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GAO-05-100R 1 (2004-12-10)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptaqoy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: A .. AabIIity * Ilntegrlty ReliabilIty United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 December 10, 2004 The Honorable Jo Anne B. Barnhart Commissioner, Social Security Administration Subject: SSA's Disability Programs: Improvements Could Increase the Usefulness of Electronic Data for Program Oversight Dear Ms. Barnhart: In 2003, we added the federal government's disability programs to our high-risk list in part because of difficulties agencies faced in managing these programs and the expected growth in the rolls as baby boomers reach their disability-prone years. The Social Security Administration (SSA) manages the federal government's two largest disability programs, the Disability Insurance (DI) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which together paid out $91 billion in federal benefits to 11.4 million individuals with disabilities in 2003. To help address management difficulties and prepare for expected growth in the rolls, SSA must have reliable administrative data from its disability decision-making process to adequately understand the population it serves and the possible effect of proposed program changes on this population. However, in a prior study, we identified potential problems with the reliability of SSA's electronic administrative data.' This report examines (1) the extent to which SSA collects useful and reliable electronic administrative data in order to effectively manage its DI and SSI programs and (2) whether ongoing and planned changes to SSA's computer systems and internal controls will address any weaknesses that we identified. To determine the adequacy of SSA's electronic administrative data for management of its disability programs, we reviewed SSA, Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and our prior reports regarding these data; interviewed users of these data; and performed a literature search on criteria for establishing information databases. To identify the nature and extent of data problems, we interviewed staff 1GAO, SSA Disability Decision Making: Additional Steps Needed to Ensure Accuracy and Fairness of Decisions at the Hearings Level, iAO-04-14, Washington, D.C.: Nov. 12, 2003. GAO-05-100R SSA's Disability Programs

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