Another Great Benefit of WWD -- Extra Help with Medicare Part D

The Workers with Disabilities (WWD) program in North Dakota allows eligible individuals with disabilities who are gainfully employed to “buy into” Medicaid healthcare coverage by paying a monthly premium.

If you have WWD coverage and also receive Medicare benefits, you are automatically eligible for extra help with paying for your Medicare prescription drugs. This extra help is called the low-income subsidy, and it is available to you because WWD is a Medicaid-type program.

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

World-Wide Disability Rights News

SSI/SSDI Overpayment - Joint and Several Liability

Taking on the responsibility of being someone's representative payee should not be taken lightly. Similarly, professional rep-payee services have a responsibility to understand the effects income may have on their beneficiaries SSI and/or SSDI benefits. Failure to keep abreast of rules, thresholds, rule changes, guidelines, etc...could lead to an overpayment. When this occurs - who is responsible to re-pay the debt to SSA????

The answer could be both. This is where joint and several liability comes into play.

Below is a fictional case in which the rep-payee was simply passing the money along w/out taking into consideration the beneficiaries work activity and the ramifications that income posed - and because of a waiver...the rep-payee is liable for the overpayment.

Scenario:

For quite some time, the rep payee has not paid attention to the beneficiary's work activity and earnings. The beneficiary works more hours than he previously did, and his earnings exceed the SGA guideline and his SSDI benefits end. However, the rep payee used the SSDI checks for the benefit of the beneficiary. The beneficiary incurs a $10,000 overpayment of SSDI. The beneficiary is granted a waiver of the OP.

Who is liable for repayment of the OP?

Both the beneficiary (he received the benefit of the SSDI checks) and the rep payee (at fault in connection with the OP for not exercising due diligence in helping the beneficiary managing his financial matters).

Who has to pay?

Not the beneficiary because of the waiver. The rep payee has to repay the OP.


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

Celebrate The ADA - Thur., July 24th!!!!

4:00 to 7:00 pm

Lindenwood Park

Fargo, ND

CELEBRATE THE 18^th ANNIVERSARY

OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

Commemorative Walk to

Support the ADA

FREE PICNIC

Join our community at the Rotary Universal Playground at Lindenwood Park where people

of all abilities will come together

to celebrate the ADA

For questions, call Freedom at 701-478-0459

Texas has hired people with abuse records to care for disabled, audit finds

SSA finalizes changes to Ticket to Work program

The Social Security Administration is revising its regulations governing "The Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program," which encourages Social Security disability beneficiaries to return to work. "These rules outline a new and improved Ticket to Work program and are based on learning from our experiences, listening to input from interested parties, and responding to their suggestions," said Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security. "Beneficiaries with disabilities will have greater flexibility and expanded choices in obtaining the services they need to attain their employment goals". Essentially, the changes add an educational and technical training option to supplement the work requirement for Ticket to Work eligibility, and would tighten up the progress requirements for continued participation in the program. The final regulations are effective July 21, 2008.
Details of the changes appear in the SSA's notice of proposed rulemaking and are published in the May 20, 2008, Federal Register (73 Fed. Reg. 29324).
Source: http://hr.cch.com/news/uiss/070208a.asp


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

Schneider proposes plan to expand health insurance to uninsured N.D. children

Teri Finneman, The Forum
Published Tuesday, July 08, 2008

FARGO - North Dakota needs to do more to help uninsured children get access to health care, Rep. Jasper Schneider of Fargo said Tuesday morning.

During a news conference, the Democratic-NPL candidate for insurance commissioner outlined his proposal to provide 3,300 more children access to health insurance.

Schneider wants to expand the state’s Healthy Steps income eligibility limits from 150-percent net income of the poverty line to 200 percent.

“It’s a top priority for me to make sure our youngest residents have access to health insurance,” Schneider said.

In addition to increasing eligibility limits, Schneider wants to form an advisory council to study how to expand access to health insurance to all North Dakota children.

Approximately 15,000 children in the state don’t have health insurance now, he said.

For more on this story, read tomorrow’s Forum.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Teri Finneman at (701) 241-5560

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

ADA to Turn 18

As we approach the 18^th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) I'd like to bring to your attention some recent developments relating to DisabilityInfo.gov. This Web site, a collaborative effort among twenty-two federal agencies, was developed to provide access to information and resources that enable people with disabilities to fully participate in the workforce and in their communities. DisabilityInfo.gov contains comprehensive information on cross-cutting issue areas including employment, benefits, housing, transportation, health care, education, civil rights and technology.

Over the past couple of months more than 2,000 new links to state-level resources have been added to DisabilityInfo.gov. The site’s enhanced State and Local Resources Map now offers even greater access to information about programs and services available in the states and communities where individuals with disabilities live, work, attend school or are seeking employment. The State & Local Resources Map is located in each of the site’s nine key subject areas. You may begin a search of resources in your state simply by clicking on the map in the Employment section of the site: http://www.disabilityinfo.gov/digov-public/public/DisplayPage.do?parentFolderId=9.

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

No EID for Tenants of Rural Development Housing

Earned income disallowance (EID) is a work incentive that is available to persons with disabilities who receive housing assistance through certain programs administered by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). With EID, all or some of the person’s income from working is not counted (for a period of up to 24 months) when determining his or her rental payment. For details on EID, see the blog article dated March 3, 2008.

Some persons with disabilities receive rental assistance as tenants of Rural Development multi-family housing complexes. One such complex is Jamestown Village in Jamestown, North Dakota. Rural Development housing complexes are not associated with HUD. Instead, they are funded by the Housing and Community Facilities Programs, an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Unlike the HUD regulations, the regulations of USDA do not provide for an earned income disallowance. Therefore, all of the non-exempt earned income of a tenant of a Rural Development housing is counted in figuring the amount of his or her rental payment. However, even without EID in the Rural Development rental assistance program, the tenant’s rental payment may not exceed 30 percent of his or her combined unearned and earned income.

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

ADA Gets a Makeover

Tuesday, June 17, 2008, the proposed regulations were published in the Federal Register. The proposed regulations consist of a notice of proposed rule making to amend the ADA regulations for State and local governments, a notice of proposed rule making to amend the ADA regulations for public accommodations and commercial facilities, a Regulatory Impact Analysis, and two supporting appendices.

(The synopsis below, written by Robert Pear of the New York Times on June 16, is a portion of his article providing an overview and summary of the proposed changes.)

Sweeping ADA Update Would Affect Millions
The new rules would set more stringent requirements in many areas and address some issues for the first time, in an effort to meet the needs of an aging population and growing numbers of disabled war veterans.

The proposed rules, under development for more than four years, flesh out the meaning of the 1990 law, which set forth broad objectives. The 215,000-word proposal includes these new requirements:

¶Courts would have to provide a lift or a ramp to ensure that people in wheelchairs could get into the witness stand, which is usually elevated from floor level.

¶Auditoriums would have to provide a lift or a ramp so wheelchair users could "participate fully and equally in graduation exercises and other events" at which members of the audience have direct access to the stage.

¶Any sports stadium with a seating capacity of 25,000 or more would have to provide safety and emergency information by posting written messages on scoreboards and video monitors. This would alert people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

¶Theaters must provide specified numbers of seats for wheelchair users (at least five in a 300-seat facility). Viewing angles to the screen or stage must be "equivalent to or better than the average viewing angles provided to all other spectators."

¶Light switches in a hotel room could not be more than 48 inches high. The current maximum is 54 inches.

¶Hotels must allow people with disabilities to reserve accessible guest rooms, and they must honor these reservations to the same degree they guarantee other room reservations.

¶At least 25 percent of the railings at fishing piers would have to be no more than 34 inches high, so that a person in a wheelchair could fish over the railing.

¶At least half of the holes on miniature golf courses must be accessible to people using wheelchairs, and these holes must be connected by a continuous, unobstructed path.

¶A new swimming pool with a perimeter of more than 300 feet would have to provide "at least two accessible means of entry," like a gentle sloping ramp or a chair lift.

¶New playgrounds would have to provide access to slides, swings and other play equipment for children who use wheelchairs.


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