The Social Security Administration should more intensely examine the hiring of profit and non-profit firms by states to help residents get Social Security Income (SSI) and Disability Insurance (DI), the General Accountability Office urged in a report published Monday.
While raising a red flag the disability advocates could illegally get double-dipped payments for themselves from the states and Social Security, GAO said its investigators found no evidence of fraud.
The agency said states are hiring professionals to aid in the switch of adults who have become unable to work from state to federal programs to save the local governments money and because Social Security benefits can be greater per month and longer lasting than payouts from state programs.
In the last decade, there has been a massive surge in disability claimants using outsiders to improve their chances of getting money by helping them with the challenging application process.
From 2004 to 2013, the number of SSI claimants getting help from outsiders rose increased from under 1 percent to 14 percent. At the same time, more than twice as many DI applicants with assistants more than doubled (8 percent in 2004 versus 20 percent.
In addition to helping applicants with the paperwork, representatives are permitted to obtain and submit evidence in support of a claim and provide advice during the hearings and appeals process.
This year, Social Security is expected to pay $60 billion in SSI benefits to 8.5 million adult recipients and $147 billion in DI outlays to disabled workers, their spouses and their dependents.
GAO Urging Greater Federal Scrutiny Of State-Hired Disability Claim Assistants
January 5, 2015
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