Section 1 - Basic Ticket Information

• Part 1 - What is the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program?
  Part 2 - What is the Ticket? What does it look like?
  Part 3 - Tell me more about when Kansans will get their tickets.

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Part 1 - What is the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program?

The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act (Public Law 106-170) was signed into law on December 17, 1999. Its purpose is four-fold:

1. To provide health care and employment preparation and placement services to individuals with disabilities that will enable those individuals to reduce their dependence on cash benefit programs;

2. To encourage states to adopt the option of a Medicaid Buy-In, allowing individuals with disabilities to purchase Medicaid coverage that is necessary to enable them to maintain employment;

3. To provide enhanced options to individuals with disabilities for maintaining Medicare coverage while working; and

4. To establish a "Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program" that allows SSDI and SSI beneficiaries to seek employment services, VR services and other support needed to obtain, retain, or maintain employment and reduce their dependence on cash benefit programs.

Public Law 106-170 directed the Commissioner of Social Security to establish a Ticket to Work and Self-sufficiency program. The law's purpose was to expand the universe of service providers available to SSDI and SSI disability beneficiaries and provide them with a Ticket they may use to obtain VR services, employment services, and other support services from an Employment Network (EN) of their choice. The final regulations to implement the Ticket program were published in the Federal Register on December 28, 2001, and became effective on January 28, 2002. In February 2002, SSA issued new Ticket to Work procedures in its Program Operations Manual Systems (POMS), which will be used by SSA staff to implement the Ticket provisions.

Under the Ticket to Work program, a beneficiary will have the option of deciding when and whether to use his or her Ticket to obtain services from the State VR agency, or from an EN. A beneficiary with a Ticket may assign it to the State VR agency, or any EN they choose, as long as that EN is willing to accept their Ticket. Beneficiaries may discuss their employment and rehabilitation plan with the State VR agency, or with as many ENs in their areas as they wish, and a list of available providers can be obtained from the Program Manager, Maximus, Inc. However, a beneficiary cannot assign his or her Ticket to more than one EN, or an EN and the State VR agency at a time.

The EN or State VR agency will provide employment services, VR services and other support services to assist the beneficiary in obtaining, regaining and maintaining self-supporting employment as specified in the beneficiary's Individualized Work Plan (IWP), if developed with an EN, or Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE), if developed with the State VR agency. As outlined below, the EN or State VR agency will only receive payment for its services if the beneficiary achieves certain work-related outcomes. At any time, a beneficiary can retrieve his or her Ticket from an EN or State VR agency and reassign it to another, as long as Ticket eligibility requirements continue to be met.

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Part 2- What is the Ticket? What does it look like?

A Ticket provides evidence of SSA's agreement to pay an EN or State VR agency to which a beneficiary's Ticket is assigned for providing services and supports to the beneficiary under the Ticket to Work program if certain conditions are met. The Ticket is a red, white and blue document approximately 6" by 9" in size. The left side of the document includes the beneficiary's name, ticket number, claim account number, and the date SSA issued the Ticket. The Ticket number is 12 characters and comprises the beneficiary's own Social Security number, the letters "TW" and a number 1, 2, etc. A number 1 in the last position would signify that this is the first Ticket the beneficiary has received. The right side of the Ticket includes the signature of the Commissioner of SSA.

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Part 3 - Tell me more about when Kansans will get their tickets.

In November, 2002, SSA sent out approximately 6,500 Tickets to people in Kansas whose Social Security numbers ended in 1. No tickets were mailed in December, 2002. Since January, 2003, SSA has been mailing out about 10% of the remaining tickets each month, in numerical order by the last digit of the Social Security number. All Kansans should have received their tickets by October, 2003.

Contact our Web Designer at Frances.Smith@srs.ks.gov
with suggestions or comments about this site. Page last updated September 17, 2003