[NHLakesChapter] Please cosponsor the Blind Americans Return to Work Act, H.R. 8878

Wed Jul 24 22:30:19 UTC 2024

Melissa,

I have attached and included below the fact sheet about this bill. Take a look at it, and give me a call if you have more questions. My home # is 603-580-5096.

Blind Americans Return to Work Act 

Issue—Current Social Security law has the unintended consequence of holding back blind Americans from achieving their full earnings potential.

The Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program has a built in “earnings cliff.” 

Title II of the Social Security Act provides that disability benefits paid to blind beneficiaries are eliminated if the beneficiary exceeds a monthly earnings limit.[1] This earnings limit, often called the “earnings cliff,” is in effect a penalty imposed on blind Americans when they work. For example, the earnings limit in 2024 for a blind person is $2,590 per month. If a blind individual earns more than that threshold, even by just one dollar, they are engaged in substantial gainful activity (SGA). Under the current law, any individual engaged in SGA is not entitled to any SSDI benefits. This means that if a blind person earns just one dollar over the earnings limit, all benefits are lost. 

The earnings cliff incentivizes blind people to choose to remain unemployed or underemployed, despite their desire to work. 

 In a 2018 survey, National Industries for the Blind (NIB) found that 21 percent of respondents from thirty-four of their non-profit associations had turned down a raise or promotion to retain their SSDI benefits.[2] The survey also found that 37 percent of respondents had turned down additional hours or even asked to reduce their hours in order to retain their SSDI benefits.[3] Blind Americans who are willing and able to work are intentionally limiting themselves in order to keep from suddenly losing all of their SSDI benefits.

The current work incentive in the form of the trial work period is needlessly complicated and counterintuitive. 

 Under the current SSDI program, if a blind worker wants to try and earn more money, they will likely trigger a nine-month trial work period. These nine months do not have to be consecutive, but instead are any nine months during a rolling sixty-month period in which the worker earned more than a certain amount (for 2024 this amount is $1,110 per month). When all of those nine months are exhausted, the worker is once again subject to the earnings cliff if they cross the SGA threshold. This is supposed to act as an incentive for blind recipients to determine if they are ready to work, but the complexity of the rules and the difference between the trial work period amount and the SGA threshold results in many blind Americans ignoring the process altogether. 

Solution—Blind Americans Return to Work Act will:

Eliminate the earnings cliff by instituting a ten-year pilot program establishing a gradual two-for-one phase-out of SSDI benefits with earnings over the SGA limit. 

 For every two dollars a blind worker earns above the SGA threshold, their benefits amount will be reduced by one dollar. This ten-year pilot program will start in 2025 and conclude in 2034 demonstrating that blind Americans can and will achieve their highest earning potential.

Create a genuine work incentive for SSDI recipients. 

With a phase-out model, blind workers will always be better off striving to earn as much as possible, which will facilitate the transition of those workers out of the SSDI system as benefits are gradually reduced. With this model, blind Americans will never lose by working. As an added benefit, fewer workers will be earning SSDI benefits and instead be paying into the Social Security Trust Fund, which means a more balanced Trust Fund in time.   

Simplify the SSDI system by eliminating the trial work period and grace period, making the rules more compatible with the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. 

 Under the proposed system, the SSDI program will become less complicated. With both programs using similar rules, there will be less confusion, and the incentive for blind people to return to work will be consistent and clear.

GOAL—ELIMINATE THE SSDI EARNINGS CLIFF AND CREATE A TRUE WORK INCENTIVE FOR BLIND AMERICANS.

Sponsor the Blind Americans Return to Work Act.

For more information, contact:

Jesse Shirek, Government Affairs Specialist, National Federation of the Blind

Phone: 410-659-9314, extension 2348, Email: jshirek at nfb.org <mailto:jshirek at nfb.org>   or visit www.nfb.org <http://www.nfb.org> 

From: NHLakesChapter <nhlakeschapter-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Abbotts via NHLakesChapter
Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2024 5:17 PM
To: NFB of New Hampshire Lakes Region Chapter List <nhlakeschapter at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Abbotts <abbotts at breezeline.net>
Subject: Re: [NHLakesChapter] Please cosponsor the Blind Americans Return to Work Act, H.R. 8878

Hello NFB Team,

Please help. I am confused about the benefits of H.R. 8878 and the risk of potentially losing my SSDI benefits. I can't work enough due to my disabilities to recapture income that would support my medical expenses and healthcare needs. I am in fear of loosing my SSDI, how does this benefit me?  Thank you for your support!

Kindly,

Melissa

On Jul 24, 2024, at 5:02 PM, Dana Trahan via NHLakesChapter <nhlakeschapter at nfbnet.org <mailto:nhlakeschapter at nfbnet.org> > wrote:

Hello, my name is Dana Trahan, and I am a constituent of Representative Chris Pappas. I live in Exeter, NH. I would like to urge Representative Chris Pappas to cosponsor the Blind Americans Return to Work Act, H.R. 8878. This legislation will eliminate the SSDI earnings cliff by instituting a two-for-one phase out of benefits for any income earned above the substantial gainful activity threshold for blind Americans. This will create a true work incentive for all blind Americans currently on SSDI.

Thanks.

All the best,

Dana Trahan

603-580-5096 (9am-9pm) (Dana’s home/landline) 
603-365-5242 (anytime) (Dana’s mobile) 
 <mailto:danatrahan at comcast.net> danatrahan at comcast.net

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  _____  

[1] 42 U.S.C. Sec. 423.

[2] Commitment to Serve, A presentation given at the 2018 NIB/NAEPB Training Conference and Expo.

[3] Ibid.

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