Termination Determinations Not Always Being Implemented

     From a study by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) (footnotes omitted):

We identified populations of 25,564 DI [Disability Insurance] beneficiaries and 67,943 SSI [Supplemental Security Income] recipients who received medical cessation determinations during Calendar Years (CY) 2005 through 2010 but continued receiving monthly benefit payments more than 2 months after the medical cessation determination. We reviewed samples of 250 DI beneficiaries and 250 SSI recipients. We found some individuals who received improper payments because their disability benefits were not terminated 2 months after the cessation determination per SSA policy. Specifically, we found the following.
     • Of the 250 DI beneficiaries, 76 (30 percent) and their auxiliaries improperly received payments after their medical cessation determinations because benefits were not terminated timely. Accordingly, we project that 7,771 beneficiaries in our population received improper benefit payments of approximately $48.9 million.
     • Of the 250 SSI recipients, 41 (16 percent) improperly received payments after their medical cessation determinations because payments were not terminated timely. Accordingly, we project that 11,143 recipients in our population received improper payments of approximately $34.7 million. ...

Despite SSA’s [Social Security Administration's] actions to resolve the causes of untimely terminations, there were still instances where SSA continued improperly paying DI beneficiaries and SSI recipients because of additional systems limitations. In addition, according to SSA, in June 2009, resource limitations and other work priorities caused the Agency to stop routinely identifying cases where benefits were not terminated timely following a medical cessation determination.