Q: A reader in Dayton, Tenn., asks: “Would you please answer in the Chattanooga Times Free Press how much a person can work and draw disability? I will appreciate your answer.”
A: We have special rules called work incentives that help you keep your disability and Medicare benefits while you test your ability to work. For example, there is a trial work period. During the trial work period, you can receive full benefits regardless of how much you earn. You just have to report your work activity and continue to have a disabling impairment.
The trial work period continues until you have worked nine months within a 60-month period. In 2011, a trial work month is any month in which your total earnings are over $720.
After the trial work period ends, your benefits will stop during months your earnings are at a level we consider substantial, currently $1,000 in 2011. Different amounts apply to people disabled because of blindness. The monthly substantial amount for statutorily blind individuals for 2011 is more than $1,640. For an additional 36 months after completing the trial work period, we can start your benefits again if your earnings fall below the substantial level and you continue to have a disabling impairment.
Q: Mr. R, of Calhoun, Ga., writes: “Is it possible to determine how much Social Security benefits you have received (in total dollars) since you have been enrolled? Furthermore, can the total dollars be broken down to show the actual cash received after deductions. This information would be most interesting.”