The Arc Commends President Clinton and the Congress for Enacting Disability Work Incentives Law

ARC of the United States
Friday, 17 December 1999

Washington, D.C. ¾ The Arc, the nation's leading national organization on mental retardation and related disabilities, applauds the President and congressional leaders for enacting the historic, bipartisan Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act (H.R. 1180). The President will sign the bill today at the site of the symbolic Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Memorial.

This legislation will have a major positive impact on the lives of people with mental retardation by removing some of the most serious barriers to work for people with mental retardation and other disabilities. Following are some of the highlights of the new law:

- People who receive disability benefits through Title II of Social Security will be allowed to maintain Medicare coverage without the payment of Part A premiums for an additional four and one-half years beyond current law.

- States would have two options to offer Medicaid coverage to people with disabilities who work: 1) States may offer a Medicaid buy-in to workers with disabilities who earn above 250 percent of poverty; and 2) States may cover people who continue to have a severe disability but who lose Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability (SSDI) because of medical improvement.

- Additional provisions allow States to cover people who have disabilities that will increasingly impact the person's ability to work.

- A new "ticket to work" program will allow people with disabilities to choose their own provider of employment services in the private or public sector.

- The new law requires the Social Security Administration (SSA) to conduct an extensive demonstration program of a gradual reduction in Title II disability benefits as the individual's earnings increase. It will demonstrate the work incentive effect of reducing the benefit by $1 for every $2 the individual earns, similar to the reduction made now in the SSI program.

The Arc has sought improvements in the work incentives provisions for well over a decade. Thousands of potential tax-payers with mental retardation await these major changes in law. A full summary of the provisions of the new law is posted on The Arc Governmental Affairs publications web site.

The Arc represents over 7 million children and adults with mental retardation and their families. The Arc has over 140,000 members within approximately 1,000 state and local chapters nationwide.

For more information, or to contact ARC of the United States, see their website at: www.thearc.org