A hidden risk.

We're pleased to introduce a new column by Laura D. Cooper, a distinguished legal expert on disability rights and health insurance issues. Her interest in these topics is both personal and professional for Ms. Cooper has MS and is an attorney.

Ms. Cooper currently serves the National MS Society, pro bono, as National Independent Living Consultant, Special Consultant on Employment Initiatives, and as a member of our National Panel of Professional Advisors, following a distinguished career that included tenure at the Interstate Commerce Commission, where she served as Counsel to the Chairman, and supervised the work of fifty-two attorney&

In each issue, Ms. Cooper will discuss a legal issue of interest to people with MS. She begins the column with a cautionary tale to job seekers and job holders.

Did you know that state and local government employers may not provide Social Security coverage to their employees? Despite your prior work record, you could wind up losing your Social Security benefits--which include Medicare--if you work for a state or local government agency.

State and local government entities are expressly exempt from coverage by the Social Security Act. This exclusion was inserted in the original 1935 Act to avoid potential constitutional difficulties because Social Security taxes paid by a state employer could be considered taxes levied by the federal government upon a state.

In 1950, an amendment to the Social Security Act allowed states to enter into voluntary agreements with the Federal Security Administrator (now the Secretary of Health and Human Services). However, not all state and local government employees are covered by these voluntary agreements.

A recent case illustrates this potentially devastating problem:

Linda S., a person with multiple sclerosis, began drawing Social Security disability benefits in 1980 at the age of 27, after working for three and a half years. She continued receiving Social Security until 1989. During that time, with assistance from a state vocational rehabilitation agency, she became a paralegal. A county law library hired her in 1989.

She was covered by a state employee retirement system, but not by Social Security. In 1992, her MS worsened and she left her job on the advice of her physician. She had not worked long enough to be vested in the state retirement system; therefore she received no disability benefits from the state.

Then she learned that the time she worked at the law library cannot be credited to eligibility requirements for Social Security because this county's employees are not covered by Social Security.

Social Security rules require Linda S. to have credit for at least one half of the calendar quarters that she worked between the time she became 21 years old and her second application. Therefore, she needs to have creditable work for one half of the six years between age 21 and 27 (when she first became disabled), and one half of the three years between age 36 and 39, (when she became disabled again).

Because the county law library work was not creditable, and because she worked for only three and a half years before drawing Social Security the first time, Linda S. does not meet eligibility requirements.

If you have any form of potentially progressive disability you should be aware of two things: first, employment with state or local governments that do not have voluntary coverage agreements with the Social Security system can put your future Social Security and Medicare benefits at risk. Second, before accepting employment in any non-Social Security covered institution, be sure you understand both the vesting requirements and the specific benefits available after vesting.

Look beyond the recommendations of vocational counselors and assess for yourself the future benefits you could gain or lose upon accepting a job offer.