Changes to Social Security Disability Benefits in 2023

The Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities Division of Disability Determination (DDD), in agreement with the Social Security Administration (SSA), determines medical eligibility for Ohioans who apply for Social Security disability benefits. DDD is federally regulated and receives 100% of its funding from SSA.  Under SSA, disability is based on an individual’s inability to work. 

Robert Fenn and Brandon Smith, Public Affairs Specialists with SSA,  join the podcast to discuss changes to Social Security disability benefits in 2023.

(Check out episode 27, Applying for Social Security Disability Benefits, for additional information.)

Learn more at SSA.Gov or call 800-772-1213.

Transcripts and MP3 files are available at ood.ohio.gov/podcast.

Do you have a disability? Do you want a job? OOD can help! Visit OODWorks.com or call 800-282-4536 to get started. 

Find OOD on social media: @OhioOOD. 

Have a disability? Want to work? Visit OODWorks.com!

Transcript

OOD Works Podcast – Changes to Social Security Disability Benefits in 2023

Transcript

Introduction: Welcome to OOD Works, the podcast, a show about unique individuals and the services provided by Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities, the state agency that helps individuals with disabilities find a job and be more independent. Here's your host Kim Jump. 

Kim Jump:  Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities Division of Disability Determination in agreement with the Social Security Administration determines medical eligibility for Ohioans who apply for Social Security Disability benefits. Division of Disability Determination or DDD as we call it is a federally regulated program and receives 100 percent of its funding from the SSA.  And under SSA, disability is based on an individual’s inability to work. Our agency, OOD, also offers vocational rehabilitation for those who have a disability and want to work. For those who cannot work, disability benefits are a possibility. 

In this episode of OOD Works podcast, I am joined by staff with the Social Security Administration to learn about the 2023 updates related to disability benefits. We are joined by Brandon Smith, Public Affairs Specialist with the Social Security Administration out of Cleveland, and Robert Fenn, Public Affairs Specialist with the Social Security Administration based out of Akron.

I love to welcome you back to our show Brandon and Robert. And I want to encourage our listeners that if they haven’t listened to some of the prior episodes, to be sure to catch episode 27 to understand All Things Social Security Disability Benefits you covered. It’s really a great starting place for those that are really new to this information. And, in today’s episode, we’re really just talking about the updates and changes that come with the 2023 Social Security Disability Benefits. Welcome, Brandon and Robert.

Brandon Smith:  Hey, hello there. 

Robert Fenn: Thank you so much for having us.

Kim Jump: Absolutely. I mean it’s big news that is out at the time of this recording October of 2022. It was all over the headlines at least for a few days and that is there is a historic cost of living adjustment (COLA).  So tell, us about that.

Brandon Smith: Sure. And like you said, there is going to be a large increase for about 70 million individuals that are receiving Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits. And, that COLA, that cost of living adjustment, is going to be 8.7 percent going into 2023. Individuals that receive Supplemental Security Income of which there are about no more than seven million people, they’ll see that increase in their December 30th check. Individuals that receive Social Security benefits will see that increase their benefits starting with their January of 2023.  Some of the people are not always fully clear about what it means, so the COLA cost of living adjustment, the purpose of it is to ensure that the purchasing power of social security and supplemental security income benefits are not eroded by inflation. It’s going to be based on the percentage increase of something called the Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners and clerical workers or CPIW from the third quarter of the last year that there was a COLA determined through the third quarter of the current year. If there’s no increase, there’s no COLA. Now, that Consumer Price Index for clerical workers and urban wage workers, that is determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics through the Department of Labor. By law, that is the official measure used by the Social Security Administration to calculate COLAs and this is the largest COLA increase in four plus decades. 

Kim Jump: So interesting. So, SSA already has their formulas that they really rely on the Department of Labor to figure out the COLA. So, that’s really great to know. And, I know that inflation word has impacted everybody. So it would make sense that Social Security would take a look at this for people that are receiving benefits. What is credit of coverage? And, has that been changed with this COLA?

Brandon Smith: Yeah, so when it comes to a person who applies for benefits under Social Security, primarily retirement benefits, disability benefits, where you are applying for benefits based on your own work record, a person has to have a certain number of quarters of coverage or credits, to be eligible for those benefits. It’s essentially a unit of work that you need to have obtained to be potentially eligible for said benefits. In 2022, the credit of coverage is $1,510. You can earn up to four credits per year. So, in 2022, it would be $6,040. That amount is going up next year in 2023 to $1,640. Once again, you can earn up to four credits per year. So in 2023, for four credits, a person needs to earn $6,560.

Kim Jump: Brandon, what about the maximum taxable amount?

Brandon Smith: Sure and some of this may be new to individuals, but there’s sort of a combined tax rate when it comes to Social Security and Medicare. It’s a combined 7.65 percent tax rate, but the Social Security portion is 6.2 percent. But that only goes up to a certain maximum taxable amount. So in 2022, the maximum taxable amount that a person would potentially have to pay the 6.2 percent for Social Security benefits, benefit eligibility paying into the system is $147,000. That’s $147,000 in 2022. Like, the theme of today’s program, that number is going to go up next year in 2023 to $160,200. So, $160,200 is the maximum taxable amount for Social Security in 2023. 

Kim Jump: Okay, great. Robert I’m going to direct this one to you. How about for individuals who are in employment and they’re collecting Social Security benefits? Are there changes to benefits based on how much you’re earning in a job?

Robert Fenn: Yes. And, I’m glad you asked it that way, Kim, because it’s important to many individuals who are receiving Social Security benefits, the term we use is beneficiaries or customers, one of the things that they are concerned with is their ability to work and still be able to receive that benefit. Just so you understand for those that are listening to us, Mr. Smith, Brandon was speaking of individuals how they become eligible for those benefits, and what those dollar amounts would be for a credit. What I’m referring to is those dollar amounts that when an individual is working and receiving a Social Security disability payment, what changes took place because of that COLA? In 2022, there’s something we call SGA, Substantial Gainful Activity. This is the dollar amount in which Social Security uses as to gauge your financial ability to continue to work and receive a benefit. In 2022, that dollar amount is $1,350. But, next year, that amount is going up to $1,470, that SGA. The reason I like to state that as important is too many times individuals think they cannot file for those benefits if they’re working. Whereas that dollar amount in 2023, $1,470, that we’re going to use to gage whether or not we can continue to process of your application for Social Security disability benefit. If the individual is blind, those numbers are increased. In 2022, it goes from 2260, $2,260 to next year in 2023 $2,460.  That’s definitely a lot of twos in all of this in the years and the dollar amounts. So, this year, 2022 it’s $2,260 and next year it’s $2,460. So there’s an increase for $200 per individual whose blind and another individual may be thinking about working or continuing to work, another effect of that Cost of Living Adjustment is what we call a trial work period. A trial work period allows individuals to kind of test the waters to get back into the workforce and it’s a work incentive which allows Social Security to say, all right, we understand that you’re working because you reported it to us, and we’re going to allow you to have that opportunity to see if that’s an opportunity that you want to have to continue forward. So, we have a dollar amount that we gauge that with. In 2022, that dollar amount is $970 gross per month. Next year, that amount is going up to $1,050 gross per month. And of course, in another podcast, we can talk about that work incentive. But these are some things the public would really like to know and be aware of to determine whether or not that’s an opportunity they would like to pursue.

Kim Jump: Yeah, that would be great for a future episode to talk about in-depth on work incentives. I love that idea. I know just for our listeners, a benefit for those interested in working and figuring out a balance to be able to maintain benefits, we are able to offer some services, some counseling around that. But, that would be a great future episode. So, thank you for pointing that out.

How about for individuals in employment and collecting Social Security benefits? Are there changes to benefits based on how much you earn?

Brandon Smith: Yeah, so when we talk about retirement benefits, spousal benefits, survivor benefits, a person can still be employed and collect these payments. There is a limit to how much a person can work and earn and receive benefits until that individual reaches whatever their personal full retirement age might be. So, in 2022, someone that’s under their retirement age, the allowable limit of how much they can work and earn, if they plan on working their entire year is $19,560. That amount is going up for 2023 to $21,240. So, listeners that will not reach their full retirement age in 2023, if they’re going to work the entire year, they can make up to $21,240 and still receive all of their benefits.  Once again, retirement, spousal, survivor. For every $2 they would make above that limit, we hold back a $1 in benefits. Now, once a person reaches their full retirement age, there’s no longer a limit to how much they can work, earn, and receive benefits. But, we do need to know how much money they plan on making in that calendar year before they reach that full retirement age. For someone that’s reaching their full retirement age in 2022, the allowable limit is $51,960. For individuals that will be reaching their full retirement age in 2023, that amount is going up to $56,520. Now, that’s only for the months in that year before they reach their full retirement age and if individuals make above those amounts, for every $3 they make above those limits, we hold back $1 in benefits. 

Kim Jump: Robert, to continue receiving disability benefits a person must not be engaging in what’s known as Substantial Gainful Activity, SGA. Can you explain more about this and then, what has changed for 2023.

Robert Fenn:  Mhm. What would take place, and I like to bring in the real-world scenario, is that if the individual is receiving their Social Security disability payments. And, so there is a difference between SSI, Supplemental Security Income, and Social Security Disability. And, so when an individual is receiving Social Security Disability based upon the FICA tax and those credits that Brandon had spoke of earlier, that if a person is receiving those payments, we will then allow them to have that opportunity to go back to work. And so once that person decides to go back to work, they are to report those earnings that they’re making to Social Security. We put it into our system. They report it, which they can use the My Social Security Account, that’s my plug, that they can register for My Social Security Account and they can add their wages through there and it will look at their gross amounts. And as long as they’re working, we’re going to give them so many months, nine months to be exact, for them to get back into the workforce to test the waters again to see if this is an opportunity that they want to seek. If that person is making those dollar amounts, and I’ll repeat those amounts. In 2022, those dollar amounts are $1,350. For next year, its’ going to increase by $120. And, so if you break that $120 amount, that could definitely be gas, even though I know gas may go up more than that. But it definitely could cover an individual. So, in 2023, that dollar amount is going to be $1,470 gross. $1,470 gross. Something I should add, because I just mentioned about the Social Security Disability, I also have to mention the SSI portion that Mr. Smith has spoke of at the beginning of our podcast here. That the SSI benefit is also affected by that COLA. So in 2022, individuals were receiving a full amount, potential amount is $841.  That amount is going to increase next year to $914. Now both of those years, this year and next year, if someone is receiving an SSI payment, around seven million individuals, that payment is subject to their living arrangement. That payment is subject to their earnings. So, it’s different in terms of how it will be affected if they are working. So, that is something that we would have to have another podcast to break that down. But again, that new amount for the SSI payment will be $914.

There is something specifically for students. So, when it comes an individual that is receiving SSI and they’re a student, they can make a little bit more money and still potentially hold on to their SSI eligibility. We call it the SSI Student Earned Income Exclusion. So, if you’re on, you’ve got to be under the age of 22. If you’re a student in 2022, the limit as far as how much you can work or earn per month without it impacting your SSI is $2,040. That is going up to $2,220 in 2023. If we’re looking at the entire year, the annual limit for SSI, individuals that are also students, so a certain age, the limit for the year for us to exclude or not count their income for 2022 is $8,230. That is going up to $8,950. Especially with SSI since it is a needs-based program, we want to make sure that listeners, or advocates, or individuals that assist people that may be collecting SSI benefits, you’ve got to report your wages, you’ve got to make sure that timely information is submitted to Social Security. Because with a needs-based program, fluctuation, and assets, and income, and resources can affect the amount of a person’s payment.   

Kim Jump: Thanks for explaining that. Knowing that your agency has increased its traffic now with the general public with things opening back up after the pandemic, is there a best way at this point to reach the Social Security Administration?

Brandon Smith: Yes. Great question. As you stated, since April 7, our office has the opportunity, permission to have more individuals visiting our office in person. Now, of course, during the height of the pandemic, individuals could always contact us via our website, socialsecurity.gov. or call the 800 number. 800-772-1213. Those services are still there, viable, safe. We encourage everyone to follow-up and use those sources. You can go to your local Social Security office, go to our website, socialsecurity.gov, go to the bottom of the screen and look for the option of locating us, type in your zip code and it will give you the nearest office for you to visit. And with that being said, an individual, if you are visiting loved ones in Florida, California, Texas, wherever, you can go to any office to inquire about any questions you may have. But, if you’re looking for your local office, you go to our Social Security website, type in the locator or click on the locator and put in your zip code. We do encourage individuals if you’re trying to reach us and you have questions, or concerns, or something that needs to be addressed, call first, set up an appointment. Our suggestion is that you will talk to us later in the day because you can reach us from 8:00 – 5:00 at the 800 number I mentioned. But we found that there is an increase of your chances of reaching us timely, when I say timely, yes, there could be some times where you’re put on hold. But, if you’re looking to lessen that amount of time that you’re on hold, would be after 10:00 a.m. So it’s later in the day, later in the week, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and later in the month, after the 15th, or so to reach us. And so again if you’re looking to contact us, maybe to replace your Social Security Card, on our website, SocialSecurity.gov, we have what I’m going to call a template. Where you can fill it out and when you hit the button, it will give you a confirmation number. That confirmation number is what you can use when you go to the office to help speed up that time for you waiting in the lobby because we’ll be able to pull that information in, verify your ID, at which you could also, if it did not work using My Social Security Account, we can get that Social Security card replaced. But if that did not work, you would have that option. So that way we could speed that up. In all cases though, we do ask that you call us. Call 800-772-1213 first and see if we can handle the issue via the phone and or, if need be, make you an appointment.

Kim Jump: Great tips. Thank you. As Public Affairs Specialists, what’s on your radar right now?

Brandon Smith: I’ll jump into it real quick. One of the things that we’re continuing to do as we navigate the new reality, is to make sure that we continue to find ways to reach the public to explain about our benefits and services. We want to make sure that all communities across the spectrum have access to clear, concise, accurate information regarding Social Security. We want to make sure the public is aware ahead of time of what information they would need to know when they decide to apply for benefits. So, just continuing to encourage those to make sure you know where your Social Security card is, make sure you know what your Social Security Number is. Have all your documentation readily available be it marriage certificates, divorce decrees, DD214s if you were a veteran. You know, Rob and I are lucky to have these positions where we can talk to people like you, the people out in the community. It’s really just given them information neutral as it might be, so that whenever they decide to take their benefits, they have as much information as possible. Hopefully to make an informed decision. 

Kim Jump: Very helpful. Robert, anything you would add to what Brandon shared that may be on your radar?

Robert Fenn: Yeah, I would be remised if I didn’t say on our website, SocialSecurity.gov, there is an Ask for the Speaker option. You could enter the information if you are an employer, agency, a church, synagogue, it doesn’t matter and you could set up and event for us via MS Teams, Zoom, those types of platforms or in-person possibly. We could come out and give this information so that way, you, your customers and beneficiaries are properly educated. Because, as we all know, there is a lot of information out there and we want to make sure that everyone receives the accurate and correct information that leads me to this point. Please be aware that there are scams out there. There are individuals looking to pose or posing as government agencies. Social Security will never call to threaten any individual or try to encourage or coerce that person to place their monies or direct money onto gift cards. That is not something that Social Security would do. We will encourage you to go to our website. We have it up on our banner. If someone contacts you, you receive a phone call, or some letter or maybe even a person, you need to report that. That would be to OIG.SSA.GOV.  OIG (Office of Inspector General) . (dot) SSA (Social Security Administration) . (dot) gov to report that. They are looking for any of the information that you could provide to them whether it’s the time they called, the voice, any of those recognitions. I say all of that that Social Security we’re still here to help and provide information for you. And, Brandon and I will be more than happy to give one of those presentations. Brandon does more smiling than I do. But you will love the smiles none the less. And we look forward to providing this information all through 2023.

Kim Jump: Great. You guys provided a great service. And it’s so helpful to be able to get the correct, the up-to-date information directly from the source. I really appreciate the service that you provide.  

Brandon Smith: Thank you. We thank you for this opportunity.

Robert Fenn: I appreciate it.