Morrisey partners with federal agencies to defeat disability fraud

Dec. 22--West Virginia will join 31 other states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, in collaborating with federal agencies to prevent Social Security disability fraud.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey made the announcement Tuesday that his office will work with the Social Security Administration and the Office of the Inspector General to form a Cooperative Disabilities Unit in Charleston.

Morrisey said the program has been successful in other states, saving billions of dollars for Social Security. He noted that neighboring Virginia had saved $1 million per month in federal funds and another $700,000 in state funds.

West Virginia's CDI unit will employ six people, three of them already in the employ of the attorney general's office. The CDI will be funded with $250,000 to $325,000 in federal funds, Morrisey said.

Morrisey said his office is emphasizing its fight against fraud to "protect the integrity of the Social Security system."

"We have a significant problem with disability fraud in West Virginia," Morrisey said. "It is my hope that this partnership will dramatically reduce fraud and abuse so that we can preserve precious taxpayer resources for those who are legally allowed to obtain this benefit."

Carolyn Colvin, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, said the CDI program has been successful at its task.

"These units play a critical role in preventing fraud and investigating complex conspiracies, and we are excited to mark the work being done at the Charleston CDI unit," Colvin said.

Morrisey said his goal is "to catch fraud at the outset before money flies out the government door."

He said West Virginia has "twice the percentage of people on disability" or 9 percent of the state's 1.8 million residents.

-- Email: ppritt@register-herald.com Follow PamPrittRH on Twitter

___

(c)2015 The Register-Herald (Beckley, W.Va.)

Visit The Register-Herald (Beckley, W.Va.) at www.register-herald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.