By Elizabeth Harrington | Washington Free Beacon
The
Social Security Administration paid $1 billion in benefits to
individuals who did not have a Social Security Number (SSN), according
to a new audit.
The agency’s inspector general
found errors in the government’s documentation for representative
payees, otherwise known as individuals who receive retirement or
disability payments on behalf of another person who is incapable of
managing the benefits themselves.
The audit released Friday found thousands of cases where there was no SSN on file.“Furthermore, unless it takes corrective action, we estimate SSA will pay about $182.5 million in benefits, annually, to representative payees who do not have an SSN or paper application supporting their selection,” the inspector general said.
The inspector general also found the agency paid $853.1 million in benefits since 2004 to individuals who had been terminated as representative payees by the agency.