Issa, Lankford and Jordan Statement on Disability Fraud Ring Bust

August 21, 2013

Contact Ali Ahmad / Caitlin Carroll, 202.225.0037

Issa, Lankford and Jordan Statement on Disability Fraud Ring Bust

WASHINGTON- Federal agents arrested dozens of individuals and handed down 73 indictments this morning as part of an investigation into Social Security Disability Insurance program abuse.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "The bust appears to be one of the largest disability-fraud cases ever assembled by federal investigators."

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., Entitlements Subcommittee Chairman James Lankford, R-Okla., and Economic Growth Subcommittee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, offered the following statement:

"We applaud the police actions taken by the Inspector General, FBI, and U.S. Attorney for Puerto Rico this morning to root out corruption in the Social Security Disability Program. SSDI will be bankrupt in the very near future, due in no small part to the criminal manipulation of the claims process. The fraudsters are not only stealing taxpayers' money, they are harming those who truly cannot work by threatening their benefits.

"Systemic problems at the Social Security Administration, including the flawed disability determination process and SSA's failure to prioritize program integrity, likely facilitated this apparent criminal conspiracy. The Committee will continue its oversight efforts to ensure SSA takes strong action to address these systemic problems."

Background:

* The Committee noted many anomalies in Puerto Rico's disability claims that raised concerns about fraud and abuse, including massive spike in the percentage of approved claims between 2006 and 2010, in a March 11th letter to the Social Security Administration.

* In June, Chairman Lankford's subcommittee held a hearing http://oversight.house.gov/hearing/oversight-of-rising-social-security-disability-claims-and-the-role-of-administrative-law-judges/ looking into growing abuses within SSDI. The massive program, which is expected to make $53 billion in payments to more than eight million Americans in fiscal year 2013 alone, has grown by 3.24 million people since 2003 and is expected to go bankrupt by 2016.

* The June hearing came after a March 11th letter http://1.usa.gov/15XCAgi to Social Security Commissioner Carolyn Colvin expressing concerns about programs operations as a whole. A June 7th follow up letter http://1.usa.gov/15QkWer from Issa, Lankford, and Jordan challenged the Social Security Administration's assertion claims process that demographics alone are responsible for the surge in enrollments and suggested that significant reforms are needed to maintain the program.