To be eligible for the $1 for $2 offset, a POD participant must:

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  have been within the POD participation period (For a definition of POD participation period, please see DI 60075.035.);

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  earned above the POD monthly threshold. The POD monthly threshold was the greater of the trial work period (TWP) level or the total approved amount of the beneficiary’s monthly impairment related work expenses (IRWE); and

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  have been entitled to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits.

The POD determined offset using a participant’s monthly gross earnings when paid. The POD did not deduct paid time off (PTO) from the gross total.

Non-countable income (NCI) was only involved when a beneficiary entered the POD in a partial year. The POD counted the earnings paid prior to random assignment from the beneficiary and documented it as NCI in the POD Automated System (PAS). The PAS subtracted the NCI total from the yearly Master Earnings File (MEF) total when calculating the End of Year Reconciliation (EOYR) for the initial POD offset year.

A POD participant’s benefits were offset $1 for every $2 earned above the POD monthly threshold. The threshold was the greater of either the current year TWP level ($840 in 2017) or the total approved monthly amount of IRWE. The threshold could not exceed the current year SGA/Blind SGA rate even if a beneficiary’s IRWE were higher.

POD participants were required to report their earnings and IRWE, if any, to Abt monthly. For each monthly report, we calculated a new offset for the corresponding benefit month. Earning reports carried forward to the next month if a beneficiary failed to report. However, IRWE did not carry forward to the following month(s). If IRWE increased the threshold in an offset calculation for a given month and the beneficiary failed to report earnings or IRWE the following month, the offset was recalculated using the last reported earnings and the TWP amount as the threshold.

Example of a monthly offset calculation

A beneficiary volunteered to enroll in the POD in November 2017. Abt sent the beneficiary a letter informing them of their random assignment to treatment group 1 and that their offset eligibility starts in December 2017. Abt also sent the beneficiary a welcome package identifying their work incentive counselor (WIC).

The beneficiary contacted their WIC in early December 2017 to report their November 2017 earnings. They reported to their WIC that they earned $2000 in November 2017 and had $300 in medication co-pays. The beneficiary uploaded their paystubs via the POD website. The beneficiary's monthly benefit amount (MBA) is $1200. The WIC enters the following information from them in the POD Information Data System (IDS):

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  Date of report: 12/05/2017;

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  Earnings Month: 11/2017;

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  Earnings Report Amount: $2000;

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  Impairment Related Work Expenses: $300;

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  Monthly Benefit Amount: $1200

Use the following chart to determine the monthly offset amount:

Monthly $1 for $2 Offset Computation

When applying the benefit offset, POD reduced the beneficiary's monthly benefit amount by $580. Their new POD offset monthly benefit amount is now $620.

When the monthly offset amount exceeded the monthly benefit amount, the beneficiary was in full offset. The MBR displays a LAF code of SQ, RFD code of Q and a RFST of DMPRDP indicating demo project “DP” POD offset case.

When the monthly offset amount was less than the monthly benefit amount, the beneficiary was in partial offset. The WIC code “Z” indicates deduction for POD offset.

Any auxiliaries receiving benefits based on a POD participant’s record continue to receive full benefits until the POD participant was put into full offset. As long as the POD participant was eligible for a partial benefit amount, the auxiliaries continued to receive full monthly benefits. If the POD participant was in full POD offset (LAF SQ.), any auxiliary benefits also stopped due to the POD participant’s work activity (LAF SQ).

POD participants were subject to regular medical CDRs. A POD participant who ceased to have a disabling impairment no longer qualified for the POD participation period and was not eligible for the benefit offset unless they received statutory benefit continuation payments based on a medical cessation appeal. In that case, the beneficiary may have received reduced benefit payments under the benefit offset during the appeal if the beneficiary:

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  was within the POD participation period (For a definition of POD beneficiary, please see DI 60075.035A); and

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  worked above the POD monthly threshold amount.