Thursday, May 7, 2009

President's Budget Request

President Obama has requested $11.6 billion for Social Security's administrative expenses in his FY 2010 budget proposal, a 10 percent increase over the current year. For more information about the President's FY 2010 budget request for Social Security, visit www.socialsecurity.gov/budget/

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

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Creating employment opportunities



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

Requesting an Impairment Related Work Expense (IRWE)

"What if, because of one's impairment, he/she needs to pay for certain items so they can work?"

In most cases, Social Security can deduct the out–of–pocket costs of these items, which we call impairment–related work expenses (IRWE), from the amount of earnings we use to figure your SSI benefit.

This means that we do not reduce your SSI benefit as much because we do not count all of your earnings.

Out–of–pocket expenses that may qualify as an IRWE may be items such as medicine, medical supplies, medical devices, service animals, and disposable items such as bandages and syringes...to name just a few.

Social Security may also be able to deduct your out–of–pocket expenses for medical services such as doctors visits and some attendant care services charged for preparing you for work, attending to you while you are at work, or getting you to and from work.

Social Security may also deduct certain out–of–pocket expenses for transportation and modifications to your home, car, or van to allow you to work.

The expense must not be reimbursed, and must be related to your disability(ies) and needed in order for you to work.

The next step is applying for the IRWE. When I do this, I use the form located below and attach a receipt for each claimed expense. Drop this off at SSA and you're done.

Once a recurring IRWE is approved by SSA, one needs only submit the receipt for that IRWE on a monthly basis - not the entire application.

I will cover exactly how an IRWE positively impacts both countable income for an individual very soon in a new blog post. Stay tuned.

IRWE Request Template

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