Social Security:
Staff Reductions and Service Quality
HRD-88-97: Published: May 13, 1988. Publicly Released: May 13, 1988.
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In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Social Security Administration's (SSA) quality of service to the public in processing benefits claims and the consistency and reliability of its processing during staff reductions.
GAO found that SSA: (1) improved its processing timeliness, payment accuracy rates, and pending work-load sizes between December 1986 and December 1987; (2) decreased service levels for processing hearing requests and claims processing accuracy for the Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (RSDI) Program; (3) planned to hire additional administrative law judges to improve hearing processing; and (4) attributed the drop in RSDI accuracy to field office processing of claims formerly processed at SSA service centers, but expected the rate to improve as the field offices gained experience. GAO also found that: (1) in a client satisfaction survey, 87 percent of the respondents indicated that they found overall SSA service to be good to very good; and (2) an SSA manager survey indicated that managers were positive about the service they provided, negative about staff reductions, and believed that employee morale was low. In addition, GAO found that SSA was testing a quality assurance program that would provide a payment accuracy rate to reflect currently adjudicated payment accuracy.
Oct 1, 2018
Postal Retiree Health Benefits:
Unsustainable Finances Need to Be AddressedGAO-18-602: Published: Aug 31, 2018. Publicly Released: Oct 1, 2018.
Jun 4, 2018
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Central States Pension Fund:
Department of Labor Activities under the Consent Decree and Federal LawGAO-18-105: Published: Jun 4, 2018. Publicly Released: Jun 4, 2018. -
Central States Pension Fund:
Investment Policy Decisions and Challenges Facing the PlanGAO-18-106: Published: Jun 4, 2018. Publicly Released: Jun 4, 2018.
May 22, 2018
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Retirement Plan Investing:
Clearer Information on Consideration of Environmental Social and Governance Factors Would Be HelpfulGAO-18-398: Published: May 22, 2018. Publicly Released: May 22, 2018.
May 21, 2018
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Railroad Retirement Board:
Additional Controls and Oversight of Financial Interchange Transfers NeededGAO-18-323: Published: Apr 19, 2018. Publicly Released: May 21, 2018.
May 17, 2018
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Social Security Administration:
Observations on Use and Costs of Social Security CardsGAO-18-507T: Published: May 17, 2018. Publicly Released: May 17, 2018.
Mar 7, 2018
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Social Security Administration:
Continuing Leadership Focus Needed to Modernize How SSA Does BusinessGAO-18-432T: Published: Mar 7, 2018. Publicly Released: Mar 7, 2018.
Mar 5, 2018
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Workplace Retirement Accounts:
Better Guidance and Information Could Help Plan Participants at Home and Abroad Manage Their Retirement SavingsGAO-18-19: Published: Jan 31, 2018. Publicly Released: Mar 5, 2018.
Feb 21, 2018
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Railroad Retirement Board:
Actions Needed to Improve the Effectiveness and Oversight of Continuing Disability ReviewsGAO-18-287: Published: Feb 21, 2018. Publicly Released: Feb 21, 2018.
Jan 8, 2018
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Social Security Disability:
Additional Measures and Evaluation Needed to Enhance Accuracy and Consistency of Hearings DecisionsGAO-18-37: Published: Dec 7, 2017. Publicly Released: Jan 8, 2018.
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