Concurrent Beneficiaries Who Did Not Have Supplemental Income Data on Their Master Beneficiary Records
Office Affiliation: The Office of Audit
Audit Report Number: A-06-14-14097
The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program provides payments to financially needy individuals who are aged, blind, or disabled. Individuals eligible for SSI payments may also qualify for Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) benefits (concurrent entitlement). SSA reduces SSI payments by the recipient’s countable income, which includes OASDI benefits. Concurrently entitled individuals continue receiving SSI payments as long as their countable income does not exceed the Federal Benefit Rate plus a $20 allowance.
SSA electronically links a concurrent beneficiary’s payment records by establishing Supplemental Income Data (SID) information on their OASDI payment record, also referred to as the Master Beneficiary Records (MBR). SSA then uses the OASDI benefit amount in computing the proper SSI payment amount. If the SID is missing, SSA could incorrectly calculate the SSI payment amount and overpay the beneficiary.
The objective of this report was to determine whether SSA correctly paid concurrent beneficiaries whose MBR did not include SID.