Supplemental Security Income: Long-Standing Problems Put Program at Risk for Fraud, Waste, and Abuse

United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Health, Education, and Human Services Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1997-03-04 monographic deposited born digital 16 p. GA 1.13:T-HEHS-97-88 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-97-88 P0b002ee180383c16 f:he97088t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-97-88 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-97-88 T-HEHS-97-88 Eligibility determinations Program abuses Social security benefits Disability benefits Medical examinations Federal social security programs Income maintenance programs Persons with disabilities Vocational rehabilitation Supplemental Security Income Program SSA Plan for Achieving Self Support Program Testimony HEHS Supplemental Security Income: Long-Standing Problems Put Program at Risk for Fraud, Waste, and Abuse GAO discussed the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program and GAO's decision to designate the program one of its high-risk areas.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) the SSI program has had significant problems in determining initial and continuing financial eligibility because of the agency's reliance on individuals' own reports of their income and resources and failure to thoroughly check this information; (2) moreover, the judgmental nature of SSA's disability determination process and SSA's past failure to adequately review SSI recipients to determine whether they remain disabled have also exposed the program to fraud, waste, and abuse; (3) SSA is at risk of paying some SSI recipients benefits for too long because it has not adequately addressed their special vocational rehabilitation needs or developed an agencywide strategy for helping recipients who can enter the workforce; (4) the Congress has recently made several changes that address program eligibility issues and increase the frequency of SSA's continuing eligibility reviews; (5) SSA has also begun addressing its program vulnerabilities and has made the prevention of fraud and abuse a part of its plan for rebuilding public confidence in the agency; (6) however, GAO's concerns about underlying SSI program vulnerabilities and the level of management attention devoted to these vulnerabilities continue; and (7) as part of GAO's high-risk work, it is continuing to evaluate the underlying causes of long-standing SSI problems and the actions necessary to address them. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-97-88/html/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-97-88.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-97-88/pdf/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-97-88.pdf GAO/T-HEHS-97-88 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-97-88 Testimony GAO/T-HEHS-97-88; Supplemental Security Income: Long-Standing Problems Put Program at Risk for Fraud, Waste, and Abuse; Eligibility determinations Program abuses Social security benefits Disability benefits Medical examinations Federal social security programs Income maintenance programs Persons with disabilities Vocational rehabilitation Supplemental Security Income Program SSA Plan for Achieving Self Support Program