This paper aims to present options for incorporating a return-to-work focus into the disability eligibility requirements for the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. Currently, policy initiatives such as the Ticket to Work program that promote return-to-work opportunities for beneficiaries are hard to reconcile with SSA's requirements that applicants and recipients demonstrate an inability to work. Disability cash benefit programs from European countries and private disability programs in the US offer potential lessons for modifying disability standards for the SSDI and SSI programs.
Disability concepts underlying these other programs tend to be more dynamic and allow for changes in disability status over time and in different environments, and often provide benefits for partial and full disability benefits. Return-to-work strategies include early interventions to keep applicants in the workforce, triaging program participants into different rehabilitation programs based on type of disability and expected duration, and mandatory rehabilitation.
Moving the current SSA system to a continuum of disability model could increase costs by expanding the number of beneficiaries, and would entail a shift in focus for programs that have traditionally provided only cash benefits. Still, society could benefit from the increased retention and re-entry of beneficiaries in the labor market.