Successive 12-month periods: Six months work out of the last 12 with earnings in each of six months that preclude payment of Title II disability benefits and federal SSA cash benefits. Note: Beneficiaries can combine work and education to meet timely progress requirements. For example, Social Security is reviewing a beneficiary after the first 12-month period and he or she worked one month at trial work level (33.3 percent of work requirement) and attended school at 40 percent of full-time credit (66.7 percent of education requirement), he or she will have met the timely progress requirement. The combined percentages must add up to at least 100 percent. A Reference Chart is provided at the end of this resource document that lists the NOTE: various 12-month progress review periods and provides a description of the timely progress requirements. This chart is in a format that will be easy to use as a desk reference and is recommended for use when counseling beneficiaries on Ticket issues. Beneficiaries who don’t meet the timely progress requirements don’t lose their right to participate in the Ticket program. They only lose their right to protection from a medical CDR. The following discussion that follows elaborates on how the new timely progress provisions operate. The Work Requirement The following rules apply to individuals who seek to meet the timely progress requirements based only on their level of earnings (or net income from self-employment) for a particular review period: The first two review periods, at the end of years one and two, require work at the level to qualify as a work period (TWP) month for three months out of 12 and six months out of 12, respectively, during years one and two. This is a departure from the prior regulations, which only required adherence to active participation in an employment plan during the first 24-month progress review period. The second two review periods, at the end of years three and four, require work at the current substantial gainful activity (SGA) level for nine of 12 months in each year. In determining whether the beneficiary has achieved SGA-level work, Social Security makes no deductions for paid time off such as vacation, holiday, or sick time, and Social Security doesn’t consider work incentives such as impairment-related work expenses or subsidies to determine if countable earnings fall below the SGA level.
Successive 12-month periods: Six months work out of the last 12 with earnings in each of six months that preclude payment of Title II disability benefits and federal SSA cash benefits. Note: Beneficiaries can combine work and education to meet timely progress requirements. For example, Social Security is reviewing a beneficiary after the first 12-month period and he or she worked one month at trial work level (33.3 percent of work requirement) and attended school at 40 percent of full-time credit (66.7 percent of education requirement), he or she will have met the timely progress requirement. The combined percentages must add up to at least 100 percent. NOTE: A Reference Chart is provided at the end of this resource document that lists the various 12-month progress review periods and provides a description of the timely progress requirements. This chart is in a format that will be easy to use as a desk reference and is recommended for use when counseling beneficiaries on Ticket issues. Beneficiaries who don’t meet the timely progress requirements don’t lose their right to participate in the Ticket program. They only lose their right to protection from a medical CDR. The following discussion that follows elaborates on how the new timely progress provisions operate. The Work Requirement The following rules apply to individuals who seek to meet the timely progress requirements based only on their level of earnings (or net income from self-employment) for a particular review period: The first two review periods, at the end of years one and two, require work at the level to qualify as a work period (TWP) month for three months out of 12 and six months out of 12, respectively, during years one and two. This is a departure from the prior regulations, which only required adherence to active participation in an employment plan during the first 24-month progress review period. The second two review periods, at the end of years three and four, require work at the current substantial gainful activity (SGA) level for nine of 12 months in each year. In determining whether the beneficiary has achieved SGA-level work, Social Security makes no deductions for paid time off such as vacation, holiday, or sick time, and Social Security doesn’t consider work incentives such as impairment-related work expenses or subsidies to determine if countable earnings fall below the SGA level.
UnderstandingTtWProgram2018.docx