Citation
Delin, B., Hartman, E., Sell, C., & Brown-Reither, A. (2010). Testing a SSDI Benefit Offset: Evaluations of the Wisconsin SSDI Employment Pilot. Menomonie, WI: University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Highlights
- The study’s objective was to examine the impact of Wisconsin’s Benefit Offset Pilot Demonstration (BOPD), which provided a more-generous work incentive for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) recipients, on recipients’ employment status, earnings, and reliance on benefits.
- The study was a randomized controlled trial; eligible volunteers were randomly assigned to either a treatment group, which was eligible for the more-generous work incentive, or a control group that was not. Data sources included state and federal administrative data on Wisconsin SSDI recipients who were enrolled in BOPD.
- The study found no statistically significant differences between treatment and control group members on employment status, earnings, or reliance on benefits in the eight quarters of follow-up.
- The quality of the causal evidence presented in this study is high for results through the fifth quarter of follow-up, but moderate for subsequent periods because of high attrition in those periods. This means we would be confident that estimated impacts through the fifth quarter of follow-up were attributable to the BOPD and not other factors. However, the study found no such statistically significant impacts.
Intervention Examined
The Benefit Offset Pilot Demonstration
Features of the Intervention
Administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA), the BOPD was a pilot test of the later Benefit Offset National Demonstration. The primary intervention was a benefit offset that replaced the so-called cash cliff SSDI recipients who work eventually experience. The cash cliff refers to the fact that SSDI recipients who have completed a nine-month trial work period followed by a three-month grace period have all their SSDI benefits suspended or terminated if they earn more than a threshold amount known as substantial gainful activity (SGA). The benefit offset replaces the complete loss of all benefits for working SSDI recipients, instead gradually withdrawing the SSDI benefit by $1 for every $2 earned above the SGA amount.
BOPD was implemented in four states: Connecticut, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Apart from recruiting SSDI recipients who received benefits solely based on their own earnings records, had completed a trial work period within the past 72 months, and were not concurrently receiving Supplemental Security Income benefits, the states were free to select their own program eligibility criteria. The Wisconsin BOPD went into effect in August 2005 and was a collaboration of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, the University of Wisconsin-Stout, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Referred to as the Pathways Project, all aspects of the intervention—from recruitment to service provision—were administered through 21 nonprofit provider agencies across the state. Program enrollment ended after October 2006.
Features of the Study
The BOPD in Wisconsin was evaluated using a randomized controlled trial. Wisconsin SSDI recipients deemed eligible for the pilot were randomly assigned to either the treatment group (N = 262), which received the benefit offset, or the control group (N = 206), which received services as usual. Both groups remained eligible to receive benefits counseling and other standard services.
The study used data from several sources. State unemployment insurance records provided employment outcome data. SSA provided state evaluators with information on the participants’ SSDI and Medicare receipt. Key employment outcomes included employment, earnings, income, and the probability of earning at least three times the SGA amount. Income was defined as earned income plus income from SSDI benefits.
Findings
- The study found no statistically significant impacts of BOPD on employment, earnings, income, or the probability of earning at least three times the SGA amount across the eight follow-up quarters examined.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The volunteers who participated in the BOPD are not likely to be representative of the larger SSDI recipient population because they were typically recruited from organizations that helped clients obtain employment, and are therefore likely to be representative of the 20 percent of SSDI recipients who report an expectation of returning to work. In addition, the decision by SSA to restrict eligibility to SSDI recipients who completed their trial work period within the past 72 months disqualified potential participants with longer work histories; these people might have benefited the most from the program.
Causal Evidence Rating
The quality of the causal evidence presented in this study is high for results through the fifth quarter of follow-up, but moderate for subsequent periods because of high attrition in those periods. This means we would be confident that estimated impacts through the fifth quarter of follow-up were attributable to the BOPD and not other factors. However, the study found no such statistically significant impacts.