HEARING BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
SUBCOMMITTEE ON LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES,
EDUCATION AND RELATED AGENCIES
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 23, 1999
STATEMENT BY JOHN R. DYER
PRINCIPAL DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
Statement by the Principal Deputy Commissioner of Social
Security
On Agency Management
Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, I am pleased to be here
today to discuss management of the Social Security Administration.
As you are aware, we have been devoting a lot of attention and effort
to the President's recent proposals aimed at preserving and strengthening
Social Security. We have been participating in activities across the
country aimed at informing the public about the Social Security program
currently and the implications of various reform proposals. I plan to
devote my remarks today to our management strategies and accomplishments
in ongoing program areas, as well as some of our efforts at addressing
management challenges.
Over the past decade we have focused on improving customer service. In
the past few years we have also broadened our focus to include increased
management attention to improving our stewardship of the Social Security
and Supplemental Security Income programs.
The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse
University recently gave SSA the highest marks among federal agencies
surveyed, in one of the most comprehensive studies of government
management ever conducted. All 50 State governments and 15 federal
agencies were graded on the management systems critical to effective
public service. SSA was the only federal agency awarded an overall "A"
grade on the study, which evaluated the five critical areas of financial
management, human resources management, information technology management,
capital management and managing for results. This is a high honor indeed,
and a tribute to the dedication of every SSA employee.
Certainly, the interest and support of this Committee over the past
several years have played a large part in the management successes that
SSA has achieved, and we are very appreciative-not only for the budgetary
support, but for our joint early efforts to move to performance budgeting.
These efforts have paid off by giving you a better basis on which to make
your funding decisions and helping us identify and demonstrate
results.
We handle enormous workloads, many of which we delineate in multiples
of millions. In fiscal year (FY) 2000 we will pay benefits to more than 49
million people every month, issue over 16 million new and replacement
Social Security number cards, post 259 million earnings items to workers'
earnings records, and handle nearly 60 million calls to SSA's 800-number.
Our overall budget for FY 2000, at roughly $441 billion in total outlays,
represents about one-fourth of all federal spending.
Strategic Management, Accountability and Performance
SSA is committed both to the concepts of the Government Performance and
Results Act (GPRA) and to improving our ability to manage for results in
improved customer service, as well as strengthening the integrity of our
programs. SSA has been operating with an Agency Strategic Plan (ASP) since
1988 and has led the way in producing an annual Accountability Report,
which includes audited financial statements.
SSA's financial statements have been audited since FY 1987. We have
received an unqualified opinion on our financial statements for each of
the past two years from PricewaterhouseCoopers, an independent public
accountant. We are proud of our financial management program at SSA and
strive to lead the way in new and innovative financial management
programs.
SSA's Annual Performance Plan (APP) for FY 2000 was recently forwarded
to the Committee. We have changed the APP significantly this year to make
it more useful as a management tool and as a primary means of
communicating overall direction and specific agency performance targets to
our employees, the Congress and our stakeholders.
Last year, we made workload and performance commitments for
FY 1998 and FY 1999. The FY 1999 Operating Plan
subsequently revised certain commitments to reflect the enactment of SSA's
FY 1999 appropriation and updated workload estimates. Our current
FY 2000 commitments are based on our analysis of past performance and
reflect what we believe can be accomplished at the resource level
reflected in our budget request.
We are pleased to report that, in FY 1998, we met or exceeded our
commitments in initial disability claims pending and processing time;
hearings pending; CDR case processing; SSI non-disability
redeterminations; 800-number service; Personal Earnings and Benefit
Estimate Statements (PEBES) issuance; and the length of time the public
spends waiting in a field office. Although we did not meet all of our
ambitious hearings and appeals commitments, we were able to meet the goal
of reducing our hearings backlog.
Ensuring Secure and Effective Automated Systems
SSA's ability to provide world-class customer service depends on a
complex infrastructure that is crucial to our ongoing operations. Power,
data, and voice telecommunications, along with the Agency's computer
operations hardware and software, are essential to ensuring that SSA's
business processes are able to continue uninterrupted. Our automated
systems are the means by which SSA is able to provide service on demand to
the public.
Year 2000 Compliance: SSA has been at the forefront of
government-wide efforts to ensure that our systems are Year-2000
compliant. We are proud of our long-standing reputation as a leader when
it comes to providing customer service and we are confident that we will
be prepared to continue that tradition when the new millennium arrives.
As President Clinton recently reported, our benefit payment system is
100 percent Year 2000 compliant. SSA has worked closely with the Treasury
Department, Federal Reserve and the Postal Service to ensure that the
Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit payments
due in January 2000 will be paid on time. Since last October our payments
have been made with Year 2000 compliant systems at both SSA and
Treasury.
In the event that some banks are not able to credit direct deposit
payments, SSA has worked with Financial Management Service and the Federal
Reserve to develop a Benefit Payment Contingency Plan. It provides
alternate ways of getting payments to Social Security beneficiaries. In
dire need situations, SSA field offices can issue third-party payments
immediately.
All of SSA's mission-critical systems have been made Year 2000
compliant, tested and implemented. The automated systems for 50 State
Disability Determination Services (DDSs) have also been made Year-2000
compliant. In addition, we have been working with all of our trading
partners, and I am pleased to say that over 99 percent of our data
exchanges are Year-2000 compliant. We are working with our partners to
test the remaining exchanges and get them implemented as quickly as
possible.
Our independent verification and validation contractor, Lockheed
Martin, completed a comprehensive review of SSA's Year 2000 program and
submitted their finding in October 1998. Their report covered all aspects
of Year 2000 preparedness activities and found our Year 2000 methodology
to be sound and feasible.
Acknowledging that our systems are dependent on infrastructure services
beyond our control, such as the power grid, the telecommunications
industry and third parties, SSA has developed a Business Continuity and
Contingency Plan. The plan was first issued in March 1998 and is updated
quarterly. The plan is consistent with General Accounting Office
guidelines and is being used as a model by other agencies and private
sector organizations.
To sum up our Year 2000 compliance status: we are confident that the
January 2000 payments will be issued on time, that our systems will
function smoothly and that we will deliver all of our services to the
American public.
Automation Investments: SSA is completing installation of the
Intelligent Workstation/Local Area Network (IWS/LAN), which establishes a
national computing network of intelligent workstations for SSA and the
State DDSs that moves the Agency toward cooperative processing in a
paperless environment.
The IWS/LAN is one of several automation initiatives SSA continues to
employ to save workyears and achieve service delivery improvements. In
comparison to FY 1997, which was the base we used to build the FY 2000
budget, we expect our investments in IWS/LAN to save more than 2,500
workyears. Other investments bring the total savings to 5,100 workyears.
If we hadn't made these investments, we would be asking for $300 million
more in FY 2000 to deliver the same level of service.
Systems Security: In a FY 1998 audit report, the public accounting
firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers said that SSA had made "noteworthy"
progress in strengthening controls to protect our information and in
improving and fully testing our plan for continuity of operations. They
also said we had improved significantly in the area of software
development and change control procedures to the extent that this area was
no longer a reportable condition.
We have taken both preventive and enforcement actions to protect
information in Social Security files from any wrongful use by our own
employees and from unauthorized access by outsiders. It is important to
emphasize that SSA's mainframe computers have never been successfully
penetrated by outside parties. That is not to say that we are resting on
our laurels. We constantly reevaluate and, when necessary, upgrade the
security features necessary to maintain the public's confidence that our
systems are secure.
Anti-Fraud Initiatives and Program Integrity
Because the public rightfully expects us to be vigilant stewards of its
tax dollars, SSA has a policy of zero tolerance toward fraud and abuse in
our programs. A strong Office of Inspector General (OIG), working together
with SSA employees, is the most effective means we have to control fraud
and abuse in the programs we administer.
To strengthen the OIG's capacity to accomplish its mission, SSA has
continued to increase the resources available to the OIG, effectively
doubling its investigative staff.
Our FY 2000 budget supports increased attention by both the OIG and
Social Security offices across the country for deterring fraudulent
activities and identifying and bringing to justice those who commit fraud,
whether members of the public or employees. SSA's anti-fraud activities
include:
- Enhancing on-line access to State records;
- Expanding residency verifications for SSI applicants and recipients
in our border offices;
- Establishing additional State Disability Determination Service (DDS)
fraud investigation units to detect and prevent fraud at the initial
disability decision; and
- Improving systems security measures.
Evaluation Plan: SSA has an extensive evaluation effort based on
annual plans developed jointly by our Offices of Inspector General,
Quality Assurance, Workforce Analysis, Policy and Disability and Income
Security Programs. Our evaluation efforts have helped us develop targeted
plans to address two areas requiring special attention: management of the
SSI program; and our disability program, where most of our discretionary
resources are expended.
Stronger Management of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Program
Our plan to strengthen management of the SSI program is embodied in the
report "Management of the Supplemental Security Income Program: Today and
in the Future," which resulted from a comprehensive review of the SSI
program released by Commissioner Apfel last October. Our review identified
areas in which the SSI program can be better managed: improving overall
payment accuracy, increasing continuing disability reviews, and expanding
our efforts to combat program fraud and improving debt collections. In
each area, we have set aggressive but achievable goals to improve our
management of the program.
We have always been committed to administering the SSI program as
efficiently and accurately as possible. It is important to our nation and
to the needy aged, blind and disabled individuals that the program serves.
In FY 1997 the payment accuracy rate-a widely employed gauge of how
well the program is being administered-increased to about 94.7 percent.
However, we believe we can improve our administration of the SSI program
in ways that will further increase the accuracy rate and reduce erroneous
payments. Our goal is to increase the accuracy rate to 96 percent by 2002
through management improvements and through the changes that we have
recommended in our legislative proposals.
Electronic Information Exchange: As part of our effort to improve
payment accuracy, we have expanded our electronic information exchanges
significantly over the years. These matches have proven very successful.
By FY 2002, we estimate that they will prevent about $230 million in
overpayments each year.
Processing Additional Non-Disability Redeterminations:
Redeterminations are periodic reviews of SSI beneficiaries' non-medical
eligibility that focus on income and resource factors affecting
eligibility and payment amounts. These reviews have proven to be the most
effective tool available to SSA for improving the accuracy of SSI
payments.
We are grateful for the FY 1999 funding provided to help SSA conduct
additional redeterminations. Our FY 2000 budget request includes resources
to enable SSA to continue to increase the number of redeterminations
conducted-from 1.9 million in FY 1998 to 2.1 million in FY 1999 to 2.2
million in FY 2000. SSA plans to increase the number of redeterminations
with a high risk of overpayment. These increases could result in an
estimated annual reduction in overpayments of $260 million by FY
2002.
Proposed Legislation: Our budget also includes some important
legislative proposals, which we believe will give SSA valuable tools to
further our efforts. Three of the proposals are intended to improve SSA's
ability to gather information that is material to an individual's
eligibility or correct amount of assistance. These improvements will
enable us to identify unreported changes earlier so we can prevent
overpayments or reduce the amount of overpayments flowing from the
unreported event. The proposals would expand the pool of data available to
SSA or make the data available on a more timely and economical basis.
Another proposal would allow SSA to improve efforts to collect SSI
overpayments by extending to SSI all of the debt collection authorities
currently available for the collection of overpayments under the Old-Age
and Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) programs.
Two of the Administration's proposals are designed to strengthen
program provisions that now allow individuals to qualify for the program
by disposing of resources for less than fair market value, and by
transferring assets to a trust.
The Administration has also advanced a proposal that would authorize
SSA to impose specified periods of ineligibility for SSI and OASDI
benefits. These
administrative sanctions will provide SSA field office employees a tool
that they can use to respond appropriately to individuals who knowingly
furnish inaccurate or misleading information material to eligibility or
payment amount. These sanctions will act as a disincentive for those who
may mislead SSA in their attempt to claim benefits.
These proposals were sent to the Congress in May 1998, and included in
H.R. 631, the SSI Fraud Prevention Act of 1999, pending before Congress.
These proposals have received bipartisan support.
Improving Administration of the Disability Programs
Earlier this month, SSA issued a plan called "Social Security and
Supplemental Security Income Disability Programs: Managing for Today,
Planning for Tomorrow," which presents a broad, comprehensive framework
for improving the management of the disability program which provides
benefit payments to over 10 million disabled at an annual cost of over $75
billion. The plan addresses several areas for improving disability program
management.
Improving the Disability Decisionmaking Process: SSA proposes
changes that will improve the disability decisionmaking process to ensure
that decisions are made as accurately as possible, that those who should
be paid are paid as early as possible, and that the adjudication process
is consistent throughout. The plan incorporates the results of the various
pilots we conducted over the last two years in looking at how to improve
the processing of the more than 2 million new disability claims per year.
SSA will conduct prototypes in 8-10 States, combining process improvements
including pre-decision interviews and elimination of the reconsideration
step in the appeals process.
Enhancing Beneficiaries' Opportunities to Work: As a nation, we are
best served when all of our citizens have the opportunity to contribute
their talents, ideas and energy by removing barriers to work. SSA will
work to improve the return-to-work opportunities for disability
beneficiaries so that individuals who want to participate in the nation's
workforce may do so.
The cornerstone of our return-to-work strategy remains our commitment
to the "Ticket to Work" program, which was first proposed in 1997, and is
the basis of the bipartisan proposal included in the FY 2000 budget. Under
this program, all disabled Social Security and SSI beneficiaries will be
eligible to participate. Beneficiaries can use the ticket to obtain
services from any enrolled public or private provider of their choice. The
provider of services would be paid only after the beneficiary returns to
work.
The incentives to work also include a proposed rule change which would
increase the substantial gainful activity level, permitting some
individuals with disabilities who have earnings in excess of the current
regulatory monthly limit ($500) but less than the amount in the proposed
rules ($700), to receive benefits.
Safeguarding the Integrity of Disability Programs: While committed
to providing timely and compassionate service to claimants, SSA is equally
committed to ensuring that only those individuals who meet program
eligibility requirements come on to the rolls and that only those who
continue to be disabled remain on the rolls. In support of that objective,
our budget plan calls for processing additional Continuing Disability
Reviews (CDRs) in order to ensure program integrity, to rebuild public
confidence in our programs, and to carry out congressional mandates. We
are proud of our recent accomplishments and confident that our CDR
strategy will lead to reliable and cost-effective monitoring of the
disability rolls.
I want to take this opportunity to thank the Committee for providing
additional funds for this crucial workload. We are now in our fourth year
of a seven-year plan to become current in processing periodic CDRs and
have made very good progress towards our goal. In FY 1996, the first year
of the plan, we processed approximately .5 million CDRs. By FY 1998, we
had increased our processing to almost 1.4 million per year. We expect to
complete 1.6 million CDRs in FY 1999 and 1.8 million in FY 2000.
Over the course of our 7-year plan, we expect, on average, to realize
lifetime program savings of about $6 for every $1 in administrative
cost.
Creating a Knowledge Base for the Next Century: SSA is committed to
increasing understanding, through research, of both the incidence of
disability in the U.S. and disability programs, in general, so that policy
makers can craft more responsive policies and legislation to assist
individuals with disabilities.
Our research budget will support major projects to (1) improve the
disability decision methodology, (2) estimate the size of the population
potentially eligible for disability, and (3) create a Disability Research
Institute to ensure a continued infrastructure to provide policymakers
with the best information possible.
Conducting Effective Research for the Future
SSA has established a new Office of Policy, which has already taken
significant strides to strengthen our policy research, evaluation and
analysis capacities. We have several simulation models being developed to
inform policy makers about the impact of various proposals. Many of the
nation's top Social Security scholars are associated with a retirement
research consortium we have established under cooperative agreements with
Boston College and the University of Michigan to broaden and deepen the
scope of our research.
We have also awarded a contract to undertake the Disability Evaluation
Study, the most far-reaching disability survey in decades, to help us
understand potential disability growth and also what enables individuals
who are disabled to remain in the work force.
Our proposed FY 2000 research budget will enable SSA to continue
research efforts on long-range solvency issues, the effect of demographic
and economic changes on program beneficiaries, and return-to-work
strategies for disabled beneficiaries.
Conclusion
SSA's goal is to be considered by the public to be among the most
responsive public service agencies in government. The recent Syracuse
University report would indicate we have the management processes in
place. Critical successes notwithstanding, we recognize both our
continuing obligation to be responsible and careful stewards of the
programs we administer, and the ongoing challenges in managing for
results.
Before I conclude I would like to say a word about our outstanding
workforce and the need for workforce planning. SSA's greatest strength
lies in the attitudes, skills and drive of its employees. However, we know
that we will experience higher-than-usual workforce retirement attrition
over the next decade. Our number of retirees will grow gradually each year
from about 1,000 in 1998, to a peak of approximately 3,000 workers in
2007. We expect that over 2,500 employees will retire each year between
2004 and 2012.
Our analysis of this upcoming "retirement wave" shows that the losses
will be relatively balanced among SSA components and major occupations. We
have paid special attention to looking at the impact of retirement losses
in operational components that provide direct service to the public. Our
overall conclusion is that the gradual and even nature of the losses
should not impede the delivery of SSA services.
We have started to develop a Workforce Transition Plan as part of the
Agency Strategic Plan. The plan will consider the changing nature of SSA
customers, workloads and technology, and identify new strategies for
employee development and training. The primary focus of the plan will be
to assure that the strong skills and abilities of our workforce are fully
utilized.
The approach in our FY 2000 budget plan calls for maintaining level
staffing and overall workyears, which will permit us to replace losses to
continue to do our work.
Commissioner Apfel is scheduled to appear before this Committee next
month and will be prepared to discuss how our overall budget request will
provide the resources needed to respond to the challenges addressed
today.
Thank you for this opportunity to highlight some of SSA's management
accomplishments and challenges. I welcome any questions you may
have.
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