SSA Needs To Determine the Cost Effectiveness of the SSI Redetermination Process and To Implement Recommendations Made for Eliminating Erroneous Payments

Gao ID: HRD-82-126 September 2, 1982

GAO reported on a survey of the cost effectiveness of the Social Security Administration's (SSA) procedures and practices for redetermining a Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipient's continued eligibility and correct benefit amount to determine whether improvements in the process are needed.

GAO found that SSA needs alternative mechanisms to supplement the redetermination process for identifying and eliminating payment errors and that information furnished by recipients must be verified, as is required by statute, from independent and collateral sources. GAO also found that SSA has not developed a comprehensive approach, as previously recommended, to obtain and use all Government records to ensure the accuracy of SSI data. GAO was not able to determine the cost effectiveness of the redetermination process, because data on eligibility and benefit payment corrections made as a result of this process were not readily available.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Joseph F. Delfico Team: General Accounting Office: Human Resources Division Phone: (202) 512-7215


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