefits. Many policies have been proposed that have the potential to achieve long-term gains in the employment and quality of life of people with disabilities. SSA is also exploring early-intervention measures, such as supportive employment services for individuals with mental impairments.

 

Table V.E5.—Vocational Rehabilitation Reimbursement Claims Allowed, Fiscal Years 1987‑2019 

Fiscal year	Concurrent Title II/XVI claims		Title XVI only claims		Total claims
	Number	Amount a (in thousands)	Number	Amount (in thousands)	Number	Amount  a  (in thousands)
1987	b	b	1,493	$10,010	b	b
1988	b	b	1,720	14,831	b	b
1989	b	b	1,871	18,366	b	b
1990	1,267	$3,290	2,819	22,832	4,086	$26,122
1991	1,445	4,325	2,171	20,615	3,616	24,940
1992	1,634	5,312	2,834	28,276	4,468	33,588
1993	1,928	6,670	2,158	22,264	4,086	28,934
1994	1,880	7,057	2,074	23,400	3,954	30,457
1995	2,140	7,761	2,229	26,402	4,369	34,162
1996	2,033	6,518	2,138	24,334	4,171	30,852
1997	2,735	8,541	2,914	31,532	5,649	40,073
1998	3,329	10,089	3,446	36,313	6,775	46,402
1999	3,572	11,403	4,046	42,281	7,618	53,684
2000	3,260	11,357	3,589	40,793	6,849	52,150
2001	2,388	9,590	2,763	34,842	5,151	44,432
2002	3,241	12,201	3,474	43,244	6,715	55,445
2003	2,139	8,110	1,993	25,238	4,132	33,348
2004	1,999	7,759	2,150	26,390	4,149	34,149
2005	1,883	7,420	1,692	21,866	3,575	29,286
2006	2,581	10,382	2,257	28,597	4,838	38,979
2007	2,037	8,407	1,871	26,468	3,908	34,875
2008	2,743	11,229	2,515	35,732	5,258	46,961
2009	2,567	11,046	2,373	34,801	4,940	45,847
2010	2,337	9,431	2,109	32,511	4,446	41,942
2011	1,300	6,551	1,407	23,196	2,707	29,747
2012	1,418	6,046	1,540	24,351	2,958	30,397
2013	2,788	12,847	2,636	40,167	5,424	53,014
2014	2,649	11,946	2,707	45,689	5,356	57,635
2015	3,070	14,296	3,843	65,298	6,913	79,593
2016	3,165	14,368	4,069	67,323	7,234	81,691
2017	2,586	6,010	3,422	25,268	6,008	31,278
2018	4,140	18,173	6,250	79,064	10,390	97,237
2019	3,498	15,155	5,816	70,521	9,314	85,677

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a

For concurrent Title II/XVI claims, amounts shown represent Title XVI portion of claim.

b

For fiscal years 1987-89, data on Title II reimbursement claims involving concurrent Title XVI reimbursement claims are not available.

Note: Totals do not necessarily equal the sums of rounded components.

Table V.E6 provides historical data on the number of Employment Network payments allowed and the amount of such payments for SSI recipients.

Table V.E6.—Employment Network Payments Allowed, Fiscal Years 2002‑2019^a 

Fiscal year	Concurrent Title II/XVI payments		Title XVI only payments		Total payments
	Numberb	Amount c (in thousands)	Numberb	Amount (in thousands)	Numberb	Amount c (in thousands)
2002	7	$1	1	d	8	$1
2003	138	19	260	$47	398	66
2004	245	35	674	127	919	162
2005	692	105	1,292	251	1,984	356
2006	975	137	1,648	317	2,623	454
2007	1,259	181	1,713	334	2,972	515
2008	1,827	274	2,524	520	4,351	794
2009	2,575	594	3,282	1,310	5,857	1,904
2010	3,461	864	3,819	1,704	7,280	2,568
2011	4,565	1,145	5,879	2,789	10,444	3,934
2012	5,577	1,359	6,257	2,971	11,834	4,330
2013	5,579	1,375	6,262	3,185	11,841	4,560
2014	7,627	2,029	8,683	5,023	16,310	7,052
2015	10,822	$2,637	11,819	$5,974	22,641	$8,611
2016	19,642	5,373	21,446	13,224	41,088	18,597
2017	16,496	4,216	20,735	11,978	37,231	16,194
2018	17,090	4,190	21,344	11,458	38,434	15,648
2019	16,182	3,157	21,704	10,314	37,886	13,831

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a

Does not include reimbursements to State VR agencies for Tickets assigned under the VR cost-reimbursement option.

b

Beginning in 2016, reflects a revised process used to identify payments to Employment Network service providers.

c

For concurrent Title II/XVI payments, amounts shown represent Title XVI portion of the payments.

d

Less than $500.

Note: Totals do not necessarily equal the sums of rounded components.

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1

More detailed information on participation by SSI recipients in work incentive programs is provided in the SSI Annual Statistical Report. Pub. No. 13-11827, prepared by the Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics, Social Security Administration.

2

The 1980 amendments provided for benefit continuation for such SSI recipients who were continuing in a VR program after their disability ended. Lawmakers extended the provision to blind recipients effective April 1988.

3

State VR agencies may elect on a case-by-case basis to receive payment under the traditional VR reimbursement system or as an EN under the outcome or outcome-milestone payment system.

4

Work Incentives Seminar Events are now hosted via a national monthly webinar format rather than as local, in-person events.