How About a PASS???

A Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) is a work incentive which allows you, as a person with a disability, to set aside income and/or resources for a specified period of time in order to pay for items or services you need to achieve a work goal. With a PASS approved by the Social Security Administration (SSA), you may use the income and/or resources set aside to pay for education, support services, job-related items, equipment needed to start a business, or just about anything else needed to achieve a vocational goal.

When the income or resource is set aside for use in a PASS, it is not counted for the purpose of determining financial eligibility for, or the amount of, an SSI payment to you. A PASS is self-financed, and you therefore use your own money to pursue the plan. The SSA does not give you extra money up front to purchase the items and services you need to achieve your vocational goal. However, by setting your funds aside as part of a PASS, you can become eligible for SSI or receive a higher amount of SSI, and that SSI payment can replace some or all of the money you set aside in the PASS. Also, once you are an SSI recipient, you are eligible for Medicaid.

Example:
Janet has income that consists solely of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits in the amount of $700 per month, which is too high for her to be financially eligible for SSI. She wants to become a computer programmer. Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) will pay for part of the costs for Janet to complete a computer programmer course. Janet sets aside $680 per month of her SSDI benefit to use in a PASS to pay for a laptop computer, books, supplies, and other items for which VR will not cover. These funds set aside in the PASS make Janet eligible for an SSI payment of $637 per month, which is the maximum SSI benefit rate for an individual. With that SSI payment and the $20 per month unassigned portion of her SSDI benefit, Janet has $657 per month with which to pay her living expenses. Although that amount is $43 per month less than the $700 she had for personal use before she developed her PASS, she is now able to pay for the items and services she needs to reach her goal.



Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com