(TheProudRepublic.com) – In a staggering mess at the Social Security Administration, the government body is grappling with an unprecedented backlog that has led to a projection of approximately $1.1 billion in improper payments to beneficiaries.
According to a new report by the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General (SSA OIG), which conducts independent oversight of the SSA’s programs and operations, the backlog of pending actions reached a historic peak of 5.2 million by February.
The report highlighted that of these pending actions, those that involved improper payments took an average of 698 days to process, CNBC reports.
Improper payments are classified into two categories: overpayments, where beneficiaries receive more than their entitlement, and underpayments, where they receive less.
Had these pending cases been resolved promptly, about 528,000 beneficiaries would have received improper payments totaling approximately $534 million.
This figure escalated to about $756 million after 12 months, given many cases had not been resolved within that timeframe, ultimately contributing to the $1.1 billion total reported.
Early in the year, the SSA implemented new policies aimed at simplifying the resolution of overpayment issues for beneficiaries, easing previous stringent rules that mandated full repayment of the excess funds received.
Despite these efforts, the agency’s workflow vulnerabilities continue to foster inaccuracies in payments, exacerbated by procedural delays.
The SSA OIG’s findings derive from an analysis of pending actions at the SSA’s processing centers. These centers are responsible for handling appeals, debt collection, record correction, and processing of benefit decisions.
“The longer it takes SSA to process [processing center] pending actions, the longer beneficiaries wait for underpayments due or they receive larger overpayments to pay back,” the report stated.
Paul Van de Water, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, mentioned that some overpayments might be avoided if beneficiaries provided required information promptly.
However, he also noted that many instances are simply due to slow processing times at the agency.
The report reveals that the SSA fell short of its goals during two fiscal years between 2018 and 2023 due to unforeseen staff reductions, heightened workloads, and insufficient overtime funding.
“The number of beneficiaries continues to grow while we have the lowest staffing levels across the agency in 25 years,” said Dustin Brown, acting chief of staff at the SSA.
He noted a reduction of over 650 employees in processing center roles compared to eight years ago, during which time the number of beneficiaries grew from about 64 million to nearly 72 million.
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