To remedy these problems, SSA intends to rereview all children whose benefits were terminated or denied on the basis of mental retardation. SSA Is Taking Steps to Improve the Quality of Decisions on Children

SSA’s quality assurance statistics on childhood cases show uneven accuracy rates across the states. Conclusions

SSA has made substantial progress in implementing the new childhood definition of disability through its rapid redetermination of most of these cases, its action to ensure that the redetermination process is fair, and its ongoing review of the implementation of the new regulations. Moreover, we noted the need to revise the listings 3 years ago. SSA also needs to continue its efforts to improve decisionmaking for childhood cases to better ensure that adjudicators apply the new eligibility criteria accurately and consistently. Recommendation to the Commissioner of Social Security

In view of the fact that many of SSA’s medical listings for children are outdated and allow eligibility to be based upon multiple standards of severity, we recommend that the Commissioner act immediately to update and modify its medical listings to incorporate advances in medicine and science and to reflect a uniform standard of severity. Supplemental Security Income: Review of SSA Regulations Governing Children’s Eligibility for the Program (GAO/HEHS-97-220R, Sept. 16, 1997). 5, 1996). 2, 1995).
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided additional information on the Social Security Administration's (SSA) implementation of the new eligibility standard.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) SSA has made considerable progress in implementing the welfare reform changes in eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) children; (2) it has taken important steps to safeguard fairness by identifying children whose benefits may have been terminated inappropriately and establishing remedial action to rereview their cases; (3) however, because SSA's medical listings reflect multiple levels of severity, SSA also needs to expedite updating and modifying its medical listings to ensure that all children are assessed against a uniform severity standard; (4) the need to revise the listings is a long-standing problem that GAO reported 3 years ago; (5) moreover, SSA needs to take concerted action to follow through on its plan for monitoring and continually improving the quality of decisions regarding children; and (6) consistent with its legislative mandate, GAO will continue to focus its work on SSA's efforts to provide reasonable assurance that it can administer the program consistently and improve the accuracy of childhood disability decisions.