The Basics
Your child can work, even if he or she has a disability and gets benefits from Medi-Cal or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). In fact, Medi-Cal and SSI are designed so that people who work end up better off.
With a job, your child can:
- Keep Medi-Cal health coverage even while making as much as $73,920 per year
- Have more total income and keep getting SSI
- Save up some money and keep getting SSI
- Get back on SSI if it stops and is needed later
You can help your son or daughter plan for work. Get started by understanding these four ways benefits programs and a job can work together.
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Medi-Cal Covers People With Disabilities who Work
These rules mean your child can keep Medi-Cal even while making a lot of money at work:
- If your child gets SSI benefits while working, Medi-Cal will continue automatically.
- If your child used to get SSI benefits, but now makes enough money that SSI benefits ended, SSI's 1619(b) rule means Medi-Cal will continue automatically even if your child makes up to $56,758 per year.
- If your child doesn't get SSI, but is under 22, gets Medi-Cal based on a disability, and is also regularly attending school, the Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE) means that if your child gets a job, Medi-Cal coverage will probably continue.
- Medi-Cal's Working Disabled Program (WDP) lets your child get Medi-Cal coverage if your child makes $73,920 per year or less. It has a $130,000 resource limit, but with WDP, if your child saves money from earnings in a separate account or in a retirement account, that money won't count against the resource limit. Note: Medi-Cal's Working Disabled Program used to have a monthly premium. Starting on July 1, 2022, there is no more premium. Learn more about this change.
- If your child's income is even higher than that, he or she can get private health coverage through work or on Covered California. Private insurance companies cannot deny coverage to your child.
Your child can get health coverage after getting a job.
Learn more about Medi-Cal's Working Disabled Program and SSI 1619(b).
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A Job + SSI = More Money
Getting a job doesn’t mean your child will stop getting Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. SSI makes sure your child will be better off when working.
SSI Rules that Help Young People who Get Jobs
SSI is based on financial need. That’s why people worry that if they get jobs, they’ll lose their SSI benefits. These rules show why you don’t need to worry:
- The Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE) means that if your child gets a job while in school, his or her SSI benefit probably won’t go down. That means your child will get money from work and SSI at the same time.
- With the SEIE, anyone under 22 and regularly attending school can make up to $2,220 per month up to a total of $8,950 in a year, without having that money reduce their SSI benefits at all!
- If your child doesn’t qualify for the SEIE, working is still a good idea, because SSI counts less than half of what a person earns at a job when calculating his or her benefit.
If your child is in school and under 22, the SEIE means he or she can work and keep getting as much SSI as ever. For every additional dollar your child earns that is not excluded by the SEIE, your child’s SSI benefits amount will only go down by 50 cents. No matter what, SSI's rules mean that your child will have more money overall while working.
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Your Child Can Save More
As your child makes more money, he or she can start saving for bigger goals, like college, a car, or someday buying a home. Building assets will be a key to comfort and security for your child’s entire life.
SSI and Medi-Cal Rules Help People who Work and Save
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) has a $2,000 resource limit and disability-based Medi-Cal has a $130,000 limit. However, your child can save way more money than this if he or she gets a job.
SSI resource rules for people who work:
- Not all resources are counted, so your child can own a car or get certain types of financial aid for school that won’t be counted against the resource limit.
- ABLE accounts will let you and your child put money into a special account where the first $100,000 will not count against the SSI resource limit.
- Savings in a Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) or Individual Development Account (IDA) are not counted. These special types of accounts let your child save for specific expenses, like school tuition.
- Assets in certain types of trusts do not count.
Medi-Cal resource rules for people who work:
- The SSI resource rules also apply to Medi-Cal.
- None of the money in an ABLE account is counted against Medi-Cal resource limits.
- If your child has income from a job, he or she can get coverage through Medi-Cal's Working Disabled Program (WDP) program. It also has a $130,000 resource limit, but with WDP, if your child saves money from earnings in a separate account or in a retirement account, that money won't count against the resource limit.
- There is no resource limit for income-based Medi-Cal, no matter how old your child is.
Saving money for the future is important. Talk to a benefits planner to figure out which asset-building strategies will let your child keep getting SSI.
Big changes for disability-based Medi-Cal categories with asset limits:
- On July 1, 2022, Medi-Cal asset limits increased to $130,000 for individuals, $195,000 for couples
- On January 1, 2024, these asset limits will be removed completely.
This applies to Medi-Cal through A&D FPL, the Working Disabled Program, and ABD–MN, as well as Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs). If you've been denied Medi-Cal or an MSP because you had too much in assets, try applying again.
Note: This doesn't change SSI-linked Medi-Cal or Medi-Cal through SSI 1619(b), as they still have SSI's $2,000 asset limit. And it doesn't change income-based Medi-Cal, which doesn't have an asset limit.
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Your Child Will Stay Connected to SSI
The more your child works, the more money your child can make. If he or she makes enough, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits may stop, but overall your child will be much better off!
SSI Has a Safety Net for People who Lose Benefits and Need Them Later
Even if your child makes a lot more money than he or she ever got from SSI, you will probably worry about what would happen if the job ended due to a disability. Would your child be able to get back on SSI if needed?
Yes.
SSI’s 1619(b) rule helps people who stop getting SSI benefits start getting them again. If a job ends or earnings go down, your child can just report the change to Social Security and SSI benefits will start up again. He or she will not even have to reapply.
1619(b) is for people earning less than $56,758 in a year ($55,439 if blind). If your child earns more than that, other rules can help your child start getting SSI benefits again if they are needed.
If your child stops getting SSI benefits due to work income and then that income goes down, he or she can get back on SSI.
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Resources
Learn More on DB101
Use DB101’s School and Work Estimator to get a sense of how work could impact your child’s benefits.
For more about these and other ways benefits support work, read DB101’s articles about:
- Parent Focus: Turning 18, which looks at how your child's benefits might change at age 18.
- Benefits for Young People, including details about many different benefits and how rules change as your child gets older.
- Supplemental Security Income, which covers SSI’s rules in detail.
- Medi-Cal, which covers people with and without disabilities.
- Building Your Assets and Wealth, an introduction to asset-building strategies.
- Plans to Achieve Self-Support, an in-depth look at the ways a PASS can help.
- Individual Development Accounts, a detailed look at IDAs and how to set them up.
Getting Help with Your Benefits
If you get Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), or Childhood Disability Benefits (CDB), and you're looking for a job, a trained Benefits Planner can help you avoid problems with your job plan. If you need help or have questions about your situation, you can call the Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842 or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY), Monday through Friday.
View DB101's full list of experts who can help you understand different benefits.
Community-Based Organizations
Various community-based organizations guide people through state, federal, public, and private health and income programs. Some organizations may work with specific populations while others work with people with any type of disability. Here are a few examples
Goodwill Industries services range from personal evaluation and office skills training to career counseling, childcare, and transportation. Some Goodwill Industries centers also do benefits planning for people who get SSI, SSDI, and Medicare. Find locations at www.Goodwill.org, or by calling (voice) 1-800-466-3945.
The California Foundation for Independent Living Centers lists centers serving people with all disabilities. Many of these centers do benefits planning for people who get SSI, SSDI, and Medicare. If they don't offer benefits planning themselves, Independent Living Centers can refer you to local benefits planners. Find the list of independent living centers at www.CFILC.org, or by calling (voice) 1-916-325-1690 or (TTY) 1-916-325-1695.
The California Department of Public Health's Office of AIDS lists 1,300 organizations offering HIV/AIDS services throughout California. Some of these organizations provide case management, benefits planning, and benefits counseling services that can include help with public and private benefits programs. You can search the list online, or call (voice) 1-800-367-AIDS (2437) or (TTY) 1-888-225-AIDS (2437).
Disability Rights California provides representation for consumers of public programs who are disabled. Website publications include topics on health care, benefit programs, and In-Home Supportive Services.