The Deputy Commissioner for Policy is the principal advisor to the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Social Security on issues relating to Social Security solvency and retirement and income maintenance policy. The Deputy Commissioner for Policy heads the Social Security Administration's (SSA's) Office of Policy, which is responsible for the agency's policy analysis, policy research and evaluation, and statistical program. The Office of Policy plays a key role in supporting SSA's strategic goal of achieving sustainable solvency for Social Security and ensuring that the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs meet the needs of current and future generations. It helps to educate the public about the financial challenges facing Social Security and provides decision makers with analyses of the economic, distributional, and administrative aspects of proposals to reform and modernize the program. Much of the office's work is made publicly available through a quarterly journal and numerous statistical publications, both in print and on the Internet.

Policy Analysis, Research, and Evaluation

The Office of Policy is responsible for analysis and research on policy initiatives for the Social Security Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) programs and the Supplemental Security Income program. Staff study the effects of those programs and of changes to them on individuals, the economy, and program solvency.

The Office of Policy places a high priority on analysis that provides policymakers with the information they need to understand the broad impact and distributional effects of reform proposals. For such analysis, the office develops and uses microsimulation models that estimate the consequences of proposed program changes on beneficiaries. For example, the MINT (Modeling Income in the Near Term) model is a microdata system that can be used to project demographic and economic characteristics of the baby-boom generation at retirement and into the future. The distributional analysis MINT provides makes a unique contribution to the solvency debate because it builds on actual earnings records matched with survey data.

Other important policy analysis and research activities include:

• In-depth analysis of Social Security reform proposals, including individual accounts;
• Analyses of the interrelationships between the Social Security system, the national economy, other income maintenance programs, and various socioeconomic factors;
• Research and analysis on the relationship of the disability programs to Social Security solvency and the financing of SSI;
• Analyses of options to simplify the SSI program;
• Studies of foreign and domestic retirement and income maintenance programs;
• Preparation of analytical material on OASDI and SSI beneficiary and payment provisions, employment, earnings, and employer classification; and
• Analyses of administrative issues, including the functions that would be required to administer individual accounts and their related costs.

Statistics and Data Dissemination

The Office of Policy is the agency's source for statistics on the impact and operations of the OASDI and SSI programs and on the earnings of the working and beneficiary populations. This function involves developing and maintaining a series of detailed statistical databases, preparing a broad range of statistical tables, producing statistical compilations and publications both in print and on the Internet, and developing information for special requests on current policy issues.

The statistical tables provide:

• Information useful in evaluating current programs and proposed legislative and program changes and in running the programs;
• Data on beneficiaries in individual states, localities, or congressional districts;
• Information about beneficiaries and expenditures of the Social Security program and other major social insurance and welfare programs;
• Specialized tables related to current issues; and
• Input to outside publications such as the Ways and Means Committee's Green Book and the Census Bureau's Statistical Abstract of the United States.

Users of these statistics include other SSA components, Congressional staff, other executive branch agencies, policy organizations, State and local governments, educational institutions, business organizations, and advocacy groups.

The microdata that SSA maintains on applicants for Social Security numbers, covered workers, and beneficiaries also provide an invaluable resource for research, statistical, and policy purposes. Demand for these data has been increasing, especially when they are linked to survey data such as the Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation and the University of Michigan's Health and Retirement Study. Those data are particularly relevant to the debate about the future direction of Social Security. Various laws and regulations control those data, access to them, and how they may be used. Public Law 103-296 authorizes the disclosure of vital status information for epidemiological research. Staff review each request to determine whether access is permitted and to ensure that users will protect the confidentiality of the data. Since the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) controls earnings data, requests involving such data must go through IRS's approval process. Social Security and the Bureau of the Census are also working to develop versions of those databases for public use.

Data Service for Epidemiological Research

SSA also provides a data service to health researchers involved in epidemiological research. Specifically, for studies that contribute to a national health interest, SSA will inform researchers about whether a subject of the study is alive or deceased. There is a fee for this service. For more information, see "Service to Epidemiological Researchers to Provide Vital Status Data on Subjects of Health Research."