Benefits Planning

A listing of content on the site related to disability benefits and benefits planning.

Download Work Incentives Information Services: Developing a State-Focused Training and Technical Assistance Center PDF

 

Download 12-01-2007 DB101 Calculator Press Release

 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

 

Benefits Assistance Resources Center (BARC)- Virginia Commonwealth University

 

Options: A Benefits Training Foundation

 

American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) Center for Workers with Disabilities

 

EQUITY Profile of the Month

Innovative Transitions: Nick Ensley- A typical 26 year old, except that two years ago a car crash left him paralyzed from the neck down and lives in a "skilled nursing facility". Yet, with the help of caring people, innovative asset building strategies, and Starbuck's- Nick is earning his way towards independence.

Summary: Being American: the Way Out of Poverty, Poverty and Disability in the U.S.

This Summary seeks a deeper inquiry into what Americans with disabilities expect of social insurance roles in the 21st Century, with focus on health care coverage and employment. The paper calls for an expanded national discussion to transform Social Security, Medicare and disability tax policies, as needed to increase employment rates of people with disabilities.

Cornell University Program on Employment and Disability- Introduction to Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS)

 

National Governor's Association- Center for Best Practices Strategies for Overcoming Serious Employment Barriers

 

Your Ticket to Work- MAXIMUS

 

Disability Benefits 101 (California only)

 

Welfare Law Center- Disabilities & Welfare Reform

 

EQUITY Feature Article

Structured Settlements: Reducing Financial Insecurity in an Insecure World, Randy Dyer. Structured Settlements are an option for people that have been involved in accidents, malpractice lawsuits, or worker's compensation cases. Here are some of the reasons they might be the best choice for people with disabilities.

The California Working Disabled Program: Lessons Learned, Looking Ahead

The California Working Disabled Medi-Cal Buy-In Program (CWD) was implemented in April 2000 to enable disabled individuals to participate in the workforce without the threat of losing their Medi-Cal coverage. Although a relatively new program, policymakers and advocates have already begun considering programmatic and policy changes that would build on the existing program, expand eligibility, and broaden access to certain services.

Protection and Advocacy, Inc. California

Publications include topics on health care, benefit programs and In Home Supportive Services.

Neighborhood Legal Services

This site provides information on public assistance, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid/Medicare, National Assistive Technology Project, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and a number of other legal issues pertinent to people with disabilities.

Western Center on Law and Poverty

The Western Center on Law and Poverty site contains articles and legal information on welfare, health care and housing issues. It provides an Advocate and Self-Help Resource Center with tools, case summaries, publications and links.

Disability Benefits & Income

 

State Disability Insurance – SDI

The official web-site for California State Disability Insurance: application, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and contact information.

Social Security Administration - SSA

The official web-site for the Social Security Administration. Comprehensive information on the Social Security Administration, including Frequently Asked Questions, explanations of services and benefits, articles and legislative information: www.socialsecurity.gov or www.ssa.gov.

The Blue Book (Disability Evaluation Under Social Security)

The complete Listing of Impairments used to determine SSA disability, for each major body system, conditions considered severe enough to prevent a person from doing any Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA). When in print, its cover gave this guide its nickname, The Blue Book.

Welfare Information Network

 

The Red Book (A Guide to SSI and SSDI Employment Support for Persons with Disabilities)

Information for providers and advocates about the employment-related provisions of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs.

Barrier Breakers

Detailed information on the SSI Plan for Achieving Self-Support program (PASS). Also includes action-alerts, links and a chat room focused on Social Security issues.

Search site for U.S. Government agencies

This site is the U.S. government’s official web portal. It is a gateway to government links for citizens, businesses and government employees.

Federal disability resource site

Informational portal on civil rights, education, employment, housing, health care, and transportation.

Federal Poverty Level

Each year, the Federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issues the Federal Poverty Guidelines in the Federal Register. These guidelines provide a simplified means to determine financial eligibility for certain federal and state programs.

EQUITY Tip of the Month

How to establish a technical assistance and training center addressing work incentives and benefits.

Disability Benefits Circle Syndrome

Disability Benefits 101 Information Services has met some of the needs for consumers, benefits planners, and county services staff. We provide a single place to navigate the complex nature of the interaction between public and private disability benefits, health care choices, employment situations and asset planning using plain language explanations and innovative benefits planning calculators.

Download Veterans’ Benefits Online Tools Findings Project Final Report (PDF)

 

In-Home Supportive Services- offered by the State of California

 

Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Section 8 Housing Subsidy

 

WID Launches The Veterans' Benefits Online Tools Project

The California Work Incentives Initiative at WID spent last fall working with six national veterans and disability organizations to produce a Veterans' Benefits Online Tools Findings Report. WID is very proud to share that we are using this report to start the planning to build a national online benefits tools and information services web site, so veterans can better navigate benefit programs and secure available employment as they transition to civilian life.

New Tools and New Rules 2007

Seamless access to health care is a complicated but upfront quality of life issue for people with disabilities. While gaining independence is at the core of the struggle for affordable, accessible health care, many people find health care programs available to people with disabilities hard to work with. Read this article to learn more about policy for the 250% Working Disabled Program and new calculator tools.

WID’s new Veterans’ Benefits 101 (VB101) Project to create online tools and information services for U.S. veterans with disabilities

Recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have increased the number of veterans with disabilities in the U.S., including many who have survived serious injuries due to medical and technological advances not available in previous wars. Like most people with disabilities, newly disabled veterans want to find a job, continue their education, raise a family or otherwise get on with living their lives. Also like many other people with disabilities, newly disabled veterans are faced with maneuvering the myriad of programs and services available to them to restart their lives and support their employment and educational goals, but many give up along the way or miss opportunities as a result of this complex maze of bureaucracies. To support both individual veterans and service providers to facilitate veterans’ smooth transition back to work and manage and maximize the programs, benefits, services and opportunities afforded veterans with disabilities, WID is building understandable, comprehensive, and interactive online tools so that veterans can take better control of their own benefits planning process.

WID Releases Ground-Breaking Manual on Work Incentives and Benefits

State and federal rules on access to health coverage and benefits can bewilder even a Ph.D. Some programs, like Social Security disability benefits, have thousands of pages of laws and regulations governing them. Every program has its own unique set of rules on interaction with other programs. The resulting confusion can have a devastating impact on people using more than one program or contemplating a return to work. What can state agencies and other organizations do to help people with disabilities navigate this network and improve their lives? In a groundbreaking new manual—Work Incentives Information Services: Developing a State-Focused Training and Technical Assistance Center—the California Work Incentives Initiative (CWII) at the World Institute on Disability (WID) presents a clear blueprint on how to establish a technical assistance and training center (“TA Center”) addressing these issues.

EQUITY e-newsletter: March 2004

Public Disability Benefits & Asset Building

EQUITY e-newsletter: May 2005

State Asset Building - Financing Full Inclusion

Working Without Losing Healthcare or Other Needed Benefits: Training and Technical Assistance for Organizations

Finding ways to combine public and employer-sponsored health care is still a specialty of only a handful of benefits planners nationwide. Modest investments of time in training staff can yield valuable results in new employment outcomes for people with disabilities. WID’s California Work Incentives Initiative (CWII) provides information to help navigate those points where health coverage rules and benefits laws are most problematic and complex: when a consumer considers new employment or a job change, or when several programs interact with one another to support employment.

California Work Group on Work Incentives and Health Care (the CWG)

The CWG is a grassroots center on public policy for workers and job seekers with disabilities to gain full access to employment. Since 2000, CWII has provided staff and logistical support allowing CWG participants to build consensus-based recommendations for improved employment and health care law. Close to 300 participants include associates from over eighty community based organizations, as well as advocates, consumers, benefits planners, youth and staff from state and federal programs.

Being American: The Way Out of Poverty

In 2004, the U.S. employment rate of working-age people with disabilities was 37.5 percent, compared to 77.8 percent for working-age people without disabilities. Government programs in place now have two ways of addressing this issue. One is to support employment through work and tax incentives. This aspect of current policy is ineffective for the portion of that population who are ready and able to work, but are not currently in the workforce. For those who show that they are unable to work, current policy is more successful. Government programs provide crucial wage replacement income for this population. We propose new solutions that will protect and improve wage replacement for those who show they cannot work, while providing employment supports to those who can.

DB101

 

Benefits Planning Sessions

Disability Benefits tools provide service providers and consumers with accurate planning and explanation of programs through public trainings and online benefits calculators. Learning power is provided in both Spanish and English to increase cultural competency of all materials on the DB 101 website.

Being American: the Way Out of Poverty, Poverty and Disability in the U.S.

This policy analysis is a collection of discussions, topical areas and recommendations that seek a deeper inquiry into what Americans with disabilities expect of social insurance roles in the 21st Century, with focus on health care coverage and employment. The paper calls for an expanded national dialogue to transform Social Security, Medicare and disability tax policies, as needed to increase employment rates of people with disabilities.

EQUITY Feature Article

Disability Policy: Uniting Forces for the Social and Economic Inclusion of All People- Megan O’Neil, World Institute on Disability, illustrates how not all government policy is created the same. There are new and exciting policy opportunities for people with disabilities and by collaborating with asset building organizations, we can create a more equitable society.

EQUITY Responds: WID Answers Your Questions

Q- I just heard that this stimulus plan actually has something for people on SSI, is that true?