Report: Improper disability claims cost taxpayers $2B
WASHINGTON — A small group of Social Security judges has improperly approved disability claims for nearly 25,000 people who didn’t qualify, costing taxpayers $2 billion over the past seven years, government investigators conclude in a new report.
The price tag will grow by nearly $300 million next year because many of these people still get benefits, the report said.
Social Security’s office of inspector general is scheduled to release the report on the judges Monday. The Associated Press obtained a copy Friday.
Investigators examined cases decided by 44 judges who had been approving disability claims at unusually high rates.
The judges were labeled “outliers” because they had approved 85 percent of the claims they had heard in at least two of the previous seven years. In that time, the judges decided at least 700 cases a year.
The judges represent about 4 percent of the administrative law judges who decide the disability claims, the report said.
“The Social Security Administration’s failure to conduct timely medical eligibility reviews has resulted in rubber-stamped decisions that have and will continue to cost taxpayers billions in improper awards,” said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., one of the lawmakers who requested the IG investigation. “In failing to take meaningful disciplinary action at the Social Security Administration, even after the most egregious cases of mismanagement, taxpayers are left to wonder who is looking after their tax dollars.”
The report said the Social Security Administration has improved oversight of judges in recent years. Fifteen of the 44 judges have been disciplined, including one who was let go when his or her contract expired. None of judges was identified in the report.
The Social Security Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.