Open Enrollment for the Health Insurance Marketplace is open from
November 1, 2017 to December 15, 2017. Do not miss this important period to have yourself, your family members, or your clients enrolled in a health insurance plan for 2018.
Preview the 2018 plans,
register for HealthCare.gov if it is your first year signing up, or
log in now to make your selection if you have used the Marketplace before.
The enrollment period is shorter this year, so individuals are encouraged to not delay in signing up for 2018 healthcare coverage!
The Social Security Administration announced that monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for more than 66 million Americans will increase 2.0 percent in 2018.
The Social Security Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
To see an overview of how the COLA will impact SOAR beneficiaries, the SOAR TA Center has compiled a 2018 SSA Benefits Information resource sheet, which outlines the changes in SSI, Substantial Gainful Activity, Work Incentives, Social Security Quarters, Medicare Costs, Medicare Savings Programs, and Threshold Amounts for Disabled SSI Beneficiaries.
Social Security Guidance on Providing Written Evidence
In October, SSA released a
Social Security Ruling that helps clarify the roles and responsibilities of disability examiners, applicants, and appointed representatives in developing and submitting evidence for SSI and SSDI applications and appeals. This guidance continues to emphasize the appointed representative's key role in providing written evidence and following a code of conduct in assisting applicants, consistent with critical components in the SOAR model. We encourage you to review this information and reach out to your
SOAR TA Center Liaison if you have any questions!
Collecting medical evidence is a key component of the SOAR model. Check out the Collecting Medical Evidence article on the SOAR Online Course for a refresher on the five steps for collecting medical evidence.
my Social Security is proud to welcome a new wage reporting application to its suite of services! Now, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries and their representative payees can report wage information electronically. However, they must still contact an office to report when they've started working.
This application makes it easier and faster for SSDI beneficiaries and their representative payees to report wages to Social Security. Beneficiaries can avoid visiting a field office to report their wages in person and they can print a receipt of their report.
Wage reporting for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients will remain the same, although the new functionality using my Social Security will be made available for SSI recipients, deemors, and their representative payees in a future release.
To learn about the SSA Work Incentives that exist for both SSI and SSDI, check out the SOAR TA Center's overview article, which covers work activity during an application and work incentives available to individuals when they are receiving disability benefits.
