Social Security, OIG Partner with State of New Jersey on Anti-Fraud Unit
September 29, 2017
Cooperative Effort among Government Agencies Prevents, Pursues Disability Fraud
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2017
The Social Security Administration (SSA), its Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller this month announced a new Cooperative Disability Investigations (CDI) Unit in Iselin, New Jersey. As part of the nationwide CDI Program, the Iselin Unit will identify and prevent Social Security disability fraud throughout the State of New Jersey.
CDI is one of Social Security’s most successful anti-fraud initiatives, contributing to the integrity of many Federal, State, and local assistance programs. CDI brings together personnel from SSA, its OIG, State Disability Determination Services (DDS), and local law enforcement agencies to review suspicious or questionable Social Security disability claims and to investigate suspected cases of disability fraud. CDI helps disability examiners make informed decisions, ensures payment accuracy, and generates significant taxpayer savings for Social Security and other programs.
“For 20 years, CDI has contributed to the integrity of Federal, State, and local benefit programs,” said Social Security Acting Inspector General Gale Stallworth Stone. “With the help of the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller, we will increase efforts to detect and prevent fraud and abuse in Social Security’s disability programs and related State and local programs, to preserve these benefits for New Jersey citizens who truly depend on them.”
The CDI program consists of 40 units covering 34 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Social Security and the OIG plan to establish additional CDI units in 2018 as part of an ongoing agency effort to combat disability fraud and preserve benefits for those who truly deserve them.
“Social Security is committed to combating fraud and preserving the public’s trust in our programs,” said Nancy A. Berryhill, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. “As we dedicate the CDI Unit in Iselin, let us remember the important work they do. The CDI program plays a critical role in detecting and preventing fraud, helping to ensure benefits are paid only to the people who are eligible. This collaboration between Social Security, the OIG, and the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller helps save taxpayer money and ensures the integrity of our programs.”
The Iselin CDI Unit includes an OIG special agent, an SSA program expert, a State disability examiner from the New Jersey DDS, and investigators from the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller, Medicaid Fraud Division.
“By combining assets and resources, which include investigators from our Medicaid Fraud Division, this federal-state initiative will bolster ongoing efforts in the State of New Jersey to combat fraud in these important government benefit programs,” said New Jersey State Comptroller Philip James Degnan.
SSA and its OIG jointly established the CDI program in 1997. Since CDI was established, it has contributed to $3.7 billion in projected savings to Social Security’s programs, and $2.7 billion in projected savings to related Federal and State programs. For more information on the CDI program, please visit the OIG website.
Public citizens who would like to report suspected disability fraud should contact the Social Security Fraud Hotline at https://oig.ssa.gov/report; send U.S. Mail to P.O. Box 17768, Baltimore, MD, 21235; fax (410) 597-0118; or call (800) 269-0271 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.
For more information, please contact Andrew Cannarsa, OIG Communications Director, at (410) 965-2671.
