A quick glance at the American workforce can send fear into any risk or claim management team:
• About 1 out of 6 Americans—57 million people—receive Social Security benefits;
• Average age of a beneficiary is 53 years old with the male population comprising nearly 53% of recipients; and
• The US workforce is getting older, which is resulting in longer absences from work following work injuries or disability.
Notwithstanding this bleak picture, there is opportunity in returning people to work through a little known program called “Ticket to Work.”
What is Ticket to Work?
Congress passed the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 to serve as a means to make the SSDI system sustainable and increase work incentives for people receiving SSDI and SSI benefits. The program also provides opportunity for employers to hire people with disabilities.
Punching Your Ticket to Work
The entry point of the Ticket to Work program is through an Employment Networks (EN), which are private entities who are responsible for identifying eligible workers on SSDI or SSI, discover their transferable job skills, assist with job search efforts and find employers willing to accept people into their work force who have a disabling condition. Once an eligible worker is successfully transitioned back to work, the employee’s government benefits are adjusted accordingly and the EN receives payment from the federal government. There is no cost to an employer who participates or hires workers through an EN.
Benefits of the Program for Employees
The obvious benefit of the program is to the U.S. taxpayer and the Social Security program. With increasing pressure on the federal disability program to pay benefits, anything done to alleviate the increasing burden helps keep the program solvent for future generations.
Disabled individual also win:
• Participants are allowed a trial work period that does not result in an immediate loss of government paid disability benefits;
• Medicare entitlement continues during program participation; and
• Not all workers who participate are required to undergo a medical continuing disability review.
Benefits of the Program for Employers
Employers also win by the possibility of having a permanent total disability determination modified as well as being a responsible corporate citizen. In fact, participation in the program is a plus for employers seeking or already servicing federal government contracts. States often award contract work based on the hiring of persons with disabilities as well.
There are also other intangible benefits to hiring people with disabilities:
• Tax incentives and credits;
• Lower operational costs and higher productivity;
• Responsible corporate stewardship and community recognition; and
• Better employee loyalty and decreased fear of injury-related terminations.
Getting Involved in the Program
A disabled person is only eligible for the Ticket to Work program after they are awarded SSDI benefits. As a result, proactive employers can mitigate workers’ compensation costs by adding the following steps to their risk management program:
• Coordinating with your insurer or third party administrator on Ticket to Work matters;
• Directing injured employees who suffer a work injury that could be categorized at PTD to the program before or at the time they make an application for SSDI; and
• Educating management about program participation and the benefits of being a part of the program.
Studies also show that contrary to popular belief, employees who suffer a PTD-type injury would rather get back into the workforce than collect a workers’ compensation and/or disability check. Education of the employee can also help rid them of a “disability mindset.”
Conclusion
The Ticket to Work program is something that benefits all stakeholders in the workers’ compensation system. It also provides goodwill and allows employers to mitigate costs while at the same time employing a disabled workforce that does not want to remain idle.
Author Michael B. Stack, CPA, Principal, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in employer communication systems and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.
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