To remedy these problems, SSA decided 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. 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. In view of the fact that many of SSA’s medical listings for children are outdated and allow eligibility to be based upon multiple standards of severity, our May 1998 report recommended that the Commissioner act immediately to update and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. We will continue to monitor SSA’s implementation of the new eligibility criteria, including the agency’s actions to update its medical listings for children, as part of our mandate to report to the Congress by 1999 on the impact of the changes to the SSI program enacted by welfare reform. As part of that effort, we are monitoring what SSA is doing to ensure the accuracy and consistency of childhood disability decisions made under the new eligibility criteria. Related GAO Products

Supplemental Security Income: SSA Needs a Uniform Standard for Assessing Childhood Disability (GAO/HEHS-98-123, May 6, 1998). 5, 1996). 2, 1995).
Why GAO Did This Study

GAO discussed the Social Security Administration's (SSA) implementation of the new eligibility criteria for childhood disability benefits under the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) SSA has made considerable progress in implementing the welfare reform changes in eligibility for SSI children; (2) SSA 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 on in 1995; (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 a 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.