Disability Law Blog

GAO: Social Security Statements Need Improvement

Social Security statements--the mailing that shows a worker's annual earnings, payments into Social SEcurity and Medicare and projected benefits--need improvement according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO):

The Social Security Administration’s current evaluation of the statement’s understandability is limited because it does not include focus groups or data from the agency’s many public contacts. For feedback, the agency relies almost exclusively on an annual survey covering many aspects of the Social Security program. Its questions about the statement are general and change each year, limiting their effectiveness. The agency also does not routinely use data collected from such sources as its telephone call centers, walk-in traffic, or Web site to help determine whether the statement is meeting its goals.

The highlights are here.

The GAO's full report is here.

GAO Report Says SSA Disability Program Still at High Risk

In a "High Risk" status report published today, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) continues to include SSA's disability program in its list of government operations that are "impeding effective government and costing the government billions of dollars each year." An excerpt addressing the disability program:

. . . federal disability programs remain grounded in outmoded concepts that equate medical conditions with work incapacity. In addressing these challenges, GAO believes that SSA and VA should take the lead in examining the fundamental causes of program problems and seek both the management and legislative solutions needed to transform their programs so that they are in line with the current state of science, medicine, technology, and labor market conditions. At the same time, these agencies should continue to develop and implement strategies for improving the accuracy, timeliness, and consistency of disability decision making.

Read the complete report or highlights.

GAO Report: Improvements Could Increase the Usefulness of Electronic Data for Program Oversight in SSA's Disability Programs

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report recommending improvements to the collection of electronic data in SSA's disability programs. GAO concludes:

SSA lacks a comprehensive strategic plan for collecting useful and reliable data for effective oversight and program planning. Despite the fact that the reliability of its data has been an ongoing issue, the agency currently has no specific plans to implement additional front-end data entry controls or for a tracking and feedback system for the back-end verification of the electronic records. In addition, the agency has no specific plans for evaluating whether the types of information it currently collects continue to be useful for program oversight and whether other types of information would contribute to oversight.

The full report is 26 pages in PDF format.

GAO Finds Lack Of A Uniform Federal Policy Allows Unnecessary Exposure of Social Security Numbers

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report which concludes that the lack of a broad, uniform policy allows for unnecessry of exposure of Social Security numbers. The GAO recommends:

the Office of Management and Budget identify those federal activities that require or engage in the display of SSNs on health insurance, identification, or any other cards issued to federal government personnel or program beneficiaries, and devise a governmentwide policy to ensure a consistent approach to this type of display. All agencies that reviewed a draft of this report generally agreed with our findings and recommendation.

The 65-page report or highlights are both available in PDF format.

New GAO Report on Social Security Disability: Improved Demonstration Projects Needed to Help SSA Use Its Demonstration Authority More Effectively

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has just released a 38-page report titled SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY: Improved Processes for Planning and Conducting Demonstrations May Help SSA More Effectively Use Its Demonstration Authority. The GAO makes the following recommendations:

• Develop a formal agenda reflecting the agency’s long-term plans and priorities for conducting DI demonstration projects. In establishing this agenda, SSA should consult broadly with key internal and external stakeholders, including SSA advisory groups, disability researchers, and the Congress.

• Establish an expert panel to review and provide regular input on the design and implementation of demonstration projects from the early stages of a project through its final evaluation. Such a panel should inlude SSA’s key research personnel as well as outside disability experts and researchers. SSA should establish guidelines to ensure that its project plans and activities adequately address the issues or concerns raised by the panel or provide a clear rationale for not addressing such issues.

• Establish formal processes to ensure that, at the conclusion of each demonstration project, SSA fully considers and assesses the policy implications of its demonstration results and clearly communicates SSA’s assessment to the Congress. Such processes should ensure that SSA consults sufficiently with internal and external experts in its review of demonstration project results and that SSA issues a report to the Congress clearly identifying (1) major project outcomes, (2) major project limitations, (3) total project costs, (4) any policy options or recommendations, (5) expected costs and benefits of proposed options or recommendations, and (6) any further research or other actions needed to clarify or support the project’s results. Another key aspect of such formal processes should be a requirement that SSA maintain a comprehensive record of DI demonstration projects. This record would help SSA in establishing an empirically based body of knowledge regarding possible return-to-work strategies and in deriving the full value of its substantial investments in demonstration projects.

Update:  GAO released a highlights page on November 12th.  The highlights page was omitted when the report was originally issued on November 4th. 

GAO Report Says SSA Should Strengthen Efforts to Detect and Prevent Disabilty Overpayments

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), at the request of the Senate Committee on Finance, looked at the Social Security disability program to determine the amount of overpayments attributable to earnings or work acitvity and to identify "vulnerabilities" in SSA's policies and practices that contribute to overpayments. In light of their study, the GAO has recommended that SSA

explore new tools and data sources that can be used to more effectively detect and prevent earnings-related overpayments. SSA agreed with GAO’s recommendations and provided information on several initiatives that are planned or underway to address them, such as a new computer match using information from the Office of Child Support Enforcement’s National Directory of New Hires to verify beneficiaries’ earnings in a more timely manner.

The full report and a summary are available in PDF format.

GAO Recommends that SSA Conduct Demonstration Project to Identify TANF Recipients Capable of Working

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), in a report released October 15, 2004, looked at the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs:

GAO recommends that SSA, in a new demonstration project, work with TANF officials to identify recipients with impairments capable of working and coordinate services to help them improve self-sufficiency. GAO also recommends that HHS [Department of Health & Human Services] use its Web site as a clearinghouse for information regarding opportunities for TANF agencies to work with SSA. Both SSA and HHS generally agreed with our recommendations.

The full report and a summary are available in PDF format.

GAO Identifies Risks in Rollout of the AeDib Program

The General Accounting Office has just published a report on the Electronic Disability Claims Processing Initiative begun by Commissioner Barnhart. The summary report contains the following:

[The Social Security Administration (SSA)] is beginning its national rollout without ensuring that all critical problems identified in the pilot testing have been resolved and without conducting testing adequate to evaluate the performance of all system components collectively. Without resolution of critical problems and full testing, SSA cannot be assured that interrelated components will work together successfully.

The GAO recommends that

before proceeding with national rollout of AeDib, the Commissioner of Social Security, among other steps, ensure that critical problems have been resolved and full testing completed, expedite completion of risk mitigationstrategies, and validate cost-benefit estimates.

New GAO Report on "Human Capital" Problems At DDS

If you are human capital and work at a DDS, you probably already know this. A new report from the General Accounting Office (GAO) entitled Strategic Workforce Planning Needed to Address Human Capital Challenges Facing the Disability Determination Services identifies "three key challenges" facing DDS offices:

High turnover: Over half of all DDS directors surveyed said that examiner turnover was too high in their offices. We found that examiner turnover was about twice that of federal employees performing similar work. Nearly two-thirds of all directors reported that turnover has increased SSA's hiring and training costs and claims-processing times. And two-thirds of all directors cited stressful workloads and noncompetitive salaries as major factors that contributed to turnover.

Recruiting and hiring difficulties: More than three-quarters of all DDS directors said they had difficulties over a three-year period in recruiting and hiring examiners. Of these, more than three-quarters said these ifficulties contributed to increases in claims-processing times, examiner caseload levels, backlogs, and turnover. More than half of all directors reported that state-imposed compensation limits contributed to hiring difficulties.

Gaps in key skills: Nearly one-half of all DDS directors said that at least a quarter of their examiners needed additional training in areas critical to disability decision-making. Over half of all directors cited factors related to high workload levels as obstacles to examiners' receiving additional training.

A one-page highlight from the report can be found here.