An article in the Dubuque, IA Telegraph Herald, written by Mary Rae Bragg, suggests that the program is "struggling to get the job done". Seven years ago, the Ticket to Work program was touted as the way to make employment and vocational rehabilitation available to the millions of people with disabilities who were receiving Social Security disability benefits. At that time, officials thought expanded healthcare benefits through Medicare would alleviate the fears of individuals who wished to work but did not want to take a chance on losing their Social Security benefits. The ticket to work arrangement allowed for extended Medicare coverage for those whose work income disqualified them from Social Security assistance.
However, this may not have been a correct assumption on the part of government officials. Only 12,619 people with disabilities (with Tickets to Work) have gone on to be assigned to a provider on the employment network thus far.
The article goes on to point out that Maximus (the government contractor that administers the Ticket to Work program) has a website that offers public and private providers across the nationz; however, there were none in the tri-state area (surrounding Dubuque, Iowa).
I agree that the Ticket to Work incentive has been, for all intents and purposes, a failure. Most disability beneficiaries are not willing to risk their entitlement to Social Security benefits, and even if they considered using their ticket to work, they would have a difficult time finding public or private providers in their area.
