Essential Tools and Resources

Life events, such as changes in employment, marital status, or living situation, can be stressful, especially if you are not sure how the change will affect your benefits. Meeting with a Work Incentive Consultant is the easiest way to learn how these changes can affect your health care coverage and disability benefits.

Work Incentive Consultants know a great deal about health care coverage and cash assistance programs like Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). If you tell them about your goals and your situation, they can help you make informed choices about working and benefits.

Ability360

The best place to find a certified Work Incentive Consultant is Ability360. These Work Incentive Consultants can:

• Understand the rules of specific work incentives and how they apply to you
• Decide whether the Ticket to Work Program is right for you
• Present the potential benefits and facts about employment for a person who gets Social Security disability benefits
• Analyze how work and earnings affect your SSI, SSDI, health care, and state and local benefits
• Find a good match with a state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agency or an Employment Network (EN), depending upon your needs
• Find information about health coverage available to beneficiaries who have entered the workforce

Work Incentive Consultant services are free! Work Incentive Consultants understand the Social Security rules and want to help you achieve your work goals.

You can contact them online or at:

Toll-free: 1-866-304-WORK (9675)
Phone: 1-602-443-0720
Arizona Relay: 711

DB101 Website

The Disability Benefits 101 website (DB101) helps people with disabilities learn how earned income may impact their benefits so they can make informed choices, reduce fears, and make work a core part of their lives.

The DB101 website includes detailed descriptions of health care and disability benefits programs like SSI, SSDI, and the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS). Each program description includes information on how the program interacts with work and other disability benefits programs. It also includes sections on topics of interest like returning to work, building resources and wealth, and rights and responsibilities.

DB101 Benefits Planning Estimators

The DB101 website also includes Estimators to help you better understand how life changes can affect your finances, health care coverage, and disability benefits. DB101 Estimators help users:

• Learn about the connections between work and benefits
• Learn about Social Security work incentives
• Develop tailored work plans
• Set goals for employment

Benefits and Work Estimator

What will happen to your income, benefits, and health coverage if you go to work? You can use the Benefits and Work Estimator to find out how a job may affect your total income and your health care coverage.

AHCCCS Freedom to Work Estimator

Arizona's AHCCCS Freedom to Work program lets workers with disabilities keep AHCCCS coverage by paying a monthly premium. You can use the AHCCCS Freedom to Work Estimator to find out if you’d qualify for the program and what your estimated premium would be.

School and Work Estimator

Young people with disabilities can use the School and Work Estimator to find out how a job can affect their cash benefits and health care coverage – and how staying in school can help.