Direct Payment of Social Security Benefits To Beneficiaries With Mental Impairments

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Social Security Administration selected a sample of the 3.5 million beneficiaries with mental impairments in order to determine their ability to manage the funds they received, and examine if they needed a representative payee. They asked a standard set of questions that observed each beneficiary’s ability to reason and communicate. The review determined that 23% of the sample may have been incapable of managing their own funds. The OIG suggested that these beneficiaries should be further reviewed as their benefits were “at risk of inappropriate use”.

SSA commented that the results were not an accurate representation, as the sample size was minuscule in comparison to the actual number of beneficiaries nationwide. Aside from the questions posed in the interviews, SSA also requires that a capability assessment be performed by a medical doctor with medical evidence as support.

The OIG’s recommendations to review these beneficiaries was based solely on the individual sample from the interview, rather than the broader issue of SSA having to amend its policies and procedures.

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