Overview and Eligibility

Ticket to Work is a federal program that helps adults with disabilities prepare for, find, and keep a job. To qualify for Ticket to Work, you must:

• Be 18 to 64 years old
• Currently be getting Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits

Ticket to Work, sometimes simply called the “Ticket program,” offers beneficiaries many choices on where they can get employment services and lets people try working without worrying about losing their health care coverage or affecting other disability benefits.

Employment services you may get through the Ticket program include:

• Vocational assessments
• Job skills training
• Job search and placement assistance
• Career counseling

The Ticket to Work program can help you increase your earned income and become more self-sufficient. If things go well, you can become more independent and less reliant on SSI and SSDI.

How Does the Program Work?

If you get SSI or SSDI and are 18 to 64 years old, you automatically qualify for the Ticket to Work program. So when you feel prepared to think about employment and want to figure out what the best way to proceed is, there are a few ways to get started:

• You can call the Ticket to Work Helpline at 1-866-968-7842 or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY).
• You can go to the Ticket to Work website.
• You can contact a Work Incentive Consultant at Ability360.

Employment Networks

Once you are all set up, you should contact an Employment Network (EN). ENs are organizations that can give you the various employment services that Ticket to Work offers.

You can only get services from one Employment Network at a time. That means you have to choose which EN you want to serve you — that’s called “assigning your ticket” to an EN. Once you assign the ticket and your chosen EN accepts it, you and your contact at the EN will develop a plan. The plan will include details about the services they will give you.

Choosing a Network

You can find an EN in your area by searching the Employment Network Directory. If you need additional help choosing an EN, you can:

• Call the Ticket to Work helpline at 1-866-968-7842 or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY)
• Go to the Ticket to Work website

Once you’ve found an EN that interests you, contact it to see if the services and supports it offers are right for you. ENs offer different services based on their specialties. Make sure to talk to a few because it’s important to find one that will be a good match for you.

Here are some things to think about and ask any Employment Network before you make up your mind:

• Do they have any advice about your concerns related to working?
• Do they have any specialties, such as job referrals, job placement assistance, or skills training?
• How would they approach helping you get and keep a job, given your goals?
• How will they help you keep your job once you start working?
• How long will they offer services?
• What do they require you to do as a partner in the process?

You are free to talk with as many Employment Networks as you like, and you don’t have to work with an EN simply because you have talked with them. If you find one you like, you can ask them to be your Ticket to Work Employment Network. They have the option to say no if they want. If an EN says they cannot work with you, ask them to recommend a different EN or other resource to help you meet your work goals.

If you choose an Employment Network, begin to work with them, and later are unhappy with their services, you can always change to a different EN. How to change ENs is explained here.

Creating Your Work Plan

When you and an Employment Network have agreed to work together, you will jointly develop a work plan that clearly states the responsibilities you and your EN have to help you achieve your work goals.

Your plan should contain at least the following:

• Your employment goals (the type of work you want to do)
• All services your EN agrees to give you and how they will be delivered to you
• What you have to do to continue to receive services
• What you can do if you are not satisfied with your EN or your plan
• How you can change your plan if you need to

Once you and your EN sign the plan, your ticket is assigned to that EN and services can begin immediately.

Changing Employment Networks

If at any point you are not happy with the services your Employment Network (EN) is giving you, you can find a different Employment Network. To change ENs, ask your Employment Network to have your ticket “unassigned.”

For more detailed information about unassigning your ticket:

• Call the Ticket to Work helpline at 1-866-968-7842 or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY)
• Go to the Ticket to Work website

After you unassign your ticket, you have 3 months to find another EN and create a new work plan that better meets your needs. If you don’t find an EN within 3 months, you’ll be subject to a Continuing Disability Review (CDR) with Social Security according to your regular schedule. To read more about CDRs, click here.

If You Have to Stop Working

Once your Employment Network helps you find a job, they won’t abandon you. Their services will continue to be available to help you keep your job and do well at it.

If you stop working for any reason, your EN will help you find another job or explore other options. They’ll also help you get back onto your benefits if you need to do so.

How Will Using a Ticket Affect Your Benefits?

The Ticket to Work program was designed so that you don’t have to worry about losing your benefits before you’re ready. While you are using the Ticket program:

• You will not automatically lose your disability benefits
• You will not get a medical Continuing Disability Review (CDR)
• You can continue to get public health care benefits
• You can easily return to benefits if you stop working

To learn more details about the Ticket program, read DB101's article on Social Security’s Ticket to Work Program.

Keep in mind that, as a Ticket to Work participant, any other SSI or SSDI work incentives still apply to you. You can read more about other work incentives on the Other Work Incentives page.

To participate in the Ticket to Work program, you have to be getting Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Each of those programs has additional incentives to support you if you want to work.

There are also work incentives as part of Medicare and the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) that will help you keep your health care coverage as you work.

Here is a quick overview of all of those incentives, but you can read about them in more detail in the DB101 article, Work Incentives.

SSDI Work Incentives

If you’re getting SSDI, it’s because your disability prevents you from going to work and earning enough to cover your expenses. However, you may want to give work a chance. It is possible that maybe if you just had a bit of time and knew that you wouldn’t lose your benefits, you could succeed at a job.

That’s why Social Security has made program rules and incentives that can help you get a job without having to worry that you’ll lose the benefits you need.

SSDI’s work incentives function like a 3-stage process that begins when you get a job:

1. The Trial Work Period lets you work and get benefits at the same time no matter how much you make. This period continues until you’ve made more than the Trial Work Month limit in 9 different months during a 5-year period. The exact limit changes each year; in 2024, the limit is $1,110.
2. When the Trial Work Period ends, the 3-year Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE) lets you work and get benefits for every month that you earn less than Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) ($1,550 in 2024, $2,590 if you’re blind).
3. For the first 5 years after your EPE ends, Expedited Reinstatement allows you, if your income drops below SGA, to quickly get back on SSDI without having to completely re-apply.

These 3 incentives mean that you can get a job and see how it goes. If it goes well, you’ll be in a better financial situation than before. If it doesn’t go well, you will be able to get SSDI and be in the same situation as you were before you tried out working.

These 3 rules, combined with the fact that you will not have to do a Continuing Disability Review (CDR) while you’re in the Ticket program, mean that you can safely try out working without risking your SSDI benefits.

To learn more about SSDI, read DB101’s SSDI article.

SSI Work Incentives

Most people on SSI who go to work end up better off financially. Even though their SSI benefits may go down, their total income from SSI and wages will almost always be higher.

When you earn income, only part of the money you earn will be counted when SSI adjusts your monthly cash benefits. The SSI program does not count the first $65 you earn each month, and they only count about one-half of the rest. This means that a little less than half of your earnings will be counted when Social Security figures out your SSI payment.

Even if you earn enough money that your SSI benefits amount goes to zero, you’re not “out” of the SSI program. People who no longer get SSI cash benefits often can keep their health coverage through the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), thanks to rules like SSI 1619(b) and programs like AHCCCS Freedom to Work.

If you lose your job or your income drops for another reason, you can have your SSI benefits restarted easily thanks to Expedited Reinstatement (EXR), as long as it is within 5 years of the last time you got an SSI check.

There are also various other rules that can help you if you’re on SSI and get a job:

• Social Security will recognize money you spend on some things you need for your job as Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWEs) or Blind Work Expenses (BWEs). These expenses are subtracted from your countable income. That means your SSI benefits will be reduced less when you get a job.
• Plans to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) let you save up money that you make at your job. With a PASS, you can save more than the usual SSI resource limit ($2,000 if you’re single, $3,000 for couples). Any money you save in a PASS also won’t be counted by Social Security as income, so your SSI benefits won’t be reduced.
• The Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE) lets students under the age of 22 make more money without having their SSI benefits reduced.

These rules, combined with the fact that you will not have to do a Continuing Disability Review (CDR) while you’re in the Ticket program, mean that you can safely try out working without risking losing your benefits if you need them.

To learn more about SSI, read DB101’s SSI article.

Health Care and Work Incentives

Medicare

If you’re on SSDI and Medicare, you will keep getting Medicare while you complete the full 9 months of your Trial Work Period (TWP). Assuming you still have a medical disability after your Trial Work Period ends, you then get at least 93 more months (almost 8 years) of free Medicare Part A coverage. Since the Ticket to Work program means you won’t have to do a Continuing Disability Review, you won’t lose your medical disability status and will be able to keep Medicare coverage that entire time.

When you can no longer get free Medicare Part A, you can choose to pay to keep getting it until you reach age 65, as long as you continue to meet the Social Security medical rules for disability.

To learn more about Medicare, read DB101’s Medicare article.

Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS)

If you’ve been on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) and you earn enough money that you’re no longer eligible for SSI, you may become eligible for SSI's 1619(b) provision.

1619(b) means that if your monthly SSI cash benefits end because your wages are too high, you can still get your AHCCCS health coverage as long as you don’t earn more than $53,159.

To get AHCCCS coverage through 1619(b), your resources must also stay below SSI’s resource limit, which is $2,000 for a single person or $3,000 for a couple.

To learn more about AHCCCS, read DB101’s AHCCCS article.

AHCCCS Freedom to Work

If you don’t qualify for 1619(b), you may be able to qualify for AHCCCS Freedom to Work.

To qualify, you must be:

• An Arizona resident
  
• A U.S. citizen or qualified alien
  
• Age 16 to 64
• Certified disabled by Social Security
• Employed and making $3,138 or less per month
• Paying Medicare and Social Security taxes

Note that when AHCCCS looks at your income, they only count about half of it toward their income limit. So, you might be able to qualify for this program, even if you’re making $4,000 per month or more.

People in the program pay a monthly premium for their coverage. The premium is based on their income. The maximum monthly premium is $35.

To see if you might qualify for AHCCCS Freedom to Work and what your estimated premium would be, use the DB101's AHCCCS Freedom to Work Estimator. For more details on the program, read DB101’s AHCCCS Freedom to Work article.

The Arizona Rehabilitation Services Administration (AZRSA) can supply you with vocational counseling, job skills training, adjustment to disability assistance, work experience, and job placement services. They can help you get the training or other services that you need to return to work, to enter a new line of work, or to enter the workforce for the first time. Together, these services are called “vocational rehabilitation” (VR).

The services you get through AZRSA’s vocational rehabilitation program are carefully chosen in cooperation with you to match your individual needs. You and your VR counselor will work closely together to set goals and to develop a plan to help you reach your goals.

Eligibility

Eligibility for VR through the Arizona Rehabilitation Services Administration is based on whether you have a disability that makes it difficult to prepare for, get, or keep work and whether you are able to benefit from vocational rehabilitation services.

If you are a Ticket to Work recipient or are eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), you likely have all of the documentation needed to quickly be found eligible for vocational rehabilitation services.

Cost

The AZRSA vocational rehabilitation program is offered at no cost if you are a Ticket to Work recipient or if you are eligible for SSI or SSDI based on your own disability.

If you are not in the Ticket to Work program and are not eligible for SSI or SSDI, many services will be supplied at no cost to you, but some may have a small fee, depending on your financial need.

Application

To apply for services, call or visit a vocational rehabilitation office near you.

You can also be referred by a program that has an existing relationship with AZRSA, such as a high school counselor, the Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD), a behavioral health clinic, or a local ARIZONA@WORK One-Stop Job Center.

If you have questions about how to apply, please visit the Arizona Rehabilitation Services Administration’s website.

One-Stop Job Centers offer many free tools, resources, and services that can help you find employment or training and help you with other work-related needs.

There are more than 60 One-Stop Job Centers statewide. Each has a knowledgeable staff to guide and give you important tools to make your job search a success. One-Stop Job Centers also have assistive technology to help you use their services and resources.

Find a local ARIZONA@WORK One-Stop Job Center.

Services

One-Stop Job Centers can help you with various things, including:

• Giving you advice about local employers who are hiring
• Teaching you the basics of how to do a job search
• Helping you with your resume
• Practicing job interviews
• Showing you how to use online jobs websites like the Arizona Job Connection

One-Stop Job Centers have office equipment that can help you with your job search, including telephones, copy machines, computers with Internet access, printers, and fax machines.

Assistive Technology

One-Stop Job Centers also have assistive technology to help people with disabilities use their services and resources. You can also just stop by if you want to try out these technologies.

The types of assistive technologies that One-Stop Job Centers have can include:

• Computer software and equipment to help people who are blind, visually impaired, or who have other physical impairments to use computer programs, websites, and read printed materials
• TTYs (teletypewriters) for people who are deaf or have hearing impairments
• Speech-to-speech services for people with speech impairments

Courses, Workshops, and Trainings

Each One-Stop Job Center also offers a variety of workshops to help with your job search and career planning. Examples of workshops include:

• Interviewing skills
• Networking
• Internet job searches
• Completing job applications
• Writing effective resumes and cover letters

Career Fairs

One-Stop Job Centers also sponsor career fairs to help bring employers and job seekers into contact with one another. Career fairs are great places to apply for jobs and to learn about what industries are hiring and what types of positions are available. ARIZONA@WORK lists job fairs and hiring events all over the state. There’s probably one near you.