Positive Approaches Journal, Volume 11, Issue 3

Volume 11 ► Issue 3 ► November 2022

Medical Assistance for Workers with Disabilities (MAWD) in Action

Angelina Bush and Grady Chambers, Community Integrated Services

Pennsylvanians with disabilities who are in the workforce got some good news in July 2021, when Governor Wolf signed Senate Bill 156 into law as Act 69. Act 69 created Workers with Job Success (WWJS), an extension of the Medical Assistance for Workers with Disabilities program (MAWD), which helps working people with disabilities maintain their Medicaid-based insurance so they can continue to receive waiver services while earning significant income. The WWJS extension significantly increases the income limit for eligible individuals who are already enrolled in MAWD and eliminates any resource limit for those individuals. This enables workers with disabilities who receive Medicaid to earn a higher income without losing access to Medicaid coverage and the essential services that they receive from that benefit.

Community Integrated Services (CIS) is a supported employment provider operating in Southeastern Pennsylvania and the state of Delaware. We help people with disabilities find meaningful employment, connect them to a range of resources, and support them at work to help them succeed. The MAWD Program—and now the WWJS extension—is a useful though underutilized resource for the population we serve. The general knowledge is that people’s work income plus their benefits has to come out to $2,523 or less per month (the income limit to be eligible for Medicaid coverage). What people don’t often know is that if their combined income goes above that number, MAWD is a tool designed to help them in that very situation.

A little over a year since Act 69 was signed, we are taking a look back to spotlight a couple of ways MAWD and WWJS can be beneficial tools for working people with disabilities, and to share a few takeaways we hope will be useful to other service providers. Two brief stories drawn from the experiences of people we serve nicely illustrate the efficacy of these resources.
                                                                        Alex

One of the individuals we serve —we'll call him Alex—receives benefits counseling and on-site employment support from Community Integrated Services. He is also enrolled in the federal Ticket to Work program. Alex has significant medical needs, and his story underscores why the Medical Assistance for Workers with Disabilities Act is so critical. Alex was receiving $900 in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits prior to getting a new job as a Senior Analyst, which came with an annual salary of $97,000. Once Alex started working, his SSDI was terminated, and we faced the challenge of helping him find a way to maintain his Medicaid and waiver eligibility given his new and higher income bracket.

The MAWD program provided a solution. Though Alex is earning nearly $30,000 more than the MAWD income limit of around $68,000, we were able to show that, when accounting for Impairment Related Work Expenses, his countable income would actually come out to less than the cap, making him eligible for MAWD while protecting his access to Medicaid. Without awareness of or access to this program, Alex would have been forced to turn down the position or to ask for a significantly lower salary than what he was offered for fear that his earnings would make him ineligible for Medicaid, thereby losing accessing to the essential services he receives from it. Because of the MAWD program, Alex is able to work full-time hours, earn the salary his work deserves, all while maintaining access to vital medical care through Medicaid. Once Alex is on MAWD for one calendar year, he plans to move into the new Worker’s with Job Success extension enabled by Act 69, which will allow him to earn even more money than his starting salary while maintaining his access to Medicaid.

Another change brought by the WWJS extension is relevant here: while there is a $10,000 resource limit for individuals to be eligible for the MAWD program, there is no resource limit for individuals who become eligible for the Workers with Job Success extension. This means that the bank accounts of WWJS participants can reflect the full extent of their resources without putting them at risk of losing access to Medicaid or risking their eligibility for their waiver.

                                                                  Winston

A second participant—we'll call him Winston—receives benefits counseling from CIS and employment support from a different provider. Winston has autism and an intellectual disability and receives $1,940 in Social Security Administrations (SSA) benefits based off his parents’ work record. Winston works at IKEA, where he earns about $1,250 per month. Winston also has significant medical needs and requires support to live in his community.

Prior to his knowledge of MAWD or being connected to that program, Winston might have assumed that he couldn’t earn more than $583 per month if he wished to remain eligible for Medicaid and his waiver services, which would have made it impossible for him to accept the job at IKEA. But thanks to MAWD, he was not only able to accept the offer they made him, but also has a much higher ceiling with respect to his future earnings potential. Now Winston is able to work all his hours, continue to receive his SSA benefits, and maintain his eligibility for Medicaid and waiver services. Winston’s experience underscores the need for greater outreach to increase awareness of these programs, and the ways in which they enable individuals with disabilities to seek full employment without putting them at risk of losing access to vital medical care through Medicaid.

Takeaways and resources

For those who might be interested in utilizing MAWD or WWJS, we’d like to spotlight a few important components of the programs and some things to keep in mind.

Helping people understand programs like MAWD is a key component of benefits counseling, which is a service that people can receive through their waiver. If you are an individual who would like help understanding whether MAWD might be right for you, please reach out to Community Integrated Services or another benefits counseling provider of your choosing.