Five Key Moments: Hearing on Barriers to Work for People with Disabilities

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Current Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) policies often discourage work for individuals receiving benefits. Witnesses at a joint hearing of the Ways and Means Social Security and Work and Welfare Subcommittees shared how they have seen needless complexity obstruct people with disabilities who want to work from getting a job.

Despite 60 percent of DI and SSI beneficiaries indicating they would like to work, less than one percent of DI beneficiaries have been able to leave the program for work. Studies show most beneficiaries are unaware of available pathways to employment, and when beneficiaries attempt to find work, they often must work with a third party to navigate the thicket of bureaucratic rules.

Complex Rules Block People with Disabilities from Work

A barrier to individuals with disabilities who want to work is the sheer complexity of federal rules surrounding the transition toward employment. Beneficiaries, like a witness from Kansas, have to work hand-in-glove with a third party to make sense of the maze of rules and regulations. Particularly for individuals without family, friend, or community support, the process may be even more challenging.

Rep. Ron Estes (KS-04): "Mr. Tyree, navigating the various federal and state support for individuals with disabilities is a challenge. Applicants and beneficiaries are frequently confused by the rules and requirements of the Disability Insurance program. You had help from family who were familiar with available services to individuals with disability, but still found it difficult to connect with the necessary support services. Can you talk a little bit about some of the barriers you encountered while trying to seek support to enter the workforce?"

Sean Tyree, Research Aide and Disability Advocate, Kansas University Center on Disabilities: "One of them is there are so many service and support combinations…That combination of services and supports is what I believe contributes to a person being successful in competitive, integrated employment while having a disability, but because of the nature of how many services and supports there are, there needs to be more benefits planning and more knowledge surrounding benefits planning. At the time, I knew a woman that was basically one of the only benefits planners in the state of Kansas. To my best knowledge, there's only eight currently in the state of Kansas, which isn't enough for the population that we're dealing with here today."

Witness: Without Work, "I Would Have Graduated to the Couch."

For individuals with disabilities, work has the potential to help them gain independence and a greater sense of purpose. Sean Tyree, a former recipient of DI and SSI benefits from Kansas who was born with a degenerative disease and now works as a research aide and disability advocate, testified about the transformative power of work in his life. In his opening statement, he laid out the difficulty he faced in navigating overly complex federal programs in pursuit of work. He shared that his job provides his life with purpose and his experience offers encouragement to others with disabilities seeking employment.

Rep. Mike Carey (OH-15): "Mr. Tyree, I have to say your story is probably one of the most inspirational stories I've ever heard. And you should really, really be proud of how you have overcome great physical and personal difficulties to achieve your professional, personal successes in your life. Can you explain the physical and psychological and emotional benefits you've experienced since you've been employed by Kansas University Center of Disabilities?"

Sean Tyree, Research Aide and Disability Advocate, Kansas University Center on Disabilities: "I have had less hospitalizations for mental and physical health upon being competitively, integrated employed in the state of Kansas by KUCD. It has given me a real purpose in my life, because I'm able to help others that are in the same situation that I was in when I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel between all these different services and support systems that we have to navigate to get the necessary support to receive competitive, integrated employment and things of that nature. It's given me a different outlook on life and changed the perception of my own capabilities…I didn't really have a purpose greater than myself, and because of KUCD and the services and supports that helped me to find that job and maintain that job without losing my essential benefits, I would have basically graduated to the couch and have been relying on supports and services and wouldn't have been able to do things as independently."

Complexity Confuses and Discourages Social Security Insurance Beneficiaries

The process for SSI and SSDI beneficiaries to be connected to work is confusing, as illustrated by a chart displayed by Rep. Randy Feenstra (IA-04) during the hearing. Not only does the complexity of the official process discourage work, so does the spread of incorrect information. The formula for determining benefits is confusing enough that one of the witnesses, a third-party helping beneficiaries navigate the return-to-work process, has to rely on an Excel spreadsheet to calculate the expected benefits for her clients.

Rep. Randy Feenstra (IA-04): "I think we can all agree Social Security Disability insurance and disability programs serve a purpose. They serve a purpose for work incentives. I think we all want to have the ability to work for everybody in our society. We want to make sure we help and promote that. Ms. Wallish, the complexity of returning to work for SSI beneficiaries can be daunting, can be confusing. Often, SSI beneficiaries rely on false rumors, innuendos, regarding the return-to-work processes, and those can tend to scare them off. We have a chart. So you look at this chart, it's very complex. It actually scares me…Is there anything that we can do to make this easier when it comes to return to work?"

Amy Wallish, CEO, Full Circle Employment Solutions: "SSI does have very complex rules, right? There's a complex calculation that's done. In fact, I have an Excel spreadsheet that does the calculation for me, so I don't have to think about it anymore. But yes, I think that for people, you know that calculation is done to determine the reduction of their benefit check. So as wages go up, benefit check goes down, right? It's a two for one, one for two. Is there a way to make that easier?"

Benefit Cliff Discourages Return to Work. Clear Solutions Remain Elusive.

Both programs the hearing examined, DI and SSI, have benefit cliffs that discourage work. The confusing nature of the phase-outs for benefits discourages the building of greater financial security by beneficiaries and traps those looking to work in a web of complex rules. Authority to run pilot programs testing alternatives to the current benefit cliffs has expired and Committee Members discussed what new authority could look like to better serve beneficiaries.

Rep. Lloyd Smucker (PA-11): "Dr Hoffman, in your testimony, you contrast the ways that [DI] and SSI calculate eligibility. For example, [DI] has a cash cliff that scares people away from working and saving money, while SSI phases out benefits at a one for $2 offset. How can we better align these program's phase-out structures to reduce confusion and maintain incentives to work?"

Dr. Denise Hoffman, Principal Researcher, Mathematica: "I think this builds into the Section 234 demonstration authority that had expired several years ago. I don't think that there is a clear solution. I think there are several compelling ideas, but I think that they need to be vetted and tested to ensure that they can achieve administrative feasibility, that beneficiaries can understand them, and to test whether they can, in the real world, achieve policy goals."

Red Tape Hurts Job Opportunities for People with Disabilities

Complex rules, confusing structures, and incorrect information not only prevent individuals with disabilities from seeking work, but also hinders employers from hiring those same people. Similar to beneficiaries, businesses can be unsure of how to navigate the paperwork and rules for DI and SSI recipients, making it harder to offer jobs to individuals with disabilities.

More businesses are recognizing hiring individuals with disabilities is a smart business decision, not a charitable one.

Rep. Blake Moore (UT-01): "It's clear that American businesses want to hire and promote. They want to hire and promote the best person for the job. However, we've heard today that for those receiving disability insurance benefits, it's not that simple to say yes to a new job and next promotion or more hours. How do employers navigate these rules? If the program was simpler, do you think that employers would be more effective at providing opportunities for individuals with disabilities?"

Jarrod Sanderson, Missouri business owner: "I think the short answer to the last part of that is yes. Anything that's simpler makes it easier to make decisions. Some of this is driven by the kind of difficulties in understanding benefits to begin with. I've experienced situations where somebody was telling me something; it was really difficult to know whether or not that was true, because I wasn't the person receiving the benefit. I can go try to look it up on their behalf. I'm probably in a worse position to find the right answer than them. It kind of is a problem that ends up creating challenges at both ends, because on the employer side, it is difficult to navigate, and there are some instances where people are actually just scared to share, because they've shared before, and it's led to them either not being hired or being released…I think that is crucial to simplify all of these programs and benefits, because it will make it easier for the employer too, and it will make the information flowing to the employer from the recipient more accurate. I think in general, simplification would be extremely helpful for both employer and recipient."