On the basis of analyzing Social Security Administration (SSA) data on individuals who were Disability Insurance (DI) beneficiaries as of December 2010 and earnings data from the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH), GAO estimates that SSA made $1.29 billion in potential cash benefit overpayments to about 36,000 individuals as of January 2013. The exact number of individuals who received imprope...

Advocates for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) believe that the Social Security Administration's (SSA) process for determining eligibility for Disability Insurance (DI) may treat some claimants unfairly. As a result, claimants with IBD believe they are likely to be denied benefits at the initial decision and reconsideration levels, making it necessary for them to appeal to SSA's hear...

Employees at the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Region X--which covers Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington--expressed concern about the Region's equal employment opportunity (EEO) process for employment discrimination complaints. GAO was asked to (1) provide information for fiscal years 1997 through 2001 on the composition of the Region X workforce and for personnel actions such as promo...

Return-to-work practices used in the private sector and in foreign countries reflect the understanding that some people with disabilities can and do return to work. Although the Social Security Administration (SSA) has begun to focus more on return to work, it has yet to adopt a complete strategy for implementing this new approach. The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 is...

Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Social Security Administration's (SSA) new rule on revised medical criteria for the determination of disability, endocrine system and related criteria. GAO noted that: (1) the rule would revise part 404, subpart P, Chapter II of Title 20 of the Code of Federal Regulations by deleting listing 9.09, obesity, from the listing of impairments; (2)...

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on whether: (1) the Social Security Administration's (SSA) plan to process 8.1 million continuing disability reviews (CDR) during fiscal years 1998 through 2002 will result in CDRs being done for all beneficiaries for whom CDRs are required by law; and (2) disability determination services' (DDS) CDR processing capacity and the CDR fund...

GAO updated information in previous reports regarding the Social Security Administration's (SSA) return-to-work program for Disability Insurance (DI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries. Although GAO did not independently verify the data used in the analysis of this report, the data cited came from either U.S. government data systems or issue area experts.GAO noted that: (1) desig...

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Social Security Administration's (SSA) strategy for conducting legally required continuing disability reviews (CDR) on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients, focusing on: (1) SSA plans to conduct legally required SSI CDR in fiscal years 1996 through 1998; (2) the resources committed to meeting this requirement; (3) how SSA selects recip...

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Disability Insurance (DI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs, focusing on: (1) the backlog of DI and SSI cases due for continuing disability reviews (CDR); (2) the number and characteristics of individuals who are due for CDR; (3) whether adequate resources are available for conducting CDR; and (4) ways to improve the CDR process.G...

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on how to improve the Social Security Administration's (SSA) continuing disability reviews (CDR) process for Disability Insurance (DI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries, focusing on: (1) the number and characteristics of individuals who are due for CDR; (2) how SSA selects individuals for and conducts CDR; (3) whether...