The federal safety net designed to help disabled Americans and their families make ends meet while they are unable to work enough to support themselves has flunked a fundamental accountability test.
An audit conducted at my request by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office raises serious concerns about payments being made to folks who return to work and no longer qualify for disability benefits.
Ineligible recipients cashed improper payments that have grown by 15 percent since 1999 from $772 million to $990 million. The GAO figures the Social Security Disability Insurance trust fund is in the hole by as much as $3 billion in uncollected overpayments.
Ouch.
Throughout my service in Washington, I’ve worked hard to protect hard-earned tax dollars and clamp down on those who view the federal government as a cash cow. Unfortunately, it seems that milking the federal disability insurance program isn’t hard to do once you’re hooked up to the system.
Roughly 7 ½ million disabled workers, spouses and dependents received $70 billion in Social Security disability benefits in fiscal year 2003. Monthly checks average about $723. Workers who earn more than $810 a month beyond a limited "trial work period" lose eligibility.
According to the study, insufficient quality controls at the Social Security Administration have allowed overpayments in the disability program to balloon to nearly $1 billion. And remember that was just fiscal year 2003.
As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which handles legislative and oversight authority over Social Security, the audit causes me great concern for a couple reasons.
When hard-working taxpayers hear the Social Security system is wrongly paying out nearly a billion dollars in one year, it undermines the integrity of this important program for disabled individuals.
We need to safeguard every dollar deducted from Americans’ paychecks for the Social Security Disability Insurance program for those who genuinely aren’t able to earn a living to support their families.
Doling out checks to people who no longer qualify for disability benefits erodes public support and burdens the financial solvency of the program.
Clearly the Social Security Administration must do a much better job protecting the integrity of this program. Field offices must do a better job monitoring who is receiving checks, tracking the current work status for each beneficiary, pursuing questionable eligibility qualifications, and collecting improper payments. Before the checks get sent, let’s double check eligibility to make sure the recipient still qualifies.
As it stands now, the process currently in place flunks basic accountability standards.
For starters, the GAO audit found the Social Security Administration often failed to track the work activity of beneficiaries in a timely manner. And in some cases, I’m talking years.
Government investigators identified cases in which individuals had returned to work and continued to receive disability benefits for which they no longer qualified for as long as seven years. Can you imagine? Overpayments reached between $28,000 and $105,000.
The federal government needs to do a better job ensuring the integrity of this taxpayer-funded program so it remains solvent for those who may come to depend upon it in the future. This safety net gives disabled workers who are unable to work peace of mind and a helping hand to pay the bills while they are unable to earn their regular paycheck.
From my leadership position in the U.S. Senate, I’ll keep nipping at the heels of the Social Security Administration to straighten out the situation.