From: gtrapp@abq.com
Subject: when to report ernings to Social Securrity
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Date: Sun, 22 Dec 1996 02:07:52 -0600 
From: gtrapp@abq.com
Message-ID: 
Subject: when to report ernings to Social Securrity
To: gtrapp@abq.com
Peter,
You are right.  Your friend should report her earnings as soon as
possible.  I usually advise Social Security recipients to delay only
long enough to write a good letter complete with any allowable
deductions for blind work expenses, work subsidies, or
Impairment-Related Work Expenses.  The time it should take to write such
a letter should only be a few days at the very most.  It is also very
important that your friend be able to prove that she did in fact report
her earnings.  She should absolutely not rely on a telephone report of
earnings.  She should send in a written report certified mail return
receipt requested, or hand deliever it to the Social Security office and
request a date stamped coppy of the report.  She should keep a copy in a
safe place and plan on keeping it permanently.
As for the possibility of an overpayment, the question is not whether
there will be an overpayment, but what will the amount of the
overpayment be?  If your friend fails to report, she will be judged to
be at fault for the overpayment and she will not be able to obtain a
waiver of the overpayment.  This is why it is so important to keep a
record of the report.  Another problem associated with a failure to
report earnings is that such a failure could constitute fraud,
especially if she failed to make a statement of earnings in the periodic
Social Security questionaires.  In such a case, the Social Security
Administration might charge her with fraud and  go after her fr
repayment of SSI payments even prior to her starting work.  I once
represented a person with a $70,000 overpayment because of a failure to
note work activity in response to a Social Security Administration
 questionairrre.
Another consideration your friend should keep in mind is her ability to
continue on Medicaid.  In most states, Medicaid eligibility is linked to
receipt of SSI.  If a person loses SSI because of work activity, it may
be possible to continue on Medicaid under 1619(b).  If this is an
important consideration for your friend, she should contact Social
Security prior to work and inquire as to continued Medicaid eligibility.
 If she needs the Medicaid coverage and could not afford other coverage,
and if she otherwise meets the SSI eligibility requirements, she might
be eligibile for Medicaid despite her earned income.
I hope this information helps.
Greg Trapp
Staff Attorney
Protection & Advocacy System
Albuquerque, NM 87110
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