CSDP Forum: Early Findings from the Benefit Offset National Demonstration (BOND)

The Social Security Administration’s (SSA’s) Benefit Offset National Demonstration (BOND) is testing an innovation that allows Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries to earn more while keeping part of their disability benefits. The earnings rules being tested replace the “benefit cliff”—the complete loss of benefits when earnings exceed a maximum amount for a sufficient period—with a “benefit ramp” that reduces benefits by $1 for every $2 of earnings over the limit. Beneficiary enrollment in BOND began in 2011 and the demonstration will continue into 2017. A team from Abt and Mathematica is conducting the evaluation.

At this forum on February 26, 2015,  our speakers:

• Provided background on the demonstration, described its structure, and summarized the plan for the evaluation
• Presented findings from the first two years’ process and impact analyses
• Discussed potential policy and research implications  of the midstream results 

The speakers included:

• Howard Rolston, Abt Associates, principal investigator for BOND
• Stephen Bell, Abt Associates, co-leader of the BOND evaluation
• David Stapleton, Mathematica, co-leader of the BOND evaluation

• Susan Wilschke, SSA, Deputy Associate Commissioner for the Office of Research, Demonstration, and Employment Support