Disability Benefits & Employment
Employment is the economic engine of our nation, communities and families. For people with disabilities, employment promotes greater independence, as well as more productive and fulfilling lives. Going to work doesn’t necessarily mean that you will lose your income and health coverage. Careful planning can help you maintain your benefits while you make the transition.
The purpose of these monthly 'topics' is to increase the basic awareness and conversational knowledge of programs and resources available to support competitive employment for persons with disabilities.
Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE) - April 2008
Medicaid Insurance for Workers with Disabilities (MIWD), referred to by some as Nebraska's Medicaid Buy-In, is intended to allow people who are competitively employed and who, because of wages would lose their benefits, to purchase Medicaid like private insurance.
Many people with disabilities want to work, but they don’t because they fear they will lose their needed Medicaid benefits. Nebraska’s Medicaid Insurance for Workers with Disabilities (MIWD) offers a workable solution to this problem. It allows people with disabilities who are working or want to work the opportunity to buy their health care coverage.
The purpose of ongoing evaluations of MIWD are to obtain an accurate picture of clients, determine the value of the program for the clients, evaluate the Medicaid Eligibility Workers’ awareness of program procedures, attitudes about people with disabilities and employment, and provide recommendations for improvement of MIWD.
If you receive disability benefits from the Social Security Administration, and are interested in working or learning more about how working would affect your benefits, you can get help from a community organization known as a Work Incentive Planning and Assistance (WIPA) project.
The Red Book is a general reference took designed to provide a working knowledge of these provisions. The Red Book is written primarily for educators, advocates, rehabilitation professionals, and counselors who serve individuals with disabilities. We also expect that applicants and beneficiaries will use it as a self-help guide.
The SSDI and SSI programs share many concepts and terms, however, there are also many, very important differences in the rules affecting eligibility and benefit payments.
The Department of Health and Human Services through the Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG) is exploring ways to expand the capacity for benefits planning for persons with disabilities. This work is being done in partnership with several state and federal organizations. Our goal is to build a statewide system for benefits planning that is included in the state’s employment and training infrastructure.
Useful Local and National resources
