[Nfbmt] SSDI & SSI guidelines & information for 2014

[sheila]

ted thanks for posting this. I did see this in december's monitor but it 
is important information to have.
On 1/6/2014 12:41 PM, Edward Robbins wrote:
> >From some of the comments made, I feel that the following article, copied &
> Pasted from the December 2013 Braille Monitor might help clarify information
> concerning SS earnings while working.
>
> Ted
>
> ***
>
> Social Security, SSI, and Medicare Facts for 2014
>
> by Lauren McLarney
>
> >From the Editor: Every December we publish the Social Security figures that
> have been announced for the coming year. Here is the 2014 information as
> prepared by Lauren McLarney, governmental affairs specialist, NFB Advocacy
> and Policy Department:
>
> Another year, another set of annual adjustments to Social Security
> Disability Insurance (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and
> Medicare programs. The updated amounts for 2014 are listed below. These
> numbers include new tax rates, higher exempt earnings amounts (substantial
> gainful activity), and cost-of-living increases. They also include
> deductible, premium, and coinsurance amounts under Part A and B of Medicare.
>
>
> Tax Rates
>
> FICA and Self-Employment Tax Rates: The FICA tax rate for employees and
> their employers is a combination of payments to the Old Age, Survivors, and
> Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Fund, and the Hospital Insurance (HI)
> Trust Fund, from which payments under Medicare are made. In other words, the
> tax rate is the combined rate for Social Security and Medicare. The total
> tax rate for 2013 was 7.65 percent for employees and their employers and
> 15.3 percent for self-employed workers. These percentages are unchanged for
> 2014. Please note that as of January 2013 individuals with earned income of
> more than $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly) pay an
> additional 0.9 percent in Medicare taxes. The tax rates listed above for
> 2013 and 2014 do not include that additional 0.9 percent.
>
> Ceiling on Earnings Subject to Tax: In 2013 the ceiling on taxable earnings
> for contributions to the OASDI Trust Fund was $113,700. For 2014 the maximum
> amount of taxable earnings will be $117,000. All earnings are taxed for the
> HI Trust Fund.
>
> Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
>
> Quarters of Coverage: Eligibility for Retirement, Survivors, and Disability
> Insurance benefits is partially based on the number of quarters of coverage
> earned by any individual during periods of work. Anyone may earn up to four
> quarters of coverage in a single year. The rationale behind the
> quarter-of-coverage concept is that a person must have contributed to the
> system before being eligible to collect benefits from it. The quarters of
> coverage are a way of measuring how much one has contributed to the system.
> In 2013 a quarter of coverage was credited for earnings of $1,160 in any
> calendar quarter. Anyone who earned $4,640 in 2013 (regardless of when the
> earnings occurred during the year) received four quarters of coverage. In
> 2014 a quarter of coverage will be credited for earnings of $1,200 during a
> calendar quarter. Four quarters will be credited for annual earnings of
> $4,800.
>
> Trial Work Period Limit: The amount of earnings required to use a trial work
> month is subject to annual increases based on changes in the national
> average wage index. In 2013 the amount was $750. This amount will increase
> to $770 in 2014. In cases of self-employment a trial work month can also be
> used if a person works more than eighty hours, and this limitation on hours
> worked will not change unless expressly adjusted.
>
> Exempt Earnings: The monthly earnings exemption is referred to as
> Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA). This is a measurement used to determine
> whether a beneficiary is earning enough income that he or she may be deemed
> ineligible for benefits, and is calculated as a person's monthly income
> before taxes, minus any unearned (or subsidy) income and any
> impairment-related work expense deductions. In 2013 the SGA for a blind
> person receiving disability benefits was $1,740. In 2014 this number will
> increase to $1,800 per month. This means that in 2014 a blind SSDI
> beneficiary who earns $1,801 or more a month (before taxes but after
> subtractions of subsidy incomes and impairment-related work expenses) will
> be deemed to have exceeded SGA and will likely no longer be eligible for
> benefits.
>
> Social Security Benefit Amounts: There will be a 1.5 percent cost-of-living
> adjustment (COLA) for beneficiaries in 2014. Increased payments to
> beneficiaries will begin in December of 2013 and will apply to everyone
> receiving benefits in 2014.
>
> Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
>
> Standard SSI Benefit Increase: Beginning January 2014 the federal payment
> amounts for SSI individuals and couples are as follows: individuals, $721 a
> month; SSI couples, $1,082 a month.
>
> Student Earned Income Exclusion: In 2013 the monthly amount was $1,730, and
> the maximum yearly amount was $6,960. In 2014 the monthly amount will be
> $1,750, and the maximum yearly amount will be $7,060. The SSI program
> applies strict asset limits of $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for
> couples, which can be changed only by Congress.
>
> Medicare
>
> Medicare Deductibles and Coinsurance: Medicare Part A coverage provides
> hospital insurance to most Social Security beneficiaries. The coinsurance
> amount is the hospital charge to a Medicare beneficiary for any hospital
> stay. Medicare then pays the hospital charges above the beneficiary's
> coinsurance amount.
>
> The Part A hospital inpatient deductible was $1,184 in 2013 and will
> increase to $1,216 in 2014. The coinsurance charged for hospital services
> within a benefit period of no longer than sixty days was $0 in 2013 and will
> stay at $0 in 2014. From the sixty-first day through the ninetieth day, the
> daily coinsurance amount was $296 a day in 2013, and will slightly increase
> in 2014 to $304 a day. Each Medicare beneficiary has sixty lifetime reserve
> days that may be used after a ninety-day benefit period has ended. Once
> used, these reserve days are no longer available after any benefit period.
> The coinsurance amount paid during each reserve day used in 2013 was $592.
> In 2014 the coinsurance for each reserve day will be $608.
>
> Part A of Medicare pays all covered charges for services in a skilled
> nursing facility for the first twenty days following a three-day in-hospital
> stay within a benefit period. From the twenty-first day through the one
> hundredth day in a benefit period, the Part A coinsurance amount for
> services received in a skilled nursing facility was $148 in 2013 and will
> increase to $152 for 2014.
>
> Most Social Security beneficiaries have no monthly premium charge for
> Medicare Part A coverage. Those who become ineligible for SSDI can continue
> to receive Medicare Part A coverage premium-free for at least ninety-three
> months after the end of a trial work period. After that time the individual
> may purchase Part A coverage. The premium rate for this coverage during 2013
> was $441 a month. In 2014 the premium rate for Part A coverage will reduce
> to $426.
>
> The annual deductible amount for Medicare Part B (medical insurance) in 2013
> was $147. That amount will not change in 2014. The Medicare Part B monthly
> premium rate charged to each new beneficiary or to those beneficiaries who
> directly pay their premiums quarterly for 2013 was $104.90 a month, and
> again that amount will not change in 2014. For those receiving Social
> Security benefits, this premium payment is deducted from your monthly
> benefit check. Individuals who remain eligible for Medicare, but are not
> receiving Social Security benefits because of working, must directly pay the
> Part B premium quarterly-one payment every three months. Like the Part A
> premiums mentioned above, Part B is also available for at least ninety-three
> months following the trial work period, assuming an individual wishes to
> have it and, when not receiving SSDI, continues to make quarterly premium
> payments.
>
> Programs That Help with Medicare Deductibles and Premiums: Low-income
> Medicare beneficiaries may qualify for help with payments. Assistance is
> available through two programs-the QMB (Qualified Medicare Beneficiary
> program) and the SLMB (Specified Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary program).
> To qualify for the QMB program in 2013, an individual's monthly income could
> not exceed $978 and a married couple's monthly income could not exceed
> $1,313. A note on the Medicare website says: "These amounts may increase in
> 2014."
>
> Under the QMB program states are required to pay the Medicare Part A
> (Hospital Insurance) and Part B (Medical Insurance) premiums, deductibles,
> and coinsurance expenses for Medicare beneficiaries who meet the program's
> income and resource requirements. Under the SLMB program states pay only the
> full Medicare Part B monthly premium. Eligibility for the SLMB program may
> be retroactive for up to three calendar months.
>
> Both the QMB and SLMB programs are administered by the Centers for Medicare
> and Medicaid Services in conjunction with the states. The rules vary from
> state to state, but the following can be said: Resources, such as bank
> accounts or stocks, may not exceed $4,000 for one person or $6,000 for a
> family of two. Resources are generally things you own. However, not
> everything is counted. The house you live in, for example, doesn't count;
> and generally one car also doesn't count.
>
> If you qualify for assistance under the QMB program, you will not have to
> pay the following: Medicare's hospital deductible amount, which will be
> $1,216 per benefit period in 2014; the daily coinsurance charges for
> extended hospital and skilled nursing facility stays; the Medicare Part B
> (Medical Insurance) premium, which will be $104.90 a month in 2014, unless
> you are currently receiving benefits from Social Security and the agency is
> automatically withholding your Part B premiums; the 2014 $147 annual Part B
> deductible; and the 20 percent coinsurance for services covered by Medicare
> Part B, depending on which doctor you go to (these services include doctor
> services, outpatient therapy, and durable medical equipment).
>
> If you qualify for assistance under the SLMB program, you will be
> responsible for the payment of all of the items listed above except for the
> monthly Part B premium, depending on your circumstances.
>
> If you think you qualify but you have not filed for Medicare Part A, contact
> Social Security to find out if you need to file an application. Further
> information about filing for Medicare is available from your local Social
> Security office or Social Security's toll-free number (800) 772-1213.
>
> Remember that only your state can decide if you are eligible for help from
> the QMB or SLMB program and also that the income and resource levels listed
> here are general guidelines with some states choosing greater amounts.
> Therefore, if you are elderly or disabled, have low income and very limited
> assets, and are a Medicare beneficiary, contact your state or local Medicaid
> office (referred to in some states as the Public Aid Office or the Public
> Assistance Office) to apply. For more information about either program, call
> the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on its toll-free number
> (800) 633-4227, or go online to < <http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ContactCMS>
> http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ContactCMS>.
>
>   
>
> ***
>
>   
>
> EDWARD C "TED" ROBBINS
>
> , CEO MBEI, Treasurer NFB of Montana & MANAGER MAB EQUIPMENT PROGRAM
>
> PHONE & FAX:  406 453 6678, CELL:  406 799 6268
>
> 104 RIVERVIEW 5 E
>
> GREAT FALLS  MT   59404
>
>   
>
>
>
> ---
> This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
> http://www.avast.com
> _______________________________________________
> Nfbmt mailing list
> Nfbmt at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmt_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Nfbmt:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmt_nfbnet.org/sleigland%40bresnan.net