[Iabs-talk] Fwd: SSDI Stories Needed - Correction

Sat Jun 13 15:48:24 UTC 2015

I have been asked to forward the follwing. Please see below.

Denise R. Avant
President, National Federation Of The Blind Of Illinois
Live the life you want

> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: "Sloan, Rose" <rsloan at nfb.org>
> Subject: RE: SSDI Stories Needed - Correction
> Date: June 12, 2015 at 3:34:42 PM CDT
> To: "State President, Illinois" <davant1958 at gmail.com>, "State President, Indiana" <StatePresidentIndiana at nfb.org>, "State President, Florida" <valkemadenise at aol.com>, "State President, Pennsylvania" <president at nfbp.org>, "State President, New York" <office at nfbny.org>, "State President, Ohio" <peduffy63 at gmail.com>
> 
> All:
>  
> My apologies for the second email. I accidently attached the wrong version of the fact sheet.  This one is the correct one. Please disregard the earlier attachment.
>  
> Best,
>  
> Rose
>  
> Rose Sloan
> Government Affairs Specialist
> National Federation of the Blind
>  
> “Eliminating Subminimum Wages for People with Disabilities”
> http://www.nfb.org/fairwages <http://www.nfb.org/fairwages>
>  
> From: Sloan, Rose 
> Sent: Friday, June 12, 2015 4:15 PM
> To: State President, Illinois; State President, Indiana; State President, Florida; State President, Pennsylvania; State President, New York; State President, Ohio
> Subject: SSDI Stories Needed
>  
> Dear Ron, Jim, Eric, Denise, Denise, and Carl:
>  
> I hope you all are doing well.  Are you looking forward to convention yet?  I know I sure am! 
>  
> I am writing you all because each of you have a Member of Congress from your state delegation that is on the Ways and Means Subcommittee of Social Security. 
>  
> As you likely heard in the news, SSDI is a hot topic right now.  If Congress fails to act, the trust fund will go broke as soon as December, 2016.  If this happens, each beneficiary will see a 19% cut in their benefits.  We do not want this to happen and neither does Congress.  The time is now for SSDI reform. 
>  
> The best way to ensure that the social security trust fund stays solvent is to motivate beneficiaries to return to work.  The current cash cliff that is in place now absolutely does not encourage blind beneficiaries to work.  In fact, it does the exact opposite. Members of Congress need to hear stories about people who are not reaching their full vocational potential because SSDI does not encourage them to do so.  If you know of a member in your affiliate who is an SSDI beneficiary and is working only part time and could do more, or someone who is capable of working but simply isn’t because they fear losing their benefits, I would be very grateful if you could encourage them to contact me so I can learn their story.  
>  
> If no one jumps into your head immediately, perhaps, could you post a message similar to this one to your state list serv? 
>  
> ****
> Hello Federationists,
> I am looking for stories that illustrate how a gradual phase out of SSDI benefits would encourage blind beneficiaries to return to work.  If you’re a current SSDI beneficiary, and are interested in working more but realize that it make more financial sense to not work to your full capacity, I would love to hear from you. 
> Here’s an example that compares the current system to the phase out we are proposing:
>  
> Example 1: Current System
>  
> Tony works for a company making $12.00 per hour and he works 30 hours per week. So, he makes about $360.00 a week from his job. Tony also receives $1,000.00 a month in SSDI benefits. Assuming he works about 22 days a month (as most people do), his current monthly income from work is $1,584.00 before taxes. That means between his work related income and his SSDI his gross income is $2,584.00. Now, let's say Tony's boss tells him that he has to start working full-time if he wants to keep his job. Most people would be happy about that, but let's see what would happen to Tony under current rules. If he started working 40 hours a week (8 hours a day) at $12.00 per hour, he would earn $480.00 a week. Again, if he works 22 days a month as most people average, he would earn about $2,112.00 a month. That is pretty good, but here's the problem. Since he would exceed the amount currently allowed by Social Security ($1820), he would also lose his $1,000.00 SSDI benefit entirely. So, instead of grossing $2,584.00 as he does working part-time, he would only gross the $2,112.00 that he would earn as a full-time employee. So, you can see that most people don't want to jeopardize their income in order to work full-time. That is the problem our proposal tries to address.
>  
> Now, let's look at an example of what would happen if our proposed phase out were to occur:
>  
> Example 2: Our Proposal
>  
> Tony's boss says, "I need you to work full-time, at a rate of $12.00 an hour." We already determined in the previous example that Tony would earn about $2,112.00 a month in gross income under this scenario. However, under the rule we are proposing, here is what would happen. Instead of losing all his benefits because this new job opportunity forces him over the substantial gainful activity cliff, Tony could earn the $2,112.00 a month and lose only a portion of his benefits. Substantial Gainful Activity for blind beneficiaries is currently $1,820.00 a month. Tony would be earning about $292.00 a month above SGA. Under our phase out proposal, he would lose benefits totaling $146.00 (Half of the $292.00 that he is over SGA) a month. That means he would lose one dollar for every two dollars he earns over SGA. See, no cliff. Under this scenario, Tony could earn his $2,112.00 and still receive SSDI payments totaling $854.00 a month. Thus, his pre-tax income would be about $2,966.00. This rule would allow Tony to bring more money home, while also paying more money into the Social Security trust fund. This rule would be a clear incentive to work as compared to the current rule.
>  
> If you feel that you’re in a situation similar to Tony, please contact me.  I can be reached at 410-659-9314 ext. 2441 <tel:410-659-9314%20ext.%202441>. Alternatively, I can be reached via email at rsloan at nfb.org <mailto:rsloan at nfb.org>.  Emails should include your name, state, and phone number.  I also need to know the kind of work you are interested/able to do.  We know the social security system is complex now; through sharing stories, we can show members of Congress that the system needs to be changed.
>  
> I look forward to hearing from you. 
>  
> Best,
>  
> Rose Sloan
> ****
>  
> If you’re interested in more background, here is the premise of our proposal. 
>  
> Our proposal has three facets:
> 1.       A $2 for $1 phase out.
> 2.       Elimination of the confusing trial work period.
> 3.       Applying “blind work expenses” to all blind SSI and SSDI beneficiaries. 
>  
> I have attached a fact sheet regarding our proposal to give you a more detailed explanation of our proposal.
>  
> I apologize this email is rather long. I appreciate your help. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.  Have a wonderful weekend.
>  
> Best,
>  
> Rose
>  
> Rose Sloan
> Government Affairs Specialist
>  
> National Federation of the Blind
> 200 East Wells Street
> Baltimore, MD 21230
> Phone: (410) 659-9314, extension 2441
> Email: rsloan at nfb.org <mailto:rsloan at nfb.org>
>  
> “Eliminating Subminimum Wages for People with Disabilities”
> http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages <http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages>
>  
> The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.
>  
> Make a gift <https://nfb.org/make-gift> to the National Federation of the Blind and help ensure all blind Americans live the lives they want.
>  