At a Senate Finance Committee hearing last week, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) spoke about work and social security disability benefits.
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NewsTranscript
00:00I'm going to start with Ms. Gottman.
00:06The Biden administration has increased spending on major disability programs by tens of billions
00:12of dollars, and they've done it through rulemaking.
00:17Throughout our federal budget, Biden has increased mandatory spending through executive actions
00:25by more than a trillion dollars.
00:29At a time of near-record debt and deficit, spending of this scale by fiat is beyond reckless.
00:39Spending on mandatory programs and interest on the debt is now 72% of the federal budget.
00:46So my question, are there open GAO recommendations that the Biden administration could implement
00:54to reduce spending and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in federal disability programs?
01:01Thank you for the question.
01:03Yes, there are.
01:04We have several open recommendations regarding overpayments in particular.
01:10One that I'd like to highlight relates to the overpayments that come from the dual beneficiaries
01:18who receive both FECA benefits and DI benefits.
01:25And right now, we had asked in 2015 that SSA evaluate and improve its internal controls
01:36for those beneficiaries who are receiving FECA benefits as well, and it evaluated options
01:44and identified a viable option.
01:47In fact, the benefits outweighed the cost five to one of this option, which was to use
01:52a data matching agreement with DOL to share data on those dual beneficiaries.
01:59And as far as we know, they have been engaged in ongoing discussions but have yet to implement
02:05that recommendation.
02:06And that recommendation is a priority recommendation designated so by our Comptroller General.
02:13And then I'd also like to point to the modernization of occupation data, which was what I just
02:20discussed, which is part of our high-risk series and is absolutely essential to be addressed
02:25for SSA to be removed from our high-risk list.
02:30And maybe you can submit your other things in answer in writing.
02:35I would be delighted to.
02:36Thank you.
02:37I'm going to go to Ms. Wilski.
02:41As I just mentioned, President Biden has greatly expanded the cost of SSI and SSDI
02:49while doing little to attempt to rein in costs.
02:54Both Obama and President Trump proposed billions of dollars in savings by limiting duplication
03:01and overlapping special disability benefits and unemployment.
03:07Why hasn't the Biden administration, as part of its budget request, proposed any reforms
03:12to generate savings in federal disability programs administered by Social Security?
03:21Thank you for your question.
03:23And I think the administration is very committed to making sure that we're administering these
03:26programs fairly and with respect to our budget.
03:32I'm happy to take that one back and get you a response for the record.
03:35Okay.
03:37Thank you very much.
03:38I'm going to go to Mr. Morton.
03:40There has been bipartisan interest in improving our disability program to better incentivize
03:47those that are able to return to work.
03:50This includes the Ticket to Work program, but also pilot programs implemented by SSA
03:57that test certain changes to program rules with the intent of promoting attachment to
04:03labor force.
04:04So what have we learned from these past attempts to promote work?
04:09Have certain types of work incentive programs worked better than others?
04:15Thank you for the question.
04:17SSA recently published a study that they commissioned that looked at its past demonstrations over
04:27the last 20-something years.
04:30And the general conclusion of that report is that while on average many of the tests
04:38that SSA conducted to promote work helped to increase levels of employment, they did
04:43not have substantial effects on earning average earnings or on reducing disability benefits.
04:51So that's kind of the bigger takeaway from SSA's demonstrations.
04:56And for Ms. Zingler, just unrelated to this subject, but you manage three offices.
05:04What percentage of your employees come to the office five days a week?
05:11Five days a week.
05:12I believe amongst the three offices there's 40 employees, and I believe there are five
05:19who come in five days a week.
05:23And the others work from home?
05:25They work from home two days a week.
05:29Well then they come in three days a week.
05:31Correct.
05:32Okay.
05:33Yes.
05:34Thank you.
05:35Thank you Ms. Zingler.
05:36Thank you Senator Grassley.
05:37Senator Blackburn.