The short answer
Ticket to Work is a free, voluntary Social Security program for people ages 18 through 64 who receive SSDI or SSI because of a disability. You choose an Employment Network, an approved private or public organization, or your state vocational rehabilitation agency, and it provides career counseling, training, job placement and support after you start work. Providers are paid by Social Security only as you succeed, so the services cost you nothing. While you use the program and make timely progress toward your work goal, Social Security does not start a medical review of whether you are still disabled. The program works alongside the work incentives that let you keep some benefits and health coverage while you test work, and free benefits counselors can show how earnings would affect your own payments. Call the Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842 to start.
What is Ticket to Work, in plain terms?
It is a Social Security program that helps people with disabilities who receive benefits move toward work and, for many, toward earning enough to stop needing benefits. Instead of delivering job services itself, Social Security lets you choose a provider and pays that provider when you reach work and earnings milestones, which gives the provider a reason to help you find work that lasts.
It is free and voluntary: you can join, pause or stop, and there is no penalty for not taking part. Social Security no longer mails paper tickets, and you do not need one; eligibility depends on the benefits you receive.
Can you use it?
You can if you are 18 through 64 and receive Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income, or both, because you are blind or have a disability. People who receive benefits for other reasons, such as retirement or survivor benefits, are not covered, and neither is anyone not currently receiving a disability payment. The Ticket to Work Help Line can confirm whether your ticket can be assigned.
If you are still waiting for a disability decision, the program is not open to you yet; our guide to how SSDI decides you are disabled covers the application itself.
What help do you get?
- Career counseling, to work out what kind of job fits your skills, health and goals.
- Help with a résumé, job searches and interviews.
- Training or education toward a work goal, often through a state vocational rehabilitation agency.
- Help asking an employer for workplace accommodations.
- Ongoing support after you start working, so a new job lasts.
- Referrals to benefits counseling, so you know how earnings will affect your payments.
You and your provider write a plan together: an Individual Work Plan with an Employment Network, or an Individualized Plan for Employment with a vocational rehabilitation agency. It sets out your goal and the services you will receive, and signing it assigns your ticket.
Which provider should you choose?
Swipe sideways to see the whole table.
| How they compare | Employment Network | State vocational rehabilitation agency |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | A private organization or public agency approved by Social Security | Your state |
| Tends to offer | Job placement and support after hiring | Training, education and more intensive services |
| How many at once | One Employment Network at a time | Can be followed by an Employment Network for support after you are hired |
| Cost to you | Nothing | Nothing |
Call two or three providers before you decide. Ask what services they offer, whether they serve people with your kind of disability, whether they meet in person or remotely, and how often you will be in touch. If a provider does not work out, you can usually take your ticket back and assign it to another.
Can the goal be school, or a business of your own?
Yes to both. A work plan can start with education or training, and progress in school counts toward the timely-progress reviews described below, so a degree or certificate program can be the first stage of your plan. A vocational rehabilitation agency is often the better choice when training is the main need.
Self-employment is also a recognized goal, and some providers specialize in it. The work rules count it a little differently: for SSDI, a month of self-employment uses a trial work month if net earnings pass $1,210 or you work more than 80 hours in the business. Keep careful records of income, expenses and hours from the start.
Will working trigger a review of your disability?
This is the worry that keeps many people from trying. Social Security periodically reviews whether people receiving disability benefits still have a disabling condition. While your ticket is assigned and you are making timely progress toward your work or education goal, Social Security does not start one of these medical reviews. Progress is checked every 12 months, and the expected level of work or education rises over time.
The protection does not end your duty to report work and earnings. Report every job and every change in pay to Social Security as usual; see our guide to reporting changes.
What happens to your check and health coverage when you earn?
Ticket to Work does not change the benefit rules, but it works alongside the work incentives that let you try work without losing everything at once.
If you receive SSDI
A trial work period lets you work for nine months, any month you earn more than $1,210 in 2026, with your full benefit continuing. A 36-month extended period of eligibility follows, during which benefits are paid for any month your earnings fall below the substantial gainful activity level of $1,690 a month, or $2,830 if you are blind. Medicare usually continues for at least 93 months after the trial work period ends. Someone who takes a part-time job paying $1,300 a month, for example, uses a trial work month each month but keeps the full benefit through the nine. Our guide to working while on SSDI explains each step.
If you receive SSI
SSI ignores the first $65 of monthly earnings and half of the rest, so your payment falls more slowly than your pay rises. Medicaid can continue after SSI payments stop if you need it to keep working and your earnings stay below a state threshold. A Plan to Achieve Self-Support lets you set aside money for a work goal without it counting against you, and costs you pay because of your disability in order to work, such as special transportation, can be deducted from countable earnings. Our SSI guide explains the income limits.
What if the work does not last?
Many people fear that if work goes well and benefits stop, a relapse would mean starting over. Expedited reinstatement addresses that. If your SSDI or SSI ended because of earnings, and within five years you can no longer work because of the same or a related condition, you can ask Social Security to restart benefits without a new application. You can receive up to six months of provisional payments while it reviews your request.
How do you start?
- Call the Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842 (TTY 1-866-833-2967) to confirm that your ticket can be assigned.
- Get a list of Employment Networks and your state vocational rehabilitation agency, from the Help Line or the program's online directory.
- Talk with two or three providers and choose one.
- Write your work plan with the provider.
- Ask for a referral to a benefits counselor before you accept a job offer, and keep the counselor's written summary.
Who else can help for free?
Work Incentives Planning and Assistance projects offer free benefits counseling. A trained counselor can look at your benefits and explain how a job, a raise or a change in hours would affect your payments and health coverage, before you decide. The Help Line can refer you. If you have a problem with a provider or with your benefits while working, the Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security program in each state offers free advocacy.
What a counselor can tell you that this cannot
Providers set their own services and locations, and not every area has the same options. Progress requirements and other details are set by Social Security. This article does not give legal or benefits-planning advice; a free benefits counselor can explain how earnings affect your own benefits.
Official sources
One phone call to begin
Call the Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842 to confirm your eligibility and get a list of providers, then contact two or three before you assign your ticket. To see how your benefit is figured, estimate your SSDI benefit.
