Recommendations for Executive Action

1. Status: Closed - Implemented

   Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation, made significant progress, and continues to stress SSI redetermination and diary/alert workload processing goals. The agency increased matches, provided more online access to federal and state databases, increased redetermination processing and overpayment detection, and heightened management oversight over SSI workload processing. In addition, SSA implemented credit bureau reporting and sent notices to 140,000 SSI debtors.

   Recommendation: In order to further strengthen SSA's ability to deter, detect and recover SSI overpayments, the Commissioner of Social Security should sustain and expand the range of SSI program integrity activities underway and continue to develop additional tools to improve program operations and management. This would include increasing the number of SSI redeterminations conducted each year and fully implementing the overpayment detection and recovery tools provided in recent legislation.

   Agency Affected: Social Security Administration

2. Status: Closed - Implemented

   Comments: SSA agreed that living arrangements and in-kind support and maintenance policies are highly complex and may contribute to payment errors. The agency assessed options included in its 2000 report to simplify such policies and studied modifications to make prior proposals more feasible. In 2005, SSA published regulations that simplified in-kind support and maintenance rules by eliminating clothing from consideration as in-kind support and maintenance (ISM). SSA subsequently presented a proposal, along with cost/savings estimates, for further simplification of living arrangements and ISM rules to the Office of Management and Budget.

   Recommendation: In order to further strengthen SSA's ability to deter, detect and recover SSI overpayments, the Commissioner of Social Security should identify and move forward implementing cost-effective options for simplifying complex living arrangement and in-kind support and maintenance policies, with particular attention to those policies most vulnerable to fraud, waste, and abuse. An effective implementation strategy may include pilot testing of various options to more accurately assess their ultimate effects.

   Agency Affected: Social Security Administration

3. Status: Closed - Implemented

   Comments: GAO's report stated that penalties and administrative sanctions are rarely used by SSA to deter and recover overpayments. In an October 30, 2002 memorandum, SSA specifically cited GAO's report and reminded the regions when penalties and sanctions were to be assessed. The agency also emphasized that Field Office managers should fully support sanctions as an effective anti-fraud tool and conduct refresher training on the sanction process. SSA also implemented new systems screens that open when overpayments are processed and facilitate the processing of penalties. SSA also issued a variety of instructions and reminders to staff regarding the systems improvements.

   Recommendation: In order to further strengthen SSA's ability to deter, detect and recover SSI overpayments, the Commissioner of Social Security should evaluate current policies for imposing monetary policies and administrative sanctions and take action to remove any barriers to their usage or effectiveness. Such actions may include informing field staff on when and how these tools should be applied and studying the extent to which more frequent use deters recipient nonreporting.

   Agency Affected: Social Security Administration

4. Status: Closed - Implemented

   Comments: The Social Security Administration (SSA) agreed to review the current $500 waiver threshold, including an assessment of the costs and benefits associated with the policy and an analysis of the extent to which staff correctly apply waiver policies. Accordingly, SSA completed a review of its waiver policies in fiscal year 2005.

   Recommendation: In order to further strengthen SSA's ability to deter, detect and recover SSI overpayments, the Commissioner of Social Security should reexamine policies and procedures for SSI overpayment waivers and make revisions as appropriate. This should include an assessment of the current costs and benefits associated with the $500 waiver threshold and the extent to which staff correctly apply waiver policies.

   Agency Affected: Social Security Administration

Explore the full database of GAO's Open Recommendations »