	Background

SSA administers two federal programs under the Social Security Act that  provide benefits to people with disabilities who are unable to work: The DI  program provides cash benefits to workers with disabilities and their  dependents based on their prior earnings. Federal Employees Receiving SSA Disability Benefits

Our analysis of federal civilian salary data and SSA disability data found  that about 7,000 individuals at selected agencies had been wage-earning  employees for the federal government while receiving SSA disability  benefits during fiscal year 2008. Our analysis of federal  salary data from October 2006 through December 2008 found that about  1,500 federal employees’ records indicate that they may be improperly  receiving payments. According to SSA officials, SSA currently does not obtain payroll records  from the federal government to identify SSA disability beneficiaries or  recipients who are currently working. As figure 2 shows, about  62,000 of these 144,000 individuals, or about 43 percent, had CDLs that  were issued after SSA determined that the individuals met the federal  requirements for full disability benefits. Our analysis of DOT data on commercial carriers found about 7,900  individuals who registered as transportation businesses and also received  SSA disability benefits. In addition, DI beneficiaries may have a passive interest in the  business, which would not affect their eligibility for benefits. SSA officials  stated that these records do not have specific income records associated  with them. Examples of Individuals Receiving SSA Disability Benefits Fraudulently and/or Improperly

Based on our overall analysis above, we nonrepresentatively selected 20  examples of federal employees, commercial drivers, and registrants of  commercial vehicle companies who received disability payments  fraudulently and/or improperly. Thus, we concluded that  SSA made improper payments to these individuals because SSA was aware  of the employment but continued to make disability payments to those  individuals. For 18 of these 20 cases, the individuals also received $250 stimulus  checks as part of the Recovery Act while they were improperly receiving  SSA disability payments. (See  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-444.) Recommendations for Executive Action

To enhance SSA’s ability to detect and prevent fraudulent and improper  payments in its disability programs, we recommend that the Commissioner  of Social Security take the following two actions to improve the agency’s  processes:    Evaluate the feasibility (including consideration of any costs and  operational and system modifications) of incorporating the AERO  process to identify individuals who have returned to work. SSA agreed with all our recommendations. As with the 10  cases discussed in the body of this report, the Social Security  Administration (SSA) did not prevent improper payment of Social Security  disability benefits to these individuals. Appendix II: Attributes of Selected Cases of SSA Disability Beneficiaries and Recipients Who Fraudulently and/or Improperly Received Benefits While Working

Our investigations detailed examples of 20 federal employees, commercial  drivers, and owners of commercial vehicle companies who fraudulently  and/or improperly received disability payments. GAO Comments

1. 2. As such, our analysis provides an indicator of  potentially improper or fraudulent activity related to federal  employees, commercial drivers, and owners of commercial vehicle  companies receiving SSA disability payments. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 states that  these stimulus benefit payments should be provided to individuals who  are entitled to DI benefit payments or are eligible for SSI cash benefits. 12.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers two of the nation's largest cash benefits programs for people with disabilities: the Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) program, which provides benefits to workers with disabilities and their family members, and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which provides income for individuals with disabilities who have limited income and resources. In 2008, SSA provided about $142 billion in financial benefits for these two programs. As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the federal government also paid $250 to each SSA recipient, such as DI beneficiaries, SSI recipients, and old-age retirement beneficiaries. GAO was asked to (1) determine whether federal employees and commercial drivers and company owners may be improperly receiving disability benefits and (2) develop case study examples of individuals who fraudulently and/or improperly receive these benefits. To do this, GAO compared DI and SSI benefit data to civilian payroll records of certain federal agencies and carrier/driver records from the Department of Transportation (DOT) and 12 selected states. GAO also interviewed SSA disability beneficiaries and recipients.

What GAO Found

GAO analysis of SSA and federal salary data found that there are indications that about 1,500 federal civilian employees may have improperly received benefits. In addition, GAO obtained data from 12 selected states and found that 62,000 individuals received or had renewed commercial driver's licenses after SSA determined that the individuals met the federal requirements for full disability benefits. Under DOT regulations, these individuals' eligibility must be medically certified every 2 years. Lastly, GAO found about 7,900 individuals with registered transportation businesses who were receiving SSA disability benefits. SSA regulations allow certain recipients to work and still receive their disability benefits. Thus, each case would require an investigation to determine whether there were fraudulent payments, improper payments, or both. The GAO analyses provide an indicator of potentially improper and fraudulent activity related to SSA benefits for federal employees, commercial drivers, and registrants of commercial vehicle companies. SSA currently does not perform a federal payroll or DOT records match to identify individuals improperly receiving benefits. GAO nonrepresentatively selected and investigated 20 examples of individuals who improperly and in some cases fraudulently received disability payments. For these 20 cases, SSA did not have the processes to effectively prevent improper and/or fraudulent payments. To see video clips of three individuals working at their federal jobs, see http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-444 . GAO identified several issues arising from the investigations. For example, SSA continued to improperly pay individuals who informed SSA of their employment. Using a process called Automated Earnings Reappraisal Operations (AERO), SSA examined the earnings for several individuals and automatically increased these individuals' disability payments because of raises in salary from their federal employment. SSA officials stated that they currently do not use AERO to identify individuals who have returned to work. In addition, 18 individuals received $250 stimulus payments while they were improperly receiving SSA disability payments.

What GAO Recommends

GAO makes two recommendations for SSA to detect and prevent fraudulent and improper payments. SSA agreed with our recommendations, but disagreed with some facts presented.