SSDI/Workers’ Compensation Offset
The Social Security Administration is continuing to look at the issue of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) offsets on workers’ compensation benefits. Fifteen or sixteen states were grandfathered when a prohibition was put in place back in the early 1980’s. SSA will be proposing changes in the offset calculation, to take effect later in the year. The states that have the reverse offset have expressed concern about any potential changes to the offset methodology or formula. In the meantime, John Burton continues his advocacy for elimination of the reverse offset for the states that have it.Focus has shifted to SSDI sustainability. To address that, the Obama administration has considered a shift of a portion of Social Security Retirement premiums to SSDI. This has been done in the past, but the last shifting of premiums was decades ago. The Administration has also proposed, as part of their FY 2016 Social Security Administration budget, to begin collecting workers’ compensation data (similar to the requirement under the Medicare Secondary Payer statute.) According to Doug Holmes of Strategic Services for Unemployment & Workers’ Compensation (UWC), the budget proposal requires workers’ compensation and public disability benefit information be provided by states, local governments, and private insurers. You can find the budget overview at http://www.ssa.gov/budget/FY16Files/2016BO.pdf on Page 22. A more thorough write-up can be found at Helios’ Medicare Insights website at http://medicareinsights.com/2015/02/27/2016-budget-proposal-would-require-reporting-of-workers-compensation-benefits-to-social-security-administration/.