How Susan Did It

Susan was an architect and single mother. After an automobile accident, she spent 4 years without working due to disabilities caused by the accident. During that time, she got Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and her son got Social Security Child’s Benefits. He was covered by Medical Assistance (MA) the whole time, while she started out with MA and later got Medicare. When she felt ready to start working again, she learned that there were work incentives for people with disabilities.

To improve her life situation, Susan:

• Signed up for MA on MNsure
• Talked to a benefits expert
• Created an account on the Social Security website and began her application for SSDI benefits
• Applied for Social Security Child’s Benefits for her son, Griffin
• Began getting Medicare health coverage 2 years after her SSDI start date
• Spoke with a benefits expert about work incentives and learned about how she could give work a try without immediately losing benefits
• Looked for a job
• Found a job and requested reasonable accommodations
• Started saving up money in a bank account
• Signed up for MA-EPD at her local county or tribal human services office
• Reported the changes in her income to the local Social Security office and for Griffin’s health coverage on MNsure
• Switched Griffin from MA to an individual health plan due to Susan’s higher income

After Susan had been working and making more than $1,550 per month for an entire year, she and Griffin stopped getting benefits from Social Security. At that point, Susan decided to start working full-time.