Deanna had long struggled with her disabilities. She had made it through college several years ago, but her bipolar condition had made it hard for her to keep a job or maintain her friendships. In her “up times,” she floated through life. But the one time she had a job, it didn’t last long. During her downs, her depression was very hard for her and often made her unable to work well. Her employer was understanding, but then, when Deanna was 23, her rheumatoid arthritis became severe, and the relentless pain sent her into a spiral of depression and painkillers. During that time she lost everything: her savings, her car, her friends. Her depression was so bad she couldn’t keep a job.

Deanna didn’t know what to do, so she got online to find out where people in Minnesota could get help when they had a disability and couldn’t work. She found DB101 and not knowing where to begin, decided to Chat with a Hub expert.

The person she spoke with explained that there were 2 common ways to get benefits: from the Social Security Administration (SSA) and state programs. To apply for these programs, she went to her local Social Security office and then to the Hennepin County Human Services & Public Health Department.

She didn’t end up qualifying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), because her short time in the workforce meant she didn’t have enough work credits. However, Deanna did qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), because she met Social Security’s definition of disability and had no income and low resources. That meant she started getting $967 per month directly deposited into her bank account. When she went to the county office, she discovered that she also qualified for $81 per month from the Minnesota Supplemental Aid (MSA) program. Like SSI, MSA is a program to help people with disabilities. And furthermore, anybody who qualifies for MSA also qualifies for SNAP (formerly Food Support/Food Stamps). By filing one application form, she could apply for MSA and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) at the same time.

The county told Deanna that she could also get Medical Assistance (MA) health coverage due to her low income. She was very relieved, because that would help pay for all of her medical expenses. To get (MA), she had to file a separate application from the application for MSA and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), but the county social worker helped her and within a month, she started getting all 3 benefits.

Through MA, Deanna found a treatment for her arthritis, but more importantly, she found a great therapist who helped her manage her bipolar disorder. There were many things that made her life hard. Still, Deanna felt like she had something to offer the world — a way she could help. Deanna’s therapist said that she had worked with many people who had similar conditions to Deanna’s and that she had heard about a program called Ticket to Work that helped people with disabilities find work.

Deanna spent a few minutes on the Internet and learned that Ticket to Work was a program created by Social Security for people in exactly her situation: people with disabilities who wanted to work. It offered all sorts of free services, like job training, help creating resumes, and job search support. Anybody on SSI or SSDI could do the Ticket to Work program, so she signed up. To sign up, she had to choose an Employment Network (EN). The EN would be the office that would help her get ready for and find work.

The Ticket to Work website had a list of ENs Deanna could choose from. She looked over the list and called up a few. She decided to go with Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS), a state agency that had an office in St. Paul. Deanna chose VRS as her EN because it was close to where she lived and when she called up, the person who answered the phone was very helpful.

With Ticket to Work, Deanna automatically qualified for free services at VRS. Since she told them that she wanted a job where she could help people, they helped her find training sessions about how to be supportive, how to lead group support sessions, and how to do some basic counseling. Then, Deanna worked with her VRS counselor to create a resume, practiced doing job interviews, and started her first real job search.

Deanna and her Ticket to Work Employment Network, Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS), looked at job listings for months. Deanna didn’t know where jobs were listed, but her counselor at VRS did, and he would show her job listings and help her figure out which ones to apply for. She got a few interviews, but nothing panned out at first.

Then one day, her counselor at VRS called to tell her that he thought he had found the perfect job for her, a $1,200-a-month part-time job at a woman’s shelter. She thought this sounded great, so she wrote a really nice cover letter for the job and sent it in along with a copy of her resume. A couple of days later, the shelter called her up to schedule an interview. She did a mock interview with her VRS counselor and felt confident for the real interview the following day. And that interview went fabulously — she got a call the next day with a job offer!

The job sounded great, but Deanna feared that taking the job might force her to lose her Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and her MA coverage, and with it, her therapist. It seemed strange, but Deanna wondered if remaining unemployed and staying on SSI could actually work out better than getting a job.

To try to figure things out, Deanna made a list of her top goals:

• Keep her MA coverage
• Continue seeing her therapist, and
• Make more money by working than she would get by sticking with her SSI and MSA.

She wasn’t sure if she could accomplish all these things, but she decided if it could be done, she wanted to take the job. She remembered that DB101 had a Benefits and Work Estimator, so she tried it out and learned that she might be able to take the job and still get some benefits. But she really wanted to get advice from another person, just to be totally sure.

DB101 pointed her to the Minnesota Work Incentives Connection, who set her up with a benefits expert named Ruth. Ruth was trained in benefits issues including those related to Social Security work rules and MA.

Deanna told Ruth the whole complicated situation over the phone. Ruth had heard similar tales many times before; people wanted to return to work but were afraid of losing their benefits.

“I know you are in a rush to figure this out so you can respond to the job offer. Can you come by my office tomorrow?” Ruth asked. Deanna agreed and got together all her important papers in a folder – bank statements, SSI deposit notices, and MA paperwork. The next day she took the folder with her when she went to see Ruth at her office.

Deanna was on Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which directly deposited $967 into her bank account on the first day of each month. Deanna also got $81 each month from Minnesota Supplemental Aid (MSA), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and had Medical Assistance (MA) health coverage. Each of these benefits had its own eligibility rules, but since they all were designed to help people go back to work, Ruth said that Deanna would almost certainly be better off taking the job after they did all the calculations.

How the Job Would Impact Deanna’s Benefits

First, Ruth said that it would be best to figure out how taking this job would affect Deanna’s income. Deanna was getting direct deposits into her bank account from 2 different programs: SSI and MSA. So, Ruth had to help her figure out how making $1,200 at a job each month would change those benefits.

She explained, “Look, you get SSI and MSA because you don’t make much money. When you make money at a job, your SSI and MSA will go down or could disappear. That said, overall, when you figure in the money you earn at a job, you’ll always be better off working. Let’s start doing the math.”

Ruth explained everything and gave her a printout of Deanna’s situation, entitled “Deanna’s SSI Countable Income Calculation.”

1. Find your countable unearned income. This is your monthly unearned income (an SSDI benefit, for example) minus a $20 general income exclusion. Deanna didn’t have any unearned income.
2. Find your countable earned income.
   1. Take your gross monthly earned income and subtract a $65 earned income exclusion. Deanna would be earning $1,200 a month and since she didn’t have any unearned income, she could subtract both the $65 earned income exclusion and the $20 general income exclusion from her earned income.
   2. If you have any Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWE), you can also subtract them from your earned income. Deanna didn’t have any, so she skipped this step.
   3. Take the resulting figure and divide by 2 to find your countable earned income. “See?” said Ruth. “It’s counting less than half of the money you’d make at work.”
3. Add your countable unearned income and your countable earned income to figure out your total countable income for SSI.

Deanna's Countable Income

Deanna's Monthly Unearned Income	$0.00
Deanna's Monthly Earned Income	$1,200.00
Minus the unused portion of Deanna's $20 General Exclusion	- $20.00
Minus the $65 Earned Income Exclusion	- $65.00
Minus Deanna's Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWEs)	- $0.00
Subtotal
Divide by two	÷ 2
Deanna's Countable Earned Income

Ruth explained that since Deanna's total countable income of $557.50 was lower than SSI's monthly benefit rate of $967 for an individual, Deanna would keep getting SSI, but less than before. “We subtract your countable income from the SSI monthly benefit rate to see what you would get." She did some more math on another sheet of paper and handed it to Deanna, "But, since you'll still have the $1,200 from your job each month and will keep getting the $81 from MSA, your total income will be a lot more than it was before you had a job. You'll even keep getting SNAP.”

Deanna's Total Income (with a job)

SSI Maximum Benefit	$967.00
Minus Total Countable Income	- $557.50
Deanna's SSI Benefit
Deanna's Monthly Earned Income	+ $1,200.00
Deanna's Other Monthly Unearned Income	+ $0.00
Deanna's Monthly MSA benefit	+ $81.00
Deanna's Total Monthly Income

Deanna’s eyes widened when she saw the numbers, “$1,690.50 is way more than the $1,048 I've been getting each month from SSI and MSA combined. I’ll be much better off if I get a job!”

“Right,” said Ruth. “Now remember, when you take that job, you’ve got to report your change in income to Social Security right away, so they don’t keep paying your SSI benefits at the old rate. If that happens, you’ll just have to pay it back later, and nobody wants that.”

“Got it,” said Deanna. “Now what about my MA health coverage? Will I get to keep it too?”

Ruth said it was a lot easier to figure out whether Deanna would keep qualifying for MA. “MA seems kind of confusing at first, because there’re several ways to qualify. But really, almost anybody who gets SSI will also qualify for MA. The only thing you have to do is make sure to update your information with your local county or tribal human services office, so that your MA coverage continues.”

“Great!” laughed Deanna, “I’ve got to go call up the women’s shelter and tell them that I’m ready to start on Monday!”

On her first day of work at the women’s shelter, Deanna’s new employer gave her a lot of papers to fill out, including stuff about benefits for full-time employees, but Deanna was just working part-time, so there were no benefits for her. She thought about how nice it would be to someday work full-time and get all those benefits, make more money, and maybe even be able to buy a home one day, but then she got back to doing her paperwork. She figured that this job would just be the first step toward fulfilling her dreams.

While Deanna spent some of her new income on living better, she also was able to put a little of it away in a bank account. Her goal was to save up $125 a month from her job, and she was doing well. By the time she had been working at the shelter for a year, she had put away $1,500.

That March, Deanna turned 30 and she realized that if she wanted to fulfill her dream of buying her own home, she’d have to save up a lot more than $1,500. But how would she earn enough money to really start saving money and buy a house if she didn’t even have a full-time job?

Deanna needed to figure out a plan that would help her achieve her goals over the long-term, so she decided that she needed to talk to the benefits expert again. She called up Ruth at the Minnesota Work Incentives Connection one afternoon and scheduled a meeting for the following week.

When Deanna went in, she took documentation about her work income, her benefits, and her bank account. After Ruth looked them over, she commented, “It looks like you’ve saved up $1,500 so far. That’s a good start, but it’s probably not enough to buy a house yet. There are 2 things for us to think about: you are getting close to SSI’s resource limit and you have to come up with a way to earn more money over the long-term.”

Deanna nodded.

“Fortunately,” continued Ruth, “Social Security has a program for people on SSI that lets them save up more money than SSI usually allows so they can meet a professional goal.”

“Really? And I wouldn’t lose my SSI?” asked Deanna.

Ruth smiled, “Yes, in fact, your SSI benefit will even go up.”

Ruth then began explaining how Social Security’s Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) program worked. It lets people on SSI save money in a special account that isn’t counted as part of a person’s resources or income.

“For example,” Ruth said, “You currently make $1,200 per month at your job, which for SSI is $557.50 in countable income. If you put that $557.50 into a PASS, SSI would no longer count that money as income, so you’d have no countable income and your SSI benefit would go up to the maximum possible benefit amount, $967 per month. After just 4 months, you’d have more than SSI’s resources limit saved up, but since the money is in a PASS account, you’ll keep getting SSI. What you need to do is come up with a professional goal that will help you earn more, so that you can meet your long-term goal of buying a home. Have you thought at all about what sort of job you’d like in the future?”

Deanna thought for a moment. “Well, my boss at the shelter has been encouraging me to get a master’s in social work. She thinks it would be a great way for me to get a job as a counselor for women who have faced domestic violence. I really love the work I do, helping people, and I think her idea is splendid. The only problem is that I can’t really afford to get the master’s degree.”

Ruth cut in, “A master’s degree so that you can get a better job as a domestic violence counselor is a great professional goal for your PASS.” She then explained that Social Security’s PASS Cadre could help Deanna write up a detailed plan and fill out the application form: “The plan will have to explain how the money put into the PASS will help you with your goal. In this case, your plan will state that the money in your PASS account will help you pay for your education. Social Security will look at your plan, and if they think it’s viable, your PASS will be approved. After it’s approved, you have to follow your plan, put away the money, and then go get your degree. And of course, once you have your degree, you’ll be able to get a job that pays more than $1,200 per month and you’ll be able to save up money to make a down payment on your own house.”

Ruth continued, “So, let’s say your PASS is approved by Social Security and you start putting $557.50 each month into the PASS account.” Ruth got out a piece of scratch paper and started scribbling numbers and equations as she spoke.

“Here you go,” Ruth concluded. “Take a look at this and tell me what you think. This is the amount of countable income you’ll have if you get a PASS and put $557.50 into the account each month.”

Deanna's Countable Income (with PASS)

Deanna's Monthly Unearned Income	$0.00
Deanna's Monthly Earned Income	$1,200.00
Minus the unused portion of Deanna's $20 General Exclusion	- $20.00
Minus the $65 Earned Income Exclusion	- $65.00
Minus Deanna's Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWEs)	- $0.00
Subtotal
Divide by two	÷ 2
Subtotal
Minus Deanna's PASS Contribution	- $557.50
Deanna's Countable Income

Since her countable income was down to zero, Deanna’s SSI benefit would go up to $967 per month.

Deanna's Total Income (with PASS)

SSI Maximum Benefit	$967.00
Minus Total Countable Income	- 0.00
Deanna's SSI Benefit
Deanna's Monthly Earned Income	+ $1,200.00
Deanna's Other Monthly Unearned Income	+ $0.00
Deanna's Monthly MSA benefit	+ $81.00
Deanna's Total Monthly Income

Deanna lost her breath for a moment. “Wait,” she finally mustered, “does that mean that even though I’m making the same amount of money at work and even though in a few months my resources will go over SSI’s normal resources limit, I’ll keep getting SSI and my monthly benefit will actually go up? That sounds like magic!”

Ruth’s eyes twinkled. “Yes. Good stuff, isn’t it? Your gross monthly income will now be $1,200 from work plus $967 from SSI and $81 from MSA for a total of $2,248. You’ll be putting $557.50 of that each month into your PASS account to pay for school, so you’ll have $1,690.50 left over for your living expenses, the same amount to live on while using the PASS as you do now. And you’ll keep getting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as well.”

Deanna had one final question to ask: “What will happen with my MA coverage? Will this extra income interfere with that?”

“Not at all. Just let your local county or tribal human services office know that you are doing a PASS and they will ignore any income and assets related to the PASS.”

And so Deanna contacted the PASS Cadre. They asked her to apply for financial aid to see if she could get some grants or scholarships to help pay for school, in addition to PASS. Deanna applied and was surprised to learn that she was eligible for financial aid and would get most of her schooling costs covered that way. But the financial aid wasn’t enough to cover all the expenses, so the PASS Cadre helped Deanna fill out the PASS application.

Once approved, Deanna started saving up $557.50 each month, and in return she started getting a $557.50 increase in her SSI benefit. By September, Deanna had more than $3,300 in her PASS and she could afford to begin graduate school part-time, while continuing her part-time job at the shelter. To pay for school and her books not covered by financial aid, she used the money she had saved in her PASS account. And little by little, she got closer to finishing her degree, getting a better paying job, and being able to buy her own home.

Deanna went from living on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Minnesota Supplemental Aid (MSA) to getting a job and having a higher income. Then, she learned that a Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) could help her save up some money so that she could meet her long-term goal of getting a better job, which would eventually enable her to buy her own home. Thanks to Medical Assistance (MA), her medical expenses were covered the entire time.

To improve her life situation, Deanna:

• Read about disability benefits on DB101
• Used DB101’s Chat with a Hub expert feature to get help from a real person over the phone
• Applied for benefits at her local Social Security office and local county or tribal human services office and got SSI, MSA, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and MA
• Enrolled in the Ticket to Work program
• Got employment services from a Ticket to Work Employment Network, Vocational Rehabilitation Services
• Learned about a part-time job possibility
• Used DB101’s Benefits and Work Estimator to get an idea of how the new job could impact her benefits
• Got help from a benefits expert to make sure that with her job she would have more income than before and would not lose her health coverage
• Accepted the job and reported her new income to her local Social Security office and local county or tribal human services office
• Started saving up money and thinking about long-term goals
• Learned that a Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) could help her save up money for a work-related goal without losing her SSI, MSA, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or MA benefits
• Contacted the PASS Cadre to create her PASS and apply for approval from the Social Security Administration (SSA)

Once SSA approved her PASS application, Deanna started working on her master’s degree. Today Deanna is well on her way to completing it.