Social Security

Pension Data Useful for Detecting Supplemental Security Payment Errors Gao ID: HRD-86-32 March 12, 1986

GAO evaluated the Social Security Administration's (SSA) computerized employment pension income database to determine its potential usefulness in detecting payment errors in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Program.

Based on its sample results, GAO estimated that, in December 1983: (1) 35,112 SSI cases received pension incomes; and (2) SSA overpaid 6,292 cases a total of $427,200 because it computed benefit payments using incorrect pension income information. At a 95-percent level of statistical confidence, the number of SSI cases receiving unreported or underreported pension incomes could range from 4,915 to 8,053, and the monthly overpayment amounts could range from $266,400 to $588,000. SSA data showed that: (1) most of the cases involved pension-related overpayments that had been occurring for extended periods, some exceeding 10 years; and (2) the 62 overpayment sample cases had accumulated about $170,000 in overpayments. GAO estimated that accumulated overpayments for such SSI cases in December 1983 could total $17.2 million.

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