Work Continuing Disability Reviews for Disabled Title II Beneficiaries with Earnings
An individual is considered disabled under Title II of the Social Security Act if he/she is unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity (SGA) because of a medically determinable impairment that (1) can be expected to result in death or (2) has lasted (or can be expected to last) for a continuous period of at least 12 months.
SSA defines SGA as work activity that involves significant physical or mental activities performed for pay or profit.
For our review, we identified 27,383 disabled Title II beneficiaries in current pay status as of July 2012 (from 1 Social Security number segment) with earnings reported on the Master Earnings File (MEF) between 2007 and 2011 that may affect their entitlement to benefits. We randomly selected 275 cases from this population for detailed analysis.
The objective of this report was to determine whether SSA was evaluating earnings reported to the MEF for disabled individuals receiving Title II benefits.