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Social Security Archives
ANCOR - November 1999 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following fact sheet highlights the major achievements of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 for people with disabilities who want to work.
WORK INCENTIVES IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1999 November 18, 1999 Today, the House of Representatives passed the Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999, on a vote of 418 to 2. The President challenged Congress to pass this bill in his State of the Union address, and fully funded it in his 2000 budget. It gives people who want to work a chance to do so by removing the out-dated rules that end Medicaid and Medicare coverage when people with disabilities return to work. It modernizes the employment services system for people with disabilities. And, it affirms the basic principle manifested in the Americans with Disabilities Act: that all Americans should have the same opportunities to be productive citizens. Improves Health care options for people with disabilities by: Removing limits on the Medicaid buy-in option for workers with
disabilities. This act creates two new options for states that build on a Medicaid
buy-in, created by President Clinton in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. First,
it lets states remove the income limit of 250 percent of poverty (about $21,000),
allowing them to set higher income, unearned income, and resource limits. This
important change allows people to buy into Medicaid when their jobs pay more
than low wages but may not have access to private health insurance. Second,
it creates the option to allow people with disabilities to retain Medicaid coverage
even though their medical condition has improved as a result of medical coverage.
This act also provides $150 million over 5 years in health care infrastructure
grants to states to support people with disabilities who return to work. Creating a new Medicaid buy-in demonstration to help people who
are not yet too disabled to work. This act provides $250 million to states for
a demonstration to assess the effectiveness of providing Medicaid coverage to
people whose condition has not yet deteriorated enough to prevent work but who
need health care to prevent that level of deterioration. For example, a person
with muscular dystrophy, Parkinson's Disease, or diabetes may be able to function
and continue to work with appropriate health care, but such health care may
only be available once their conditions have become severe enough to qualify
them for SSI or SSDI and thus Medicaid or Medicare. This demonstration would
provide new information on the cost effectiveness of early health care intervention
in keeping people with disabilities from becoming too disabled to work. Extending Medicare coverage for people with disabilities who
return to work. This act extends Medicare Part A premium coverage for people
on Social Security disability insurance who return to work for another four
and a half years. This means the difference between a monthly premium of nearly
$350 (which is about the cost of purchasing Part A and B coverage) and $45.50.
Although Medicare does not currently provide prescription drugs which are essential
to people with disabilities, this assistance will be available nationwide, even
in states that do not take the Medicaid options. ENHANCES the employment services system by: Creating a "Ticket to Work Program." This new system will enable SSI or SSDI beneficiaries to obtain vocational rehabilitation and employment services from their choice of participating public or private providers. If the beneficiary goes to work and achieves substantial earnings, providers would be paid a portion of the benefits saved.
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