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Supplemental Security Income: Sustained Management Attention Needed to Address Residency Violations

GAO-04-789T Published: May 20, 2004. Publicly Released: May 20, 2004.
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Highlights

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program paid about $36 billion in benefits to about 6.9 million recipients in 2003. In recent years, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has identified a general increase in the amount of annual overpayments made to recipients who are not present in the U.S. as required by SSI program guidelines--a problem we refer as "residency violations." This problem has caused concern among both program administrators and policy makers. As such, GAO was asked to determine what is known about the extent to which SSI benefits are improperly paid to individuals who are not present in the United States and to identify any weaknesses in SSA's processes and policies that impede the agency's ability to detect and deter residency violations.

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Accounting errorsAmericans abroadBeneficiariesEligibility criteriaFraudInternal controlsOverpaymentsSocial security benefitsSupplemental security incomeSanctions