Social Security

Major Changes Needed for Disability Benefits for Addicts Gao ID: HEHS-94-128 May 13, 1994

The number of addicts receiving disability benefits has grown substantially during the last 5 years--from fewer than 100,000 to about 250,000 today. The annual cost of providing benefits to addicts is about $1.4 billion. The vast majority of addicts receiving disability benefits are either not in treatment or their treatment status is unknown. About 100,000 addicts have not been assigned a third-party or representative payee to manage their benefits. Consequently, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has no guarantee that these persons are not using their benefit checks to buy drugs or alcohol. Even in cases when payees have been assigned, their control over benefit payments is questionable; most of these payees are friends or relatives. Because addicts can abuse, threaten, and pressure their payees, GAO believes that organizations would make better payees for addicts than friends or relatives. SSA needs to ensure that all disability benefit recipients are in treatment and that all addicts have a third-party or representative payee. Also, Congress needs to consider expanding the treatment requirement to all addicts and restructuring the program to improve the payoff from treatment.

GAO found that: (1) in the last 5 years, the number of addicts receiving disability benefits has grown from fewer than 100,000 to about 250,000; (2) the cost of providing disability benefits to the addict population is about $1.4 billion per year; (3) the vast majority of addicts receiving disability benefits are not in treatment or their treatment status is unknown; (4) because of poor monitoring by SSA, only about 1 in 5 of the addicts in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) drug addiction and alcoholism (DA&A) program receive required treatment; (5) about 100,000 addicts have not been assigned a third-party or representative payee to manage their benefits; (6) organizational payees are better positioned than friends or relatives to provide tight controls over benefit payments; and (7) SSA needs to ensure that all DA&A recipients are in treatment and that all addicts have a third-party or representative payee.

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.

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