All EN Payments Call March 29, 2016 Ticket Program Manager Social Security’s Ticket to Work Program

Agenda Welcome & Announcements SEI claims via the portal The Work Number – When ENs should submit Supplemental Earnings Statement Code of Federal Regulations Split Payments Ticket Portal Tips and Tricks o Payment requests (Phase 1 Milestones) o View Payments Questions and Answers

Self-Employment Income (SEI) We accept and process payments based on SEI earnings only once SSA posts earnings to their databases Beneficiaries are considered self-employed if they: o Generate income directly from goods or services they provide customers, clients or other organizations as opposed to being an employee of a business (or person). o Do not have tax withholdings from their regular wages and do not pay Social Security taxes o Are the sole owner of their own business or trade; or o Are an independent contractor. SEI earnings are usually available to SSA between July and December following the close of the tax year.

Self-Employment Income (continued) Please do not submit an SEI payment request for SSA to hold until earnings are available. You can submit payment requests via the Ticket Portal as shown on the upcoming slides only if the portal indicates that earnings have been established for the claim months for which the EN is requesting payment. If you do not request SEI payments for your Ticket clients, SSA will make SEI payments through E-Pay as the earnings become available.

SEI Claims via the Ticket Portal

SEI Claims via the Ticket Portal (continued)

This is the message visible to the EN if there are established earnings in the Database.

The Work Number When ENs should submit Supplemental Earnings Statement

A number of ENs use the service of the Work Number; a third party service which provides verification of employment and income. In some situations the service is free. The Work Number allows requestors to receive immediate confirmation of an individual's employment and salary for verification purposes. The Work Number collects week-by-week salary information which is as up to date as the last pay period and can go back many years. It also collects the length of employment, job titles, location information, and other kinds of human resources-related information.

The Work Number – When ENs should submit Supplemental Earnings Statement (continued) This service is a useful tool to locate earnings for individuals participating in the Ticket to Work program to provide documentation when required which verifies an employee’s income and length of employment, when that information is not otherwise available.

The Work Number - When ENs should submit an EN Supplemental Earnings Statement (continued) Example #1: AS OF DATE We are unable to determine pay period beginning, ending dates and the pay date; therefore, we request a Supplemental Earnings Statement from the EN.

The Work Number - When ENs should submit an EN Supplemental Earnings Statement (Continued) Example #2: No Pay Period End Date information listed; therefore, we request a Supplemental Earnings Statement from the EN.

The Work Number - When ENs should submit an EN Supplemental Earnings Statement (Continued) EXAMPLE #3: No supplemental Earnings Statement Required o Pay period end date and pay date listed o The assumption is, if the end date is 1/8/2016, the next beginning date is the day after 1/9/2016-1/22/2016. A time line sequence is provided for pay dates

Effect of SSI Beneficiaries’ Subsequent Entitlement to SSDI on An EN’s Payment Rate

The regulatory policy in 20 CFR § clarifies under which program payment rate an EN will receive payments when a beneficiary is entitled initially under SSI and later becomes entitled under both SSI and SSDI, i.e. concurrent.

Effect of SSI Beneficiaries’ Subsequent Entitlement to SSDI on an EN’s Payment Rate The rule is as follows: o If a beneficiary is eligible for SSI only when we authorize the first EN payment, we will continue to make EN payments at the SSI rate for the remainder of the Ticket. o If a beneficiary is eligible for SSI and SSDI before we authorize the first EN payment, we will make all EN payments on the Ticket at the SSDI rates.

Split Payment Note: EN must be eligible for payment. State VR agency must act as an EN. Split Payment Employment Network A (Outcome Only) Employment Network A (Outcome Only) Employment Network B (Milestone- Outcome) Employment Network B (Milestone- Outcome) Payment amounts do not increase but are shared Beneficiary Worked with More than One EN or VREN

Split Payment How is a Split Payment Generated? Case is determined Split payment notice and SSA 1401 form Payment Request Form considerations Service Records

Split Payment EN Split Payment Request and EN Payment Request Form Service records reviewed for all ENs involved - Determination of Allocation TPM Split Payment Allocation letter Self and other ENs involved

Ticket Portal Tips & Tricks

Requesting a Payment

Requesting a Payment (continued)

Phase 1 Milestone Claim Month 23

Phase 1 Milestone Claim Month (continued) If the Ticket Portal has not identified sufficient earnings to support Phase 1 milestone payments. This may be an instance where the payment request was prohibited, based on findings that Phase 1 milestones restrictions exist for the following reasons. Look Back Earnings (Earnings prior to Ticket Assignment Date) Successful VR closure If by chance these milestone restrictions are associated in error with the EN, it is the responsibility of the EN to supply information that refutes the claim of Phase 1 milestone restrictions in this case.

Phase 1 Milestone Claim Month (continued) 25

Payment Request

Payment Request (continued)

Submitting a Payment Request If you have finished entering the earnings information, review your payment request to make sure it is complete and correct. When you click on the ‘Submit’ button you are automatically creating a case in SSA’s system. You cannot edit or delete your payment request once it is submitted. There is no additional ‘are you sure?’ screen. You will notice there is a checkbox next to ‘Proof of Earnings will be Faxed in.’ This automatically generates a fax coversheet that will associate your earnings evidence with the payment request you are creating in the portal. If you uncheck this box a coversheet will not generate. You will need to generate an additional coversheet to attach the earnings evidence to the work case you created.

Important Notes When you fax in your earnings evidence (either fax or e-fax) your documentation is automatically linked to the work case created in SSA’s system. The cover sheet must be the first page of your fax. This cover sheet is for one-time use. If you re-use it your fax will not go to Social Security’s system. If you lose or misplace your coversheet you may go to the pending payment list and request another coversheet. You can fax multiple payment requests at the same time as long as each cover sheet is followed by the associated evidence. If you do not fax your earnings evidence within 9 business days your payment request will be denied with the reason “Insufficient Documentation”. If your e-fax software automatically appends a business coversheet you must disable this feature to ensure that the bar-coded fax coversheet is the first page of your transmission.

TPM Phone & Resources Technical Assistance o Monday thru Friday 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. EST o Toll Free: /TDD: Option 1: Payments Help Desk Option 2: Systems Help Desk o o

Questions and Answers 31