From the Social Security Update:
Social Security’s Office of Anti-Fraud Programs (OAFP) is the latest member of Social Security’s team supporting our continued mission to fight and prevent fraud. Established in November 2014, OAFP’s mission is to efficiently and effectively detect, deter, and mitigate fraud, waste, and abuse of our program of Social Security’s team supporting our continued mission to fight and prevent fraud. Established in November 2014, OAFP’s mission is to efficiently and effectively detect, deter, and mitigate fraud, waste, and abuse of our programs.
I hope they find whatever fraud there is but what's going on here is clear. Congressional Republicans are pressuring the Social Security Administration to use its scarce resources to find examples of fraud, not because the Republicans are genuinely interested in reducing fraud, but because they want to use any example of fraud, no matter how isolated, as grounds for cutting disability benefits.
It's not like no one was trying to combat fraud at Social Security. That's the primary responsibility of the Office of Inspector General. What's the point of some other office working the same beat?
It's not like no one was trying to combat fraud at Social Security. That's the primary responsibility of the Office of Inspector General. What's the point of some other office working the same beat?
5 comments:
As a money-saving measure, I suggest that fraud investigators go after the consultative examiners who get paid for churning out what is basically the same canned report, no matter what the physical or mental examination reveals. Among these professional prostitutes is a local physician who reported that 3 different claimants had 20/200 vision in an eye which previous ophthalmologists diagnosed as completely blind or only able to distinguish between light and dark. One new examining source who has now done 3-4 CEs has NEVER detected any decreased range of motion in any of the claimants' cases, whereas treatment records are loaded with DROM and impaired reflexes. Although SSA only pays a small fee for CEs, the Agency wastes a tremendous amount of money on these worthless or damaging reports.
Seems the money is better spent elsewhere like continuing disability reviews.
Centenarian reviews and medicare non usage reviews have found hundreds or millions of dollars in overpayments. Yet these reviews are not ongoing; results are not shared; lessons unlearned; centenarians reviewed in 2010 no longer eligible for review; out of the country centenarians not reviewed; could go on but you get the point.
This hackneyed criticism of overpayments is yet one more shell game. It is extremely rare to see the critics moan about over pay even mention underpayment. Lack of perspective is no perspective.
A January 2015 Office of Audit Report advised SSA to improve its controls to ensure it notifies disabled beneficiaries when they are eligible for higher retirement benefits. Based their random sample, 17,137 disabled beneficiaries were eligible for higher retirement benefits totaling approximately $105.6 million. This occurred because SSA employees did not inform disabled beneficiaries when they were eligible for the higher retirement benefits or document the reasons beneficiaries did not elect higher retirement benefits, as required. This does not even include the other SSDI underpayments due to errors or bias (the agency’s recent rogue adjudicators setting onset so there is no back pay). Republicans Johnson and Issa are masters at this. They don’t care about fraud and they don’t care about this disabled. If they did, they would focus on real problems in the agency.
I'm a beneficiary. I agree with charles. It certainly seems to be a waste of vital resources considering SSA has the oig,cdi units and possibly other tools in their toolbox.
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