Sep 11, 2026

Is A 99.997% Accuracy Rate Satisfactory?

      From a press release issued by Social Security’s Office of Inspector General (OIG):

The Social Security Administration (SSA), Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a new audit examining whether SSA assigned more than one Social Security number (SSN) to the same infant through the Enumeration at Birth (EAB) program.

Of the approximately 13.9 million SSNs the Agency issued through EAB between January 2021 and September 2024, SSA correctly assigned only one SSN per infant at a rate of 99.997 percent.  SSA OIG identified 420 infants (.003 percent) for whom it appeared SSA assigned more than one SSN and had not cross-referenced the associated records. …

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

It sounds just as accurate as the 5k every adult will receive once Republican s regain control of Congress after the midterms. 💰

Anonymous said...

Like so many workloads at SSA, the problem isn't the accuracy rate, which is actually pretty excellent. The problem is that SSA doesn't have effective ways of checking to see when something went wrong, or fixing situations that do arise.

Anonymous said...

The accuracy rate is allegedly high but overpayments are increasing. Both statements can’t be accurate.

Anonymous said...

Yes, they can. First, not all workloads are related to overpayments. Second, even in workloads that are related to overpayments, accuracy rates could remain the at the same high level yet yield an increase in overpayments. For example, this would occur if the number of beneficiaries and/or the average monthly benefit goes up. Both of those are happening right now as Baby Boomers retire and COLAs occur.

Anonymous said...

@12:53: The post has nothing to do with overpayments. If you can’t or don’t want to read the post, please withhold your comments.

Anonymous said...

Send yours back.

Anonymous said...

Cliff Notes version… SSN accuracy race is spectacular but everything else is average at best.

Anonymous said...

I will send it back FedEx along with the 2k DoGE dividend check. I want the Natalie Harp 45k bonus rate.

Anonymous said...

It's literally almost six sigma (99.99966% accuracy)