WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.080 [Narrator] Supplemental Security Income and  Work: a Griffin-Hammis production tailored   00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:11.920 for Minnesota. Do you receive SSI? Have you ever  wondered what would happen if you worked? Well,   00:00:11.920 --> 00:00:16.080 I'm here to tell you there are three great  things that can happen when you work. One,   00:00:16.080 --> 00:00:22.240 you'll have more money. Two, you can  stay connected to SSI. And three,   00:00:22.240 --> 00:00:27.440 you can keep Medical Assistance. That's a  great deal. It means that if you go to work,   00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:33.280 you can get ahead and still keep the safety  nets you need. There's a lot of confusion about   00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:39.960 SSI and work. Let's get the facts straight. Fact  number one: if you work, you'll have more money. 00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:42.400 [Person] Really? How is that possible? 00:00:42.400 --> 00:00:46.560 [Narrator] Let's say you land  a job making $1500 a month. 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:49.240 [Person] Hey, that sounds great. 00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:52.560 [Narrator] Can you guess  how much your SSI would be? 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:55.040 [Person] I'm guessing it would be zero. 00:00:55.040 --> 00:01:00.320 [Narrator] Actually, it's possible you could  still receive some SSI. When determining your   00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:04.640 benefit amount, Social Security reduces  your SSI by around half of whatever your   00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:14.240 wages are. If you started with $994 of  SSI, it would likely reduce to $286. So,   00:01:14.240 --> 00:01:24.160 you'd have $1500 of wages plus $286  of SSI, for a total of $1786 a month. 00:01:24.160 --> 00:01:27.800 [Person] Wow, I thought I would  have less money if I worked. 00:01:27.800 --> 00:01:30.800 [Narrator] Not at all. By working and earning this   00:01:30.800 --> 00:01:34.400 amount, you'll almost double your  monthly income. Isn't that cool? 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:36.920 [Person] Yeah, that's great. 00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:42.000 [Narrator] SSI fact number two: you  can stay connected to SSI while you   00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:46.120 work. Let's say you get a really  great job making $3000 a month. 00:01:46.120 --> 00:01:47.040 [Person] Cool. 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:50.880 [Narrator] When you earn this  amount, your SSI would be $0,   00:01:50.880 --> 00:01:54.520 but you'd still have $3000 in  wages, so you'd be getting ahead. 00:01:54.520 --> 00:01:59.600 [Person] Well, I like the idea of  having $3000, but what if I lost my job? 00:01:59.600 --> 00:02:05.120 [Narrator] That's exactly what this is about.  If earnings make your SSI drop to zero,   00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:10.880 you can still keep your SSI eligibility status.  It's a safety net that keeps you connected to the   00:02:10.880 --> 00:02:16.800 system. If you lose your job, just tell Social  Security. They will quickly restart your SSI. 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:19.040 [Person] Wow. That's great. 00:02:19.040 --> 00:02:27.120 [Narrator] Definitely. The name of this great  safety net is 1619b. SSI fact number three:   00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:31.280 you can keep Medical Assistance when  you work. Many people with disabilities   00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:33.560 rely on Medical Assistance for important services. 00:02:33.560 --> 00:02:36.160 [Person] Yeah, I'm one of those people. I use   00:02:36.160 --> 00:02:38.720 Medical Assistance to pay for  doctor visits and medication. 00:02:38.720 --> 00:02:41.440 [Narrator] Well, I've got great news. Because you   00:02:41.440 --> 00:02:44.880 get SSI, there are ways you can keep  Medical Assistance while you work. 00:02:44.880 --> 00:02:46.880 [Person] Really? How does that work? 00:02:46.880 --> 00:02:51.200 [Narrator] Well, if you continue getting some  SSI while you work, you'll simply keep Medical   00:02:51.200 --> 00:02:57.120 Assistance. In that scenario, your income is  still low enough to qualify. And if you work   00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:02.680 so much that your SSI is zero, you can still use  the 1619b safety net to keep medical assistance. 00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:03.880 [Person] That's fantastic. 00:03:03.880 --> 00:03:09.040 [Narrator] To use 1619b, you need to  follow all the SSI eligibility rules,   00:03:09.040 --> 00:03:14.200 but in Minnesota, you can earn up $84,208 a year. 00:03:14.200 --> 00:03:16.320 [Person] Wow, that's incredible. 00:03:16.320 --> 00:03:22.640 [Narrator] So, the moral of the story is that by  working, you can have more money, stay connected   00:03:22.640 --> 00:03:28.960 to SSI, maintain your Medical Assistance,  and have a better quality of life. With SSI,   00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:38.160 it pays to work. There are ways you can learn  more about all this at mn.db101.org. For example,   00:03:38.160 --> 00:03:44.720 you can read the SSI and work article, or you can  use the tool called the SSI Benefit Calculation to   00:03:44.720 --> 00:03:50.720 see what happens when you earn different amounts.  If you have a question about SSI and work,   00:03:50.720 --> 00:03:56.720 you can start a live chat by clicking the chat  link at the top or bottom of each page. And if   00:03:56.720 --> 00:04:00.160 you'd like to talk to someone about your  question, you can call the Disability Hub   00:04:00.160 --> 00:04:10.000 MN at 1-866-333-2466. Knowledge is power.  Take time to learn more about SSI and work.