The
Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act (TWWIIA) of
1999 created an important new work incentive called Expedited
Reinstatement (EXR). EXR is a way to return more easily to Social
Security disability benefits when work is significantly reduced
or stopped because of an individual’s original disabling
condition. EXR also permits individuals to receive provisional
payments while the EXR request is being processed.
EXR is available to former Social Security disability beneficiaries
including those who received Social Security
Disability Insurance (SSDI), Childhood
Disability Benefits (CDB), or Disabled
Widow(er)’s Benefits (DWB); and persons
who received SSI payments based on disability or blindness.
SSDI
Beneficiaries
have insured status as former workers and meet SSA’s definition
of disability. These beneficiaries are entitled to a disability
benefit based upon their own work record.
Childhood
Disability Beneficiaries (CDB)
are adults with disabilities who do not have sufficient work
credits for insured status, but receive a benefit based upon
a parent’s insured status. To be eligible for CDB, individuals
must be at least 18 years old, disabled by SSA’s definition
before the age of 22, the child of an insured worker who is
either retired, disabled or deceased, and not married( except
to another Social Security Title 2 beneficiary). This program
was previously referred to as “Disabled Adult Child”
or DAC benefits.
Disabled
Widow(er)s
are the surviving spouses of deceased insured workers. The widow(er)
must either have been married to the worker at the time the
worker died, or must have been married to the worker for ten
years prior to a divorce. These applicants must be over age
50, must meet the disability standards, and must not have remarried
before age 60. Once the applicant is entitled to benefits, the
rules for Disabled Widow(er)’s benefits follow those of
the SSDI program. The beneficiary has a five-month waiting period
for benefits, a 24-month waiting period for Medicare after benefits
begin, and has access to the full range of work incentives available
to the SSDI and CDB programs. The individual’s prior entitlement
must have terminated due to work activity. Substantial Gainful
Activity for Social Security beneficiaries and earned income
(or a combination of earned and unearned income) for SSI recipients.
Individuals
requesting EXR:
Have
to be performing work valued below the current SGA level.
Individuals
must have experienced a reduction or cessation of earnings because
of the same disability (or a related disability) that entitled
them to benefits in the first place.
Finally,
the EXR request must be made within 60 months of the last month
of entitlement.
FAQ
Disclaimer: The VCU-BARC FAQ Pages are general information provided
as a public service. The contents do not necessarily represent the
policy, interpretations or opinion of the Social Security Administration
(SSA). The information contained here is intended to inform readers
of issues that may affect Social Security and/or other public assistance
benefits. Because individual circumstances differ, the reader should
not rely on any information here as being specifically applicable
to an individual's situation.