From a recent report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG):
In a 2009 audit, we determined SSA issued approximately $40 million in improper payments to more than 6,000 beneficiaries although it had received notification they were deceased. In a 2013 audit, we determined SSA had issued about $31 million in improper payments to 2,475 beneficiaries although it had received notification they were deceased. ...
Since our prior reviews, the number of beneficiaries who continued receiving payments after SSA recorded their death information on the Numident had declined. However, 1,281 beneficiaries, including 56 identified during our prior audits, continued receiving payments for months or years after SSA received notification they were deceased. SSA received death reports for these beneficiaries and recorded dates of death on the Numident. However, SSA did not record the death information on the beneficiaries’ payment records or terminate their benefit payments. System controls designed to prevent continued payments to deceased beneficiaries were not effective in these instances.
Prior audit work has indicated a likelihood that some death entries on the Numident were erroneous, and beneficiaries were actually alive. However, we determined that 678 of the 1,281 beneficiaries had death certificate information or other Numident entries indicating their death information had been proven or verified.
We estimate SSA issued the 678 beneficiaries approximately $20 million in improper payments. Further, we estimate SSA will issue approximately $6 million in additional improper payments over the next 12 months if these discrepancies are not corrected. ...Note that OIG seems a lot more concerned about payments made to dead people than the danger of mistakenly cutting off benefits to living people.
4 comments:
The SSA OIG is also more concerned with dead people then with investigating misconduct and wrongdoing, and enforcing accountability among those whom they, and the Agency, undeniably knows engaged in such conduct.
I loved your title!! I do agree: I'd much rather see some "overpayments" to the dead (which can be recovered) than cutoffs to those mistaken as dead, but still living. I believe that in the "olden days", a DO manager would send someone out to check (at least in smaller towns) if there was any question. Now our society relies on technology to a fault.
When SSA introduced their new system for death inputs, DIPS (literally Death Input Processing System), it removed any accountability for erroneous terminations. We used to be able to see which employee did it; we made them do the resurrection (you spill it, you clean it up).
Now when we get the cases, we can see which office did the input but not which worker.
OIG is concerned about underpayments. They have done studies on SSI recipients that have a payee that is a parent who is receiving SSA benefits. Sent lists of those to offices to develop for DAC benefits. There's widows that also get letters advising them they could receive a higher benefit on their own retirement (possibly with DRCs). Not sure that if that started with an OIG study but I think so.
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