Evaluation of the Ticket to Work Program Initial Evaluation Report

eceived only small amounts thus far, although a very few have received substantial sums
(Figure III.3); 27 ENs had received less than $1,000, and 57 ENs had received less than
$5,000. Only four had received more than $10,000, including one with more than $30,000.
The 10 ENs receiving over $5,000 to date have received 57 percent of all payments made.
Only three SVRAs acting as ENs had received milestone or outcome payments, for 28
Ticket holders, as of August 2003. Of the $29,000 in payments to SVRAs, 93 percent went
to one SVRA.
67
Figure III.2: Ticket Holders Generating EN Payments (as of August 8, 2003)
35
Beneficiaries with Ticket Payments
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Number of ENs
SOURCE: Authors’ tabulations of payment data provided by SSA/OESP.
Payments to date are very low relative to the number of Tickets assigned and it remains
to be seen whether they will eventually increase to a level that will make it financially viable
for many providers to serve beneficiaries as ENs. Some of the ENs we re-interviewed as we
prepared this report described negative experiences with the payment system (see Chapter
V). We were unable to obtain access to payment data in time to conduct an analysis of
payment delays and refusals for purposes of this report, but we will include this information
in future reports.
A few ENs interviewed in 2002 mentioned the extended length of time it took for SSA
to process claims for payment, noting delays of 90 to 120 days. As discussed in Chapter V,
this issue was again raised during our interviews with ENs in 2003. According to SSA staff,
payment delays can be attributed to several factors:
III: TTW Early Implementation