Congressional hearing highlights complexity of return-to-work rules for SSDI and SSI beneficiaries

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers and disability advocates on the House Ways and Means Social Security and Work and Welfare subcommittees on Thursday heard that complex rules, low public awareness and administrative delays are preventing many Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries who want to work from doing so.

The hearing opened with committee members and witnesses stressing the size of the challenge. “Today, there are 1,700,000 Americans missing from the workforce, while at the same time, we have over 7,000,000 open jobs,” the chairman said in opening remarks, arguing that Americans with disabilities are an underused talent pool.

Why it matters: Witnesses and members said the combination of confusing earnings rules, asset limits, slow earnings processing and aggressive overpayment collections can turn work into a financial risk. That risk, they said, is compounded by low awareness of existing protections — such as the trial work period, extended period of eligibility, Medicaid buy‑in and 1619(b) rules — and by thinly funded counseling programs that explain how to use them.

From the witness table, Sean Tyree, a research aide and self‑advocate at the University of Kansas Center on Disabilities, described his path into competitive employment and singled out savings tools and coordinated services as essential. “People with disabilities deserve to be able to maintain benefits that support their health and independence and have a job,” Tyree told the panel.

Benefits counseling and outreach were a repeated theme. Amy Wallisch, founder and CEO of Full Circle Employment Solutions, said benefits counseling is “the cornerstone to return to work efforts,” and described cases in which timely counseling prevented loss of health coverage and stabilized employment. Wallisch urged stronger marketing of the Ticket to Work program, restoration of funding for WIPA (Work Incentive Planning and Assistance) projects and elimination of a 0.5% assignment enforcement policy that she said has reduced participation.

Researchers at Mathematica offered complementary findings. Dr. Denise Hoffman, who has evaluated SSA demonstrations and work‑related programs, said the system’s complexity also produces administrative delays: in 2022, she testified, it took an average of 262 days for SSA to complete an earnings review, and research shows a high share of workers who trigger reviews are later found to have been overpaid. “Many beneficiaries want to work but are held back by a system that is difficult to navigate and can discourage work,” Hoffman said. She recommended modernization of earnings processing, more automation to reduce overpayments, and restoration of SSA’s section 234 demonstration authority so Congress and the agency can test major reforms before broad rollout.

Committee members and witnesses described specific policy fixes under discussion: expanding funding for benefits counseling and WIPA; increasing awareness and outreach for Ticket to Work and Partnership Plus; modernizing SSA forms and signatures (for example, accepting e‑signatures on SSA‑3288 release forms); raising the SSI asset limit or making ABLE accounts more widely available; and reconsidering how the SSDI “cash cliff” operates so beneficiaries do not intentionally limit earnings to preserve benefits.

Several witnesses and members stressed that many beneficiaries who could work do not because the math or paperwork makes work feel like a risk. “Work can feel like a risk, not a reward,” Wallisch said, describing beneficiaries who intentionally cap earnings below thresholds to avoid triggering benefit loss or overpayment collections.

What lawmakers asked for: Members across the aisle asked for more evidence and tests before making sweeping changes. Dr. Hoffman recommended small pilots and stakeholder input before larger demonstrations, citing the Bond and PROMOTE Opportunity demonstrations as examples where testing revealed unexpected fiscal or operational impacts. Several members also pressed for better SSA customer service capacity so beneficiaries can get timely counseling and avoid erroneous overpayments.

Outlook: Witnesses asked Congress to fund counseling and outreach, modernize SSA systems, reinstate demonstration authority and consider bipartisan statutory fixes — including legislation to raise SSI asset limits and caps on aggressive overpayment recoveries — to better align program incentives with the goal of supporting beneficiaries who want to work.

Ending note: The panel did not vote on legislation at the hearing. Members were given two weeks to submit written questions for the record.