From Lisa Rein at the Washington Post:
The Social Security Administration’s internal watchdog office failed to properly notify some poor and disabled Americans before levying huge fines on them, an investigation by an independent watchdog agency found.
The two-year probe into a little-known anti-fraud program discovered particularly stark due process violations starting in 2018, with investigators finding no evidence that the government ever sent written notice to some of those hit with massive penalties, which at times reached more than $100,000. Even when the inspector general’s office, which runs the program, did send notification letters in previous years, investigators found it often failed to properly serve people with notice of the proposed fines. ...
[The investigators] took the unusual step of urging the Social Security Administration to review every penalty the government has issued under the Civil Monetary Penalty program since 1995, to notify claimants who were fined and to take “corrective action.” ...
6 comments:
It is a shame that the IGs malfeasance ends up costing SSA unreimbursed resources to redo the IGs shoddy work, taking staff and budget away from other workloads. But do love seeing the IGs staff on other end of an audit. :)
CMP issues predate this IG. Many years ago I helped someone who was overpaid despite timely reporting a change to SSA (there was a date-stamped receipt from the field office proving this) and then was charged a CMP despite being on a payment plan. It was terrifying to the recipient (treble damages!) and confusing to me (HHS ALJs decide these cases?!). Luckily SSA dismissed it when confronted with evidence, but what if the person didn't save every scrap of paper SSA ever gave, or they reported the change by phone? I always wondered why that overpayment, out of the many I saw through the years, got picked for CMP.
It’s a shame the President won’t get off his rear end and do something about this.
The IG’s office is completely dysfunctional and has been for a while. Ennis should have been out the door as soon as the retaliation, denial of basic due process, and mismanagement that she’s responsible for came to light. Her interest has always been in inflating the numbers to make the OIG look better than the hot mess that it is.
One might reasonably ask why operating the CMP program is an OIG responsibility in the first instance.
CMPs are an operational workload and part of the agency's mission to manage the Social Security program. CMPs being operated by the OIG presents a major conflict of interest since OIG is not ordinarily subject to operational oversight as agency programs are.
Section 1129(i)(2) of the Social Security Act permits, but does not require, the Commissioner to delegate operation of the CMP program to the Inspector General. In light of the investigation findings, which are shocking to the conscience, Commissioner O'Malley should assume responsibility for operating the CMP program as an operational program integrity workload, and restore OIG to its traditional oversight responsibilities.
To how how bad it is, about 1% of the outstNDING O/P PROBLEM IS SOLVED each quarter; we need serious reform or your future income is at risk!
Post a Comment