Ticket to Work: Trying a Job on SSDI or SSI Without Losing Everything
A lot of people on disability benefits want to work but stay put, afraid a few paychecks will cost them their check and their health coverage. Social Security's rules are more forgiving than most people expect. Here's how Ticket to Work and the main work incentives fit together for SSDI and SSI, with the 2026 numbers and the 2027 figures Social Security has already announced.
AT A GLANCE
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What Ticket to Work actually gives you
Ticket to Work is a set of free employment services, not a separate benefit. You pick a service provider, and together you build a plan to prepare for work, find a job or keep one. Social Security's Red Book says it's available in all 50 states, DC, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
There are two main kinds of providers:
Employment Networks (ENs). Public or private organizations under contract with Social Security. They offer career planning, job leads and placement, ongoing support after you're hired and, at some, benefits counseling. Some serve one town; some work nationwide by phone or online. Workforce ENs are part of a state's public workforce system and can connect you to American Job Centers and training.
State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agencies. These usually serve people who need more intensive help: training, education, rehabilitation, career counseling and job placement. Some states run a separate VR agency for people who are blind or have low vision.
You can start with VR to get ready for work and then move to an EN for help keeping the job and earning more. Social Security calls that Partnership Plus.
Participation in the Ticket to Work Program is free and voluntary. (Choose Work, Social Security's Ticket to Work site)
Free benefits counseling
Two other groups don't take Tickets but are worth knowing:
Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) projects. Social Security funds them to give free benefits counseling. Their Community Work Incentive Coordinators explain how earnings would affect your SSI, SSDI, health coverage and other benefits. The Help Line may refer you if you're working, have a job offer, or are age 14 to 25.
Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security (PABSS). These organizations provide legal support and advocacy when you run into barriers at work.
If you're unsure, a WIPA counselor is a good first call. It's the one place whose whole job is running the numbers on your benefits.
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How to get started
USE YOUR TICKET
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The medical review protection
Social Security normally reviews your medical condition from time to time in a Continuing Disability Review (CDR). Choose Work says that if you assign your Ticket before you get a CDR notice and keep making timely progress, Social Security won't do that medical review. If you assign it after a CDR notice arrives, the scheduled review goes ahead.
"Timely progress" means meeting earnings or education and training milestones within timeframes Social Security sets.
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If you get SSDI
SSDI's work rules happen in stages. The two dollar figures to know are the trial work amount and the substantial gainful activity (SGA) amount, which is the earnings level Social Security treats as meaningful work.
Figure | 2026 | 2027 |
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Earnings that count as a trial work month | $1,210 a month | $1,270 a month |
SGA, not blind | $1,690 a month | $1,770 a month |
SGA, statutorily blind | $2,830 a month | $2,950 a month |
Stage 1: the trial work period
You get 9 trial work months, and they don't have to be in a row. They must fall within a rolling 60-month window. During those months, you keep your full SSDI check no matter how much you earn, as long as you report the work and still have a disabling impairment. Self-employment also counts as a trial month if you work more than 80 hours in the month.
Two things to know: the trial period can't begin before the first month you're entitled to SSDI (or the month you filed, if later). And Social Security can still look at medical evidence of recovery at any time.
Stage 2: the extended period of eligibility
The month after your ninth trial month, a 36-month extended period of eligibility begins. During those 36 months:
Any month your earnings are below SGA, you get a check.
Months you earn over SGA, the check is suspended.
The first time you work over SGA, Social Security decides your disability "ceased" due to work. You're still paid for that month and the next 2 months, called the grace period.
If earnings drop back under SGA within the 36 months, benefits restart without a new application.
After month 36, your benefits end the first month you work above SGA.
Medicare keeps going
Most people who go back to work keep Medicare for at least 93 months (7 years and 9 months) after the trial work period ends, even if the cash stops. Premium-free Part A continues, along with Part B and Part D if you're enrolled.
When that ends, you can buy Medicare if you're under 65 and still have a disability. In 2026, the full Part A premium is $565 a month, or $311 if you qualify for the 45% reduction (for example, 30 or more quarters of work). Part B is $202.90 a month or more. Your state may pay the Part A premium if your income and resources are low enough; apply through your state Medicaid agency.
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If you get SSI
SSI doesn't have a trial work period. Instead, the check shrinks gradually as you earn more.
How earnings are counted
Social Security doesn't count the first $65 you earn in a month, and then counts only half of the rest. A $20 general exclusion is applied first, usually to unearned income. So you generally keep more than half of every extra dollar you earn.
Here's an example using our own math and the 2026 federal benefit rate of $994 for one person: someone with no other income earns $800 in a month. Take off $20 and $65, leaving $715. Half of that ($357.50) counts. The SSI check would be about $994 minus $357.50, or $636.50, and total income would be about $1,436.50. State supplements and other income change the result, so check your own numbers with a counselor.
SSI work rule | What it does |
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Earned income exclusion | Ignores $65 a month plus half of remaining earnings |
Student earned income exclusion | Under 22 and regularly in school: excludes up to $2,410 a month, $9,730 a year (2026) |
Section 1619(a) | Keeps SSI cash going even when earnings reach SGA, as long as you meet the income and resource tests |
Section 1619(b) | Keeps Medicaid after earnings are too high for a check, up to your state's threshold amount |
Reinstatement | If SSI stopped for a reason other than work or medical recovery, it can restart within 12 months without a new application |
Medicaid while working
Section 1619(b) protects health coverage. You qualify if you got SSI for at least 1 month, would still qualify except for earnings, still have a disability, meet the resource test, need Medicaid to work, and earn too little to replace SSI, Medicaid and any publicly funded attendant care. Each state has a yearly threshold amount. If your earnings are above it, Social Security can figure an individual threshold that adds things like your actual Medicaid costs and impairment-related work expenses.
The Red Book notes that some states use their own Medicaid rules. It lists Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Missouri and Virginia.
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Work incentives for both programs
Incentive | How it helps |
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Impairment-related work expenses (IRWE) | Subtracts what you pay for disability-related items or services you need to work, such as paratransit, attendant care, medical devices or certain prescriptions. Lowers counted earnings for SGA and for the SSI check |
Subsidy and special conditions | Extra help from an employer or job coach means only the real value of your work counts toward SGA |
Unsuccessful work attempt | Work that stops or drops below SGA within 6 months because of your disability doesn't count against you |
Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) | Sets aside income or resources for a written, approved work goal, such as training or starting a business, so SSI doesn't count them |
Expedited reinstatement | Restarts benefits if you stop working within 5 years after they ended because of work |
IRWE has limits. You must pay the cost yourself without reimbursement, the cost must be reasonable, and things like health insurance premiums, routine checkups and regular vehicle costs don't count.
The safety net: expedited reinstatement
If your SSDI or SSI stopped because of work and you later can't keep working at the SGA level because of the same or a related condition, ask for expedited reinstatement within 5 years. Social Security can pay up to 6 months of temporary benefits while it does a medical review. If you're approved, a 24-month initial reinstatement period begins. SSDI recipients who finish it get a new trial work period, a new 36-month extended period and new extended Medicare.
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Report your work
Every one of these protections assumes Social Security knows about your earnings. Report work changes promptly. For SSI, the Red Book says Social Security has used a Payroll Information Exchange since April 2025; if you sign Form SSA-8240, it can get wage data directly from payroll providers, and you might not have to report every month.
Overpayments usually come from earnings Social Security didn't hear about in time. If you get one anyway, our guide to SSI overpayment letters and waivers explains your options.
Related guides
Official sources
Last checked: October 30, 2026. Facts come from Social Security's Red Book, its Choose Work site, and its SGA and trial work period pages. The SSI earnings example is our own math using the 2026 federal benefit rate.
This is general information, not legal or financial advice. Your benefits depend on your own record and state. A WIPA benefits counselor or Social Security can tell you exactly how work will affect you.
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