2009 Annual Report of the SSI Program

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E. THE SSI PROGRAM’S SHARE OF SSA’S ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS
AND BENEFICIARY SERVICES COSTS
The SSI program is administered by the Social Security Administration, but unlike the OASDI program, is funded from general revenues. SSA was given responsibility for the SSI program when it was created in 1972 because of the agency’s existing field office network and its administrative and automated data pro­cessing capabilities. Because of the integration of the administration of the SSI and OASDI programs, it is more practical to fund them from a single source. The trust funds and the general fund pay their appropri­ate share of administrative expenses through SSA’s Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) account, which in turn funds the total operating expenses of the agency. The appropriate share of adminis­trative expenses borne by each funding source is determined based on a Government Accountability Office approved method of cost analysis, with a final settlement of costs by the end of the subsequent fis­cal year. If necessary, section 201(g)(1) of the Social Security Act provides that SSI administrative expenses, including Federal administration of State supplementation payments, may be financed from the Social Security trust funds with reimbursement, including any interest lost, to the trust funds from general revenues.
The SSI program also provides beneficiary services to recipients through State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agencies and Employment Networks for VR services and payments under the Ticket to Work program. For SSI recipients, the objective of VR is to help disabled individuals achieve and sus­tain productive, self-supporting work activity.
 
Table IV.E1.—Selected SSI Costs, Fiscal Years 1978‑2009
[Outlays in millions]  
Beneficiary
services b
c 84.0

a
Includes user fees charged to participating States to reimburse SSA for the costs of administering their SSI State Supplementation program.

b
Payments for referral and monitoring services for Drug Addicts and Alcoholics are included through December 1996; these payments were terminated effective January 1997. The increase in the estimate for fiscal year 2009 assumed an increase in Ticket to Work activity.

c
Reflects a one-time payment to State VR agencies for prior year expenses.


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