The Social Security Administration’s Reporting of High-dollar Overpayments Under Executive Order 13520 in Fiscal Year 2016
Office Affiliation: The Office of Audit
Audit Report Number: A-15-17-50185
On November 20, 2009, the President issued Executive Order 13520 “. . . to reduce improper payments by intensifying efforts to eliminate payment error, waste, fraud, and abuse in the major programs administered by the Federal Government, while continuing to ensure that Federal programs serve and provide access to their intended beneficiaries.”
As part of the Executive Order, each agency head is required to submit to the agency’s Office of the Inspector General and the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency a quarterly report on high-dollar overpayments identified by the agency, subject to Federal privacy policies and to the extent permitted by law. The report shall describe any actions the agency has taken, or plans to take, to recover high-dollar overpayments as well as any actions the agency intends to take to prevent future overpayments.We reviewed reports on quarterly high-dollar overpayments for the quarters ended December 31, 2015 and March 31, June 30, and September 30, 2016 to ensure the Agency had implemented a methodology for identifying high-dollar overpayments that detected overpayments and complied with all the Executive Order’s requirements.