FY 2024 Congressional Justification

Table of Contents

Budget Overview

A Message from the Acting Commissioner .................................................................................. 1

Social Security Administration Overview .................................................................................... 4

Budget Highlights .......................................................................................................................... 8

FY 2024 Funding Table ............................................................................................................... 10

FY 2024 Performance Table ....................................................................................................... 12

Strategic Goal 1: Optimize the Experience of SSA Customers............................................... 15

Strategic Goal 2: Build An Inclusive, Engaged, and Empowere Workforce ......................... 28

Strategic Goal 3: Ensure Stewardship of SSA Programs ........................................................ 30

Other Administration Initiatives: Looking Toward the Future ............................................. 37

Technical Material

Summary Table of Appropriation Request and Key Tables

Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds

Appropriation Language ............................................................................................................. 11

General Statement ....................................................................................................................... 12

Annual Appropriation ................................................................................................................. 12

Permanent Indefinite Authority .................................................................................................. 12

Budgetary Resources ................................................................................................................... 14

Analysis of Changes.................................................................................................................... 15

Budget Authority and Obligations by Activity ........................................................................... 15

Obligations by Object Class ........................................................................................................ 17

Background .................................................................................................................................. 18

Authorizing Legislation .............................................................................................................. 18

Appropriation History ................................................................................................................. 19

Pension Reform ............................................................................................................................ 21

Purpose and Method of Operation .............................................................................................. 21

Rationale for Budget Request ..................................................................................................... 22

Unnegotiated Checks ................................................................................................................... 23

Purpose and Method of Operation .............................................................................................. 23

Rationale for Budget Request ..................................................................................................... 25

Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefits ....................................................................................... 26

Purpose and Method of Operation .............................................................................................. 26

Progress to Date .......................................................................................................................... 27

Supplemental Security Income Program

Appropriation Language ............................................................................................................ 31

Language Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 32

General Statement ....................................................................................................................... 33

Program Overview ...................................................................................................................... 33

FY 2024 President’s Budget Request ......................................................................................... 36

Budgetary Resources ................................................................................................................... 37

Analysis of Changes.................................................................................................................... 38

New Budget Authority and Obligations by Activity ................................................................... 41

New Budget Authority and Obligations by Object ..................................................................... 42

Background ................................................................................................................................. 43

Authorizing Legislation .............................................................................................................. 43

Appropriation History ................................................................................................................. 44

Federal Benefit Payments ............................................................................................................ 47

Purpose and Method of Operation .............................................................................................. 47

Rationale for Budget Request ..................................................................................................... 47

SSI Recipient Population ............................................................................................................ 48

Benefit Payments ........................................................................................................................ 50

Administrative Expenses ............................................................................................................. 52

Purpose and Method of Operation .............................................................................................. 52

Rationale for Budget Request ..................................................................................................... 53

Supplemental Key Initiative ........................................................................................................ 54

Beneficiary Services ..................................................................................................................... 55

Purpose and Method of Operation .............................................................................................. 55

Rationale for Budget Request ..................................................................................................... 56

Additional Information on VR Cost Reimbursement and Ticket To Work Programs ............... 57

Research and Demonstration ...................................................................................................... 59

Purpose and Method of Operation .............................................................................................. 59

Rationale for Budget Request ..................................................................................................... 61

Related Funding Sources ............................................................................................................ 77

Administration of Our Research Activities ................................................................................. 79

Research Investment Criteria ...................................................................................................... 80

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Appropriation Language/Background ....................................................................................... 87

Authorizing Legislation ............................................................................................................... 87

Appropriation Language ............................................................................................................. 88

Language Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 91

Significant Items in Appropriations Committee Reports ............................................................ 95

Improper Payments ................................................................................................................... 103

Pilot Programs ........................................................................................................................... 104

Consultative Exams ................................................................................................................... 109

Appropriation History ............................................................................................................... 112

SSA-Related Legislation from April 2022 to March 2023 ....................................................... 117

General Statement/Budgetary Resources/Performance ......................................................... 119

Limitation on Administrative Expenses Overview ................................................................... 119

Key Priorities............................................................................................................................. 119

Size and Scope of Our Programs ............................................................................................... 121

Funding Request ........................................................................................................................ 122

All Purpose Table ...................................................................................................................... 124

SSI State Supplementation/Impact of States Dropping Out ...................................................... 126

Budget Authority and Outlays ................................................................................................... 128

Amounts Available for Obligation/Analysis of Changes .......................................................... 131

Summaty of Change – Budget Authority .................................................................................. 133

Summary of Change in Administrative Obligations from FY 2023 to FY 2024 ...................... 134

Budgetary Resources by Object ................................................................................................ 136

Estimated Distribution of Agency Costs ................................................................................... 137

Workload Processing and Cost Distribution Across the Organization...................................... 139

Performance Targets ................................................................................................................. 142

Program Integrity ...................................................................................................................... 144

FY 2022 Disability Decision Data ............................................................................................ 148

Priority Goals ............................................................................................................................ 149

Customer Experience ................................................................................................................ 150

Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) ......................................... 153

Outreach to People Facing Barriers ........................................................................................... 157

Information Technology ............................................................................................................ 165

SSA Organizational Chart ......................................................................................................... 193

Major Building Renovation and Repair Costs........................................................................... 194

Social Security Advisory Board ................................................................................................ 201

Office of the Inspector General

Appropriation Language ........................................................................................................... 205

General Statement ..................................................................................................................... 206

Overview ................................................................................................................................... 206

Strategic Goals ........................................................................................................................... 208

Budgetary Resources................................................................................................................ 225

Appropriation History .............................................................................................................. 229

Annual Performance Report

MESSAGE FROM THE ACTING COMMISSIONER

I am proud to lead the Social Security Administration (SSA) during a critical period of recovery from the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. I cannot overstate the unwavering commitment of our talented and dedicated employees who touch the lives of millions of people our programs support. The scope of what we do is enormous. Our programs affect individuals at several points in their lives: from birth, to entering the workforce, to facing a disability or loss, and to retirement. The broad and critical nature of our programs drives our request for the resources necessary to improve our service to the public. The fiscal year (FY) 2024 President’s Budget request of $15.489 billion for our administrative expenses will help us improve our essential service delivery to the public.

In FY 2023, we are rebuilding our workforce, after ending FY 2022 at our lowest staffing level in over 25 years due to prior years of insufficient funding. Our new hires will help us reduce growing backlogs and improve service to the public. Most notably, we must address the significant number of people who are waiting too long for disability decisions at all levels of the disability process. The FY 2024 President’s Budget will support increased staffing levels from FY 2023, allowing us to process about a half million more disability cases in FY 2024 than we completed in FY 2022. In addition, we will be able to make significant progress in other key areas, ranging from reducing wait times on our National 800 Number to eliminating our hearings backlog.

We share claimants’ frustrations with waiting over seven months on average for an initial disability decision and agree that this is too long. We are confronting historically high employee losses, especially in the disability determination services (DDS) that make the medical determinations for initial disability claims, reconsiderations, and medical continuing disability reviews. As we collaborate with the DDSs to implement new strategies for employee recruitment and retention, we have begun to see a reduction in our attrition. I have activated a team dedicated to finding ways to eliminate the disability backlog. With the FY 2024 President’s Budget, we will begin to reduce the wait times for a disability decision, but it will take a multi-year effort and increased funding to eliminate the backlog.

The President’s Budget also includes the resources for us to continue strengthening our workforce by addressing near-term recruitment and retention challenges while also focusing on long-term human capital improvements to ensure necessary staffing in our field offices, teleservice centers, processing centers, and hearing offices. To address our urgent needs and expedite hiring, we obtained direct hiring authority in FY 2023 for certain mission-critical positions. Many of our employees choose to work at SSA because they identify with our public service mission. To engage and retain employees, we need to offer manageable workloads, modern tools, and training and development to build a successful career. To retain staff and remain a competitive employer, we are also exploring other longer-term reforms to build and sustain a diverse and skilled workforce to deliver the services Americans depend on for years to come.

Eliminating the hearings backlog remains a priority. We ended FY 2022 with the lowest level of pending hearings in 22 years; we aim to maintain that momentum. In FY 2023, we are experiencing a temporary increase in our hearings average processing time, as we prioritize processing our oldest cases for people who opted during the pandemic to wait for in-person hearings over telephone or video. We anticipate eliminating the hearings backlog and achieving a 270-day monthly average processing time by the end of FY 2024. Once eliminated, we will work to ensure the backlog does not recur.

Our National 800 Number is a critical service channel. With the funding requested, we will improve the customer experience by providing callers with faster service. In FY 2023, we expect to transition our National 800 Number to a modern telecommunication platform, which will improve service by decreasing wait times to speak to a representative and by offering more self-service opportunities for those who prefer not to wait.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of technology, and we were able to pivot quickly to protect the health and safety of our visitors and employees by accelerating modernization of our virtual services. Implementing our Information Technology Modernization Plan has successfully put us on a path to improve automation, optimize operational efficiency, and maximize enterprise productivity. We are focused on creating new digital services to improve the customer and employee experience. The FY 2024 President’s Budget request will bolster the ongoing progress to reduce operational costs and provide more digital service options.

We are one of the most important anti-poverty programs in the country. We must ensure that our programs and services are reaching underserved communities and people facing barriers, including individuals experiencing homelessness, income insecurity, with limited English proficiency, and with mental and intellectual disabilities. This Budget will support our Supplemental Security Income outreach work, including collaborating with government agencies and other third-party organizations in local communities to assure convenient access to our services and ensure members of the public are aware of their possible benefit eligibility.

Making the right payment to the right person at the right time is an important tenet in the agency. We recognize the importance of our program integrity workloads to ensure individuals receive the benefits to which they are entitled, while safeguarding the integrity of our programs. We strive to be good stewards of program funds, including through combating waste, fraud, and abuse; quality reviews; cost-effective program integrity work; and payment accuracy efforts. We also know that persistent and increasingly sophisticated malicious cyber campaigns threaten our security and privacy, and so place cybersecurity at the forefront of our effort to protect the sensitive information entrusted to us.

With the FY 2024 President’s Budget, we will continue to take on our challenges and make progress in improving service delivery. It is critical that we have sufficient and sustained funding to improve service and support the staffing levels we are restoring in FY 2023. I am grateful for the opportunity to submit a budget that will help us better serve millions of people while maintaining strong stewardship and rigorous oversight of the programs we administer, providing a solid foundation for years to come.

Respectfully,

Kilolo Kijakazi, Ph.D., M.S.W.

Acting Commissioner

March 9, 2023

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION OVERVIEW

Program Overview

Our budget request will fund the administrative expenses for our three major programs: Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI), Disability Insurance (DI), and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), in addition to other administrative expenses (see Figures 1 and 2). Our request includes funding to help ensure full and equitable access to our programs.

By fiscal year (FY) 2024, we will be delivering approximately $1.5 trillion in payments directly to our beneficiaries; our administrative costs are only about 1 percent of our total costs. Our programs are the largest anti-poverty programs in the nation. Further, people spend their benefits to pay for living expenses like housing, clothing, and food, putting money into local and State economies.

OASI : Established in 1935, the OASI program is one of the Nation’s most successful government programs and is part of the lives of nearly every individual and family in the nation. The OASI program provides retirement and survivors benefits to qualified workers and their families.

DI: Established in 1956, the DI program provides benefits for insured workers who meet our disability requirements and their families.

SSI: Established in 1972, the SSI program provides payments to the aged and adults and children with disabilities or blindness who have income and resources below specific financial limits.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) also supports programs administered by other Federal and State agencies, as required by law, such as Medicare, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), State Children’s Health Insurance Program, E-Verify, Medicaid, and Federal Benefits for Veterans, as well as programs associated with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefit Act, and Help America Vote Act.

Component Overview

Below is a description of our components, which are funded by our main administrative account, the Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) account.

There are two other significant parts of our budget:

Figure 1: Benefit Payments and Beneficiaries by Program, FYs 2022-2024

Research Budget

The FY 2024 funding request for research is $91 million, $5 million more than the FY 2023 enacted level. As in previous years, the Budget will fund data development and dissemination, modeling efforts, administrative research, and retirement and disability policy research to better serve the public. We are also interested in working with Congress to renew Section 234 authority in order to provide sufficient time to conduct new and ongoing demonstrations. For additional details, please see our Research and Demonstration Projects exhibit in the corresponding technical material, Program Budget section.

Office of the Inspector General

The FY 2024 funding request for the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is $120.4 million, an increase of $5.7 million over the FY 2023 enacted level. The OIG’s request would allow the OIG to perform its core mission of auditing and investigating SSA programs and operations, while also building its data analytics capacity, increasing data-driven decision-making, investing in IT and automation tools, and building and strengthening its workforce. The Budget also includes a transfer of $19.1 million from the allocation adjustment.

Figure 2: Benefits and Administrative Budget by Program

BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS

Our FY 2024 budget request is $15.5 billion, a nearly $1.4 billion or 10 percent increase from the FY 2023 enacted level. This increase is necessary to improve services at our field offices, State DDSs, and teleservice centers for retirees, people with disabilities, and their families. The Budget also assists people facing barriers in accessing our services through expanding online tools and improving National 800 Number service, and by adding staff to reduce the wait for a disability decision. For additional detail, please see Figure 3. Major investments include 1 :

Figure 3: LAE Budget by Major Funding Category, FY 2024 Estimates

FY 2024 FUNDING TABLE

Sustained, sufficient funding for staffing is required to improve service to the public. Figure 4 displays funding and workyears (WY) for our agency.

LAE funding includes $138 million in FY 2022, $140 million in FY 2023, and $150 million in FY 2024 from SSI user fees. The LAE funding also includes $1 million from Social Security Protection Act user fees in each of those years. The FY 2024 budget assumes LAE appropriations language will provide for 18-month authority to obligate PI funds, similar to prior years.

For Research and Demonstration projects, Congress appropriated $86 million in 3-year authority in both FY 2022 and FY 2023. The FY 2024 budget proposes $91 million in FY 2024 (available through September 30, 2026).

Figure 4: Funding Table

The Summary Statement table in Figure 5 displays the estimated distribution of our costs and WYs by major component group.

Figure 5: FY 2024 Summary Statement Table

Our Budget supports restoring our staffing to pre-pandemic levels. In FY 2022, we reached our lowest staffing level in over 25 years (see Figure 6), and the funding increase in FY 2023 allows us to start to rebuild our staff so that we can begin to reduce backlogs and wait times even as the number of beneficiaries increases. It is critical that we receive sufficient funding in FY 2024 to maintain the staffing increases we plan in FY 2023.

Figure 6: Staffing History

FY 2024 PERFORMANCE TABLE

Our Performance Table shows our actual performance in FY 2022, estimated performance for FY 2023 based on our FY 2023 enacted appropriation, and estimated performance in FY 2024 based on full funding of the FY 2024 President’s Budget (see Figures 7 and 8). Please see the subsequent section on Strategic Goals for a discussion of performance.

Figure 7: FY 2024 Performance Table

Figure 8: FY 2024 President’s Budget by Workload 11

FY 2024 PRESIDENT’S BUDGET BY MAJOR WORKLOAD

STRATEGIC GOAL 1: OPTIMIZE THE EXPERIENCE OF SSA CUSTOMERS

This Budget focuses on improving the public’s experience with, and access to, our services and programs. In FY 2024, we will continue to build our internal CX capacity, continue to fulfill our commitments in the CX Executive Order (EO), participate in cross-agency life experience projects, and improve our service delivery in our three High Impact Service Provider service designations.

In accordance with EO 14058, Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government, we are designing and delivering services that reflect the perspective of the people we serve. Our Agency Strategic Plan for FYs 2022-2026 focuses on transformation to deliver lasting change to empower our employees and serve our customers. We are adopting modern ways to operate and re-engineer policy and business models to provide a better experience for our customers. Our CX team coordinates agency-wide CX management practices and standards, and supports, guides, educates, and enables us to ensure we consistently prioritize the customer’s experience. In FY 2023, we hired an experienced industry expert to assess our business practices and make recommendations for achieving our CX goal to continually improving our understanding of our customers, provide easy access to our services across service delivery channels, reduce administrative hurdles and paperwork burdens, enhance transparency, create greater efficiencies across government, and redesign our processes to improve CX. The FY 2024 Budget supports our efforts to build our internal CX capacity through the establishment of a CX team, delivering on our commitments in the CX EO, contributing to cross-agency life experience projects, and make focused improvements to our designated priority services.

For additional details, please see our CX exhibit in the corresponding technical material, LAE section, and performance.gov .

Identify and Address Barriers to Accessing Services

We are working to reduce barriers to access across our programs by identifying and eliminating disparities in service that people with disabilities, workers, and their families may face when doing business with us. The Budget includes funding for outreach in FY 2024 to ensure that individuals eligible for SSI are aware of and can access our services. One of our FYs 2022-2023 Agency Priority Goals (APG) commits to improving equity in our SSI program access through increased outreach and improved benefit delivery, including to communities of color and underserved communities. We expect to increase the number of all SSI applications by 15 percent, restoring rates closer to pre-pandemic levels, and increase the number of SSI applications from underserved communities by 25 percent, both relative to a 2021 baseline, by the end of FY 2023. For a full list of our actions and progress, please see the Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility exhibit and the Outreach to People Facing Barriers exhibit in the corresponding technical material, LAE section, and performance.gov . Provided below are some highlights.

Accomplishments

Major Initiatives

In FYs 2023 and 2024, we plan to:

Expand Digital Services

my Social Security, our personalized self-service alternative to telephone and in-person services, gives our customers convenient access to a growing suite of services using their mobile device or computer. As of January 2023, more than 75 million people have signed up to use my Social Security to conduct their business online securely and conveniently. In FY 2022, we saw more than 376 million successfully completed online transactions, an 86 million transaction increase from 290 million in FY 2021. We continue to expand our online service options for our customers.

In December 2022, we launched our redesigned ssa.gov website to help our customers find what they need more easily. As part of our ongoing efforts to improve how the public can do business with us, the redesign provides a clear path to the tasks customers need to accomplish. Many of the most visited sections of our website now have a more user-friendly and task-based approach. New pages and improvements based on public feedback will be iteratively unveiled in FY 2023, such as the recent updates to the Medicare application page . We plan to introduce online capabilities and add enhancements to the online experience based on customer feedback and our analyses. The FY 2024 Budget provides for continued digitization of our services and forms that are most viewed or utilized by the public or otherwise important for public engagement, especially those that have non-digital, paper-based, or in-person services without a digital option.

Accomplishments

Major Initiatives

In FYs 2023 and 2024, we plan to:

Build a Customer-Focused Organization

Managing the Initial Disability Claims Backlog

Addressing the initial disability claims backlog is a critical part of improving customer service. The attrition rate for disability examiners, who make disability decisions in the State DDSs, increased to historic highs over the last two years, peaking at almost 25 percent in FY 2022. The FY 2024 Budget will allow us to expand our processing capacity and work towards providing timely disability decisions by supporting recruitment and retention in our State DDSs. As of January 2023, there were over 975,000 initial disability claims and about 240,000 reconsiderations pending with average wait times of about 209 days and 208 days respectively.

We have undertaken a hiring surge to address attrition among the State disability examiners. The Budget builds on the FY 2023 staffing efforts as it would support about 1,000 additional full-time equivalents compared to FY 2023. The Budget also supports maximum levels of overtime in our State DDSs to address the disability backlog.

We must reduce wait times for disability claims, as people should not wait more than half a year to receive initial disability decisions. We have made it a priority to improve the average processing times for initial claims and to work down older cases. Average processing times will temporarily increase in FY 2023 as we focus on claims from individuals who have waited the longest for a disability decision and train new staff. Our goal is to complete at least 85 percent of claims that began FY 2023 180 days or older. In FY 2024, we will begin reducing the average processing time for both initial disability claims and reconsiderations, as our new employees are brought on board and increase our capacity to work through pending claims.

In FY 2024, we plan to complete over 2.4 million initial disability claims—about 560,000 more than in FY 2022 and about 430,000 more than in FY 2023. We anticipate that the initial disability claims pending will grow in FY 2023; however, the Budget will allow us to continue hiring and expanding our processing capacity so that we can complete more cases than we receive, putting us on a path to eliminate the backlog. We plan to reduce the initial disability claims pending by nearly 170,000 in FY 2024 compared to FY 2023 (see Figure 9).

Figure 9: Initial Disability Claims Receipts and Completed, FYs 2014-2024

Major Initiatives

We are prioritizing improving recruitment and retention and increasing processing capacity, as people should not wait more than seven months for an initial disability decision, as projected in 2023.

While it will take time to see the results of our activities, we will make progress just as we have done with our hearings backlog. Increases in initial disability claims processing will generate additional claimant appeals, so it is imperative that we stay on track to eliminate the hearings backlog and prevent its reoccurrence.

Eliminating the Disability Hearings Backlog

In FY 2024, we expect increases in hearings receipts, as we complete additional initial disability claims and disability reconsiderations. We are prioritizing our actions to keep pace with completing incoming volumes while reducing the time individuals wait for a hearing. We anticipate eliminating the backlog and achieving a 270-day monthly average wait time by the end of FY 2024.

We are experiencing a temporary increase in the average processing time, because we are prioritizing individuals who have waited the longest and who chose to wait for an in-person hearing rather than accepting a video or telephone hearing when our hearing offices were closed to the public during the pandemic. We project that our monthly average processing time for hearings will be 390 days at the end of FY 2023. The $55 million in dedicated funding that we received from Congress in FY 2023 has put us on the path to eliminate the backlog by the end of FY 2024. At the end of FY 2022, we began the process to hire administrative law judges for the first time since FY 2018 to prepare for expected workload increases. In addition, we are hiring legal assistants to improve scheduling of hearings in support of our plan to eliminate the backlog.

Figure 10: Hearings Wait Times, FY 2014-FY 2024

Accomplishments

Major Initiatives

In FY 2023 and 2024, we plan to:

Improving National 800 Number Service

Our National 800 Number representatives offer a variety of services including:

Although more of our customers are using our online services, millions depend on our National 800 Number technicians to answer important questions and use our phone services as the primary method to contact us. The problems with our outdated phone systems have frustrated the public and our telephone agents due to increased busy signals, long waits, and dropped calls. Hiring challenges and high attrition have also impacted service. We are working to address these issues to reduce customer wait times, as it is critical that we provide a stable, reliable, and accessible phone number for people to reach us.

While developing our new National 800 Number system, we experienced unexpected delays. We are working with our contractor to implement phase one of our Next Generation Telephony Project, which will allow us to replace our outdated technology and offer enhanced features, including estimated wait times and increased call capacity.

In FY 2023, we estimate our speed of answer will be approximately 35 minutes compared to 33 minutes in FY 2022, while our busy rate will be 15 percent compared to 6 percent in FY 2022. While this average speed of answer is markedly higher than our APG of under 12 minutes, we are upgrading the systems necessary to reduce customer wait times. In addition to systems upgrades, we are hiring more teleservice representatives and implementing improved training to help us serve the public. With additional staff and successful implementation of our new telecommunication platform, we anticipate noticeable improvement in our performance. In FY 2024, we plan to reduce wait times to 20 minutes and reduce our busy rate to 3 percent (see Figure 11).

Accomplishments

Major Initiatives

Figure 11: National 800 Number Wait Times, FY 2014-FY 2024

Our field offices are critical to provide direct service individuals seeking in-person assistance. Our representatives provide a broad range of services, such as, they:

In FY 2023, we are hiring more customer service representatives to help us more timely serve the public. Our FY 2024 Budget supports our FY 2023 hiring and will help us reduce claims processing times and decrease our pending workloads, although waiting times for initial disability decisions will remain higher than in FY 2022.

We are employing new strategies to serve people visiting our offices as efficiently as possible. We encourage people to first go online for services or call us to schedule an appointment, which prevents them from waiting in long lines, reduces office wait times, and allows us to better serve anyone who requires in-person service.

The Budget invests in our frontline staff so that we provide timely help to people who need our assistance. The Budget also invests in IT modernization to provide convenient digital and automated services so that many of our customers do not need to visit a field office, as well as provide our employees user-friendly systems and tools to perform their work. We are improving CX in our field offices by providing options that will make visits to our field offices easier, such as an enhanced mobile check-in application, expanding enumeration self-scheduling, and exploring additional self-scheduling options.

Accomplishments

Major Initiatives

Addressing Processing Center Backlogs

Our PC technicians handle the most complex benefit payment decisions. In addition, they:

Our PC staff remain focused on addressing a backlog of pending actions that has reached about 4.2 million in FY 2022. The increase is due to a combination of challenges including an increase in receipts from FY 2021 to FY 2022, lower overtime in FY 2022 compared to previous years, and higher-than-normal attrition rates. Our FY 2024 Budget, along with hiring more technicians in FY 2023, will help us to work towards decreasing our PC technicians’ processing time for incoming actions, improving payment timeliness, and implementing automation to eliminate duplicate work. In FYs 2023 and 2024, we will target high priority workloads in our PCs with a focus on processing the oldest pending cases and triaging incoming workloads.

Accomplishments

Major Initiatives

Modernizing Our Information Technology

We continue to modernize our IT to meet the needs of more people. The President’s Budget funding will allow us to accelerate our business process and technology modernization to enable more seamless, intuitive, and secure service. Our investment in modern technology will allow us to assess and make changes in our workflow that will benefit our customers and employees, and provide service that is user-friendly, easily accessible, equitable, and effective for everyone.

FY 2022 was the final year of our 5-year IT Modernization Plan (2020 Update) . In FY 2023, we are shifting our strategy to digital modernization that will build on the successes delivered in our IT modernization efforts and guide our plan to use technology to improve service delivery.

We will implement new digital services that focus on enhancing CX and removing barriers to service to meet the needs and preferences of our customers, partners, and employees. Our modernization investments focus on delivering customer-centric digital capabilities with human-centered design, business intelligence, and mobile accessible platforms. Additionally, we are prioritizing self-service options to improve customer service.

Accomplishments

Major Initiatives

In FYs 2023 and 2024, we plan to:

STRATEGIC GOAL 2: BUILD AN INCLUSIVE, ENGAGED, AND EMPOWERED WORKFORCE

Our employees are the heart of the agency, and we must foster an environment that allows them to develop and succeed. Increasing demands on a declining number of staff has reduced morale, which we see in our Federal Employee Viewpoint and Pulse Survey results. While technology has helped us serve more beneficiaries than ever before, it cannot replace the staff necessary to complete our complex workloads. We are taking the steps to empower our workforce and ensure inclusion, fairness, accessibility, and equity. We plan to continue efforts to develop a comprehensive human capital strategy that focuses on addressing acute near-term recruitment and retention challenges, while also focusing on longer term activities that will strengthen our workforce over time.

Promote Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in Hiring and Advancement

A well-trained dedicated workforce that reflects the diversity of our customers is essential. Our goal is to improve policies and practices to maintain a representative workforce, including identifying and fostering talent, using multiple means to announce vacancies, supporting new members of the workforce, educating management about bias to ensure fair promotion processes, addressing any potential barriers in accessing job opportunities, addressing technological barriers for employees with disabilities, and remaining in compliance with the Architectural Barriers Act Accessibility Standards.

Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) is a proactive planning approach for our current and future workforce to ensure the effective acquisition, development, and retention of a talented and diverse workforce. In FY 2023, we will use the SWP framework and business process to inform the development and implementation of the FYs 2023–2026 Human Capital Operating Plan. We will also develop a comprehensive strategy to identify and reduce staffing and skill gaps within mission critical and leadership positions.

Development for human capital includes providing opportunities for current and future employees, including internship programs. In FY 2022, we improved our intern hiring and plan to onboard approximately 750 interns in FY 2023. Our FY 2024 Budget allows us to invest in efforts to reach communities that are underserved and underrepresented, and our intern program, supporting hiring opportunities and paid internships that provide meaningful work experiences to students.

Support Employees’ Chosen Career Paths

Our agency acknowledges our employees’ abilities and encourages them in their chosen career paths. Developing our employees begins with leadership, which is why we are committed to investing in ongoing training and development opportunities for managers. Giving managers foundational tools to perform their responsibilities positions them to train and manage the performance of their staff, enhance employee engagement, increase productivity, and improve retention. We must ensure resources are available for frontline supervisor training with a focus on employee communication, mentorship, and equity. In addition, we are providing opportunities for employees of all levels to participate in development programs that will broaden their skills and prepare them for the next step in their career paths.

Accomplishments

Major Initiatives

In FYs 2023 and 2024, we plan to:

STRATEGIC GOAL 3: ENSURE STEWARDSHIP OF SSA PROGRAMS

Improve the Accuracy and Administration of Our Programs

Eligible customers receiving the correct benefit amount is fundamental. We pursue opportunities to improve payment accuracy and prevent improper payments through enhanced technology, data analyses, and fraud prevention. Additionally, we must ensure that we can provide our customers with the services and resources they need; therefore, we will work with and assess our collaboration efforts with institutions and contractors to reduce barriers in government contracting and grant opportunities.

Supporting Our Cost-Effective Program Integrity Work

Our funding request helps ensure individuals receive the benefits to which they are entitled, and safeguards the integrity of benefit programs by confirming eligibility, improving payment accuracy for both overpayments and underpayments, and preventing fraud. PI funding allows us to conduct our legally required eligibility reviews such as CDRs and SSI redeterminations, supports our anti-fraud cooperative disability investigations (CDI) program, and provides special attorneys for fraud prosecutions.

Regaining currency in our medical CDR workload is important, nonetheless, our immediate priority is to serve the public who have claims pending with us and address the needs of individuals who had trouble reaching us during the pandemic. In FY 2024, we expect to complete 575,000 full medical CDRs, making further progress toward CDR currency, and 2.5 million SSI redeterminations.

The proposed $1.87 billion in discretionary funding is essential in providing the dedicated resources supporting the effective stewardship of program dollars. For additional details please see our PI exhibit in our corresponding technical materials, LAE section.

Enhancing Our Payment Accuracy Efforts

We are committed to reducing improper payments for each program. We conduct quality reviews to determine our payment accuracy rate and assess our business processes to determine factors contributing to improper payments. We have identified the root causes of some payment inaccuracies (e.g., self-reporting, untimely processing), and created strategies to mitigate overpayments and underpayments. We have developed the Improper Payments Alignment Strategies (IPAS) to address corrective actions. As part of our IPAS, we are evaluating the effectiveness of completed corrective actions and mitigation initiatives. For additional detail and a list of our initiatives, please see our Improper Payment exhibit in our corresponding technical materials, LAE section.

Enhancing Our Fraud Prevention and Detection Activities

In addition to our PI and payment accuracy efforts, we are pursuing initiatives to combat fraud. For example, our National Anti-Fraud Committee provides a forum for leaders to collaborate and provide guidance on fraud challenges and mitigation opportunities. We are developing our Enterprise Fraud Risk Management program and conducting Fraud Risk Assessments for our programs, while providing training to our employees to equip them with tools to effectively prevent, detect, and resolve fraud issues.

Accomplishments

Major Initiatives

Addressing the Climate Crisis

Our Sustainability Plan demonstrates our commitment to reducing energy use at our facilities; installing renewable energy technology, such as photovoltaic systems; using as much pollution-free electricity as possible; and reducing emissions from our vehicles and heating plants.

We are committed to transitioning our vehicle fleet to Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) and to reducing our carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions in our vehicle fleet. We are analyzing our vehicle utilization and eliminating under-utilized vehicles while simultaneously replacing older vehicles with ZEVs. We have started transitioning to the goal of 100 percent acquisition of ZEVs by 2035 including 100 percent light-duty acquisitions by 2027. Our ZEV target for LAE-funded vehicles for FY 2024 is 11 vehicles, followed by 18 vehicles in FY 2025.

Investing in Cybersecurity to Safeguard our Data

We are implementing the cybersecurity measures under EO 14028, Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity . Maintaining the public’s trust in our ability to protect sensitive data requires advanced cybersecurity controls, constant assessment of the threat landscape, and continual enhancements to our cybersecurity program. We must be vigilant and protect against network intrusions and improper data access by strengthening our defensive cyber capabilities, sharing cyber threat information with our Federal and industry partners, and making new investments to establish a Zero Trust Architecture. The FY 2024 Budget provides for $376 million in cybersecurity funding. For additional details, please see our IT exhibit in our corresponding technical materials, LAE section.

Accomplishments

Major Initiatives

In FYs 2023 and 2024, we plan to:

Identify and Eliminate Potential Barriers to Access Contracts and Grants

Bolster open competition in the acquisition and grants process

Our goal is to ensure equitable access to contracting and grant opportunities for underrepresented groups and research institutions serving people of color. To achieve our goal, we will devise best practices to encourage participation by Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and institutions serving students of color (ISSC), including direct communications with professional associations. We will meet with HBCUs and ISSCs to learn more about their experience with our grantmaking process, potential barriers the process presents, and suggestions for eliminating barriers. Additionally, we will develop best practices to secure contracts with qualified Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Zone, Woman-Owned, Veteran-Owned, and Small Disadvantaged Businesses. We will meet with bidders and recipients of our contracts for HUBZone, Woman-Owned, Veteran-Owned, and Small Disadvantaged Businesses to learn about their experiences with our procurement process, barriers they encountered, and recommended solutions to eliminate these barriers.

Accomplishments

Major Initiatives

In FYs 2023 and 2024, we plan to:

Improve Organizational Performance and Policy Implementation

Simplify Our Policies and Procedures

We are streamlining, simplifying, and advancing policy and procedures to meet the needs of our beneficiaries, make our programs more responsive, reduce burden on our customers, and ensure that our employees can easily and consistently apply our rules. We are updating our program policy and IT to ensure that our disability determinations reflect and keep pace with modern medicine and technological advancements in healthcare. We will make evidence-based decisions guided by available science and data, collect data where it is lacking, and improve our capacity to develop and implement evidence-based policies across our programs. For example, in FYs 2023 and 2024, we will continue working with the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics to collect updated information on the occupational requirements of work in the national economy, which, combined with other sources of occupational data, will enable us to develop an Occupational Information System.

SSI Simplification

We propose to revise our regulations and to simplify policies and business processes to make it easier for people, especially individuals facing barriers, to establish protective filings. These revisions include removal of the requirement to sign a written inquiry, so that third parties may assist potential claimants with submitting written statements. We are also updating our temporarily institutionalization benefits process by making it easier for recipients facing barriers, representative payees, and institutions to obtain the statement of need and the physician's certification all on one standardized document. Finally, we are working to simplify our policy around In-Kind Support and Maintenance (ISM). ISM is unearned income in the form of food and shelter and can affect the SSI benefit amount. We published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to discontinue food expenses as a source of ISM; and we are in development of two new Notices of Proposed Rulemaking related to how we consider a person’s living arrangements with respect to ISM. We are also using user-centered design to streamline the SSI application, which we will make available online.

Disability Determination Case Processing Enhancements

We are improving disability case processing through our enterprise-wide efforts to develop and implement modern, national claims processing systems that will seamlessly interact with each other from initial claim filing through a final appeal decision. In FY 2022, we fully deployed DCPS2 to all DDSs to provide increased efficiencies and improved customer service through business process modernizations. In FYs 2023 and 2024, we will support ongoing DCPS2 operations and develop and modernize new capabilities to reduce dependency on inefficient and outdated software applications.

We are bringing decision support tools using artificial intelligence technologies, machine learning, and predictive analytics to many aspects of the disability determination process to improve decisional accuracy and policy compliance.

Expand Strategic Partnerships with External Partners

Our programs are a gateway to accessing other benefit programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. By taking advantage of data exchanges with other Federal and State agencies, we will increase the accuracy of our records, improve CX, and increase organizational effectiveness. We will also leverage relationships with other Federal, State, and private partners to identify ineligible individuals who obtain Social Security and SSI payments.

We are updating our memorandum of understanding and reimbursable agreement with the Department of Agriculture. This agreement describes our role for informing every applicant for, or recipient of, Social Security benefits or SSI of the availability of SNAP benefits. We are also required to offer to take SNAP applications for SSI applicants or recipients who live in households consisting only of SSI applicants or recipients (i.e., pure SSI households), at SSI application and at redetermination for SSI eligibility.

We are working with CMS on increased collection and sharing of our existing race and ethnicity data. We already share our enumeration data, with plans to increase the voluntary collection of race and ethnicity data as outlined in our Equity Action Plan .

Accomplishments

Major Initiatives

In FYs 2023 and 2024, we plan to:

OTHER ADMINISTRATION INITIATIVES: LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE

Protects the Benefits that Americans Have Earned

The Administration is committed to protecting and strengthening Social Security and opposes any attempt to cut Social Security benefits. The Administration looks forward to working with the Congress to strengthen Social Security by ensuring high-income individuals pay their fair share. In addition, the Administration looks forward to improving the Supplemental Security Income program to help low-income older Americans and people with disabilities afford their basic needs.

Provides National, Comprehensive Paid Family and Medical Leave

The vast majority of America’s workers do not have access to paid family leave, including three out of four private sector workers. Among the lowest-paid workers, who are predominantly women and workers of color, 92 percent have no access to paid family leave through their employers. As many as one in five retirees leave the workforce earlier than planned to care for an ill family member, which negatively impacts families as well as the Nation’s labor supply and productivity. The Budget proposes to establish a national, comprehensive paid family and medical leave program administered by SSA. The program would: provide workers with progressive, partial wage replacement to take time off for family and medical reasons; include robust administrative funding; and use an inclusive family definition. The Budget would provide up to 12 weeks of leave to allow eligible workers to take time off to: care for and bond with a new child; care for a seriously ill loved one; heal from their own serious illness; address circumstances arising from a loved one's military deployment; or find safety from domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. The Budget would also provide up to three days to grieve the death of a loved one. The Administration looks forward to continuing to work with the Congress to make this critical investment and strengthen America’s economy.

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

FY 2024 PRESIDENT'S BUDGET

Key Tables

Table i.1 - Summary Table of SSA’s Appropriation Request

Table i.2 – SSA Full Time Equivalents and Workyears

Table i.3 – SSA Outlays by Program (in millions) 1

Table i.4 – Current Law- OASDI Outlays and Income (in millions)

Table i.5 – Current Law- OASDI Beneficiaries and Average Benefit Payments (in thousands)

Table i.6 – Current Law- Supplemental Security Income Outlays (in millions) 4

Table i.7 – SSI Recipients and Benefit Payments 1

(Recipients in thousands)

Table i.8 – Special Benefits for Certain WWII Veterans Overview 2

(Outlays in millions)

Table i.9 – Administrative Outlays as a Percent of

Trust Fund Income and Benefit Payments - FY 2024 (in millions) 1

Table i.10 – Tax Rates, Wage Base and Economic Assumptions

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CONTENTS

TABLES

APPROPRIATION LANGUAGE

For payment to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, as provided under sections 201(m) and 1131(b)(2) of the Social Security Act, [$11,000,000] $10,000,000. (Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2023.) 1

GENERAL STATEMENT

The Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds (PTF) account provides Federal fund payments to the Social Security trust funds for several distinct activities. The purpose of each requested payment is to put the trust funds in the same financial position they would have been in had they not borne the cost of certain benefits or administrative expenses chargeable to general revenues. This account includes payments requiring an annual appropriation and payments made to the trust funds under permanent indefinite authority.

ANNUAL APPROPRIATION

The annual PTF appropriation provides reimbursement to the Social Security trust funds for non-trust fund activities. These activities include pension reform and interest on unnegotiated checks. Listed below is the estimated annual appropriation and resulting obligations for

FY 2024.

Table 1.1—Annual Appropriation and Obligations

(In thousands)

PERMANENT INDEFINITE AUTHORITY

Amounts not subject to the annual appropriation include: (1) receipts from Federal income taxation of Social Security benefits; (2) Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) and Self-Employment Contribution Act (SECA) tax credits; (3) reimbursement for Federal employee union administrative expenses; and (4) reimbursement for the loss in FICA tax revenue resulting from the payroll tax holiday provided by the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 and extended by the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011. The permanent appropriation provides that the trust funds be credited for each of these revenue items.

Taxation of Social Security Benefits

The Social Security Amendments of 1983 provide for taxation of up to one-half of Social Security benefits in excess of certain income thresholds. The Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1993, P.L. 103-66, amended this provision so that up to 85 percent of benefits could be subject to taxation. The additional amounts collected from this 1993 provision are paid to the Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund; no additional income is due to the Social Security trust funds resulting from the enactment of the 1993 law.

Section 733 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, P.L. 103-465, also increased the taxable portion of nonresident aliens’ Social Security benefits from 50 percent to 85 percent. The Offices of the General Counsel at SSA and at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services, agreed that the additional income resulting from the law should go to the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) trust funds as opposed to the HI Trust Fund.

The taxes are collected as Federal income taxes; subsequently, an equivalent payment to the Social Security trust funds is made from the general funds of the Treasury. Transfers of estimated aggregate tax liabilities arising from Social Security benefits of U.S. citizens are made quarterly and then adjusted as actual receipts are known. The estimated income from these taxes is $51,136 million in FY 2023 and $57,053 million in FY 2024 from U.S. citizens; the taxes imposed on aliens are withheld from benefit payments and will generate estimated income of $289 million in FY 2023 and $314 million in FY 2024. The estimates for taxation of benefits reflect corresponding growth related to benefit levels and the beneficiary population.

FICA and SECA Tax Credits

The Social Security Amendments of 1983 also provided for the granting of FICA and SECA tax credits to individuals. The tax credits are granted at the time the individual is taxed and are funded by the general funds of the Treasury through reimbursement to the trust funds. The FICA tax credit applies only to wages earned in calendar year 1984. The SECA tax credit applies from calendar year 1984 through calendar year 1989. There are small periodic adjustments made due to tax credits being applied retroactively.

Reimbursement for Employee Union Expenses

In addition to taxation of benefits and tax credits, the PTF account includes reimbursement to the trust funds from general funds, including interest, for certain administrative expenses incurred in support of Federal employee union activities. In FYs 2023 and 2024, $10 million will be funded initially by SSA’s Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) appropriation.

Reimbursement for Payroll Tax Holiday

P.L. 111-312, the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, reduced employees’ payroll contributions from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent for calendar year 2011. P.L. 112-78, the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011, amended P.L. 111-312 to extend the reduced payroll contributions through February 29, 2012. On February 22, 2012, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012

(P.L. 112-96) extended the reduced rate through December 31, 2012. The general funds reimburse the trust funds for this loss in tax revenue. While the law has expired, we expect that small periodic adjustments for prior years will continue to occur in future years.

BUDGETARY RESOURCES

The FY 2024 annual appropriation request for PTF is $10,000,000. We expect to make $57,387,000,000 in payments to the trust funds in FY 2024, including amounts appropriated under permanent indefinite authority.

Table 1.2—Amounts Available for Obligation 1

(In thousands)

The “Start-of-Year” and “End-of-Year” unobligated balances represent funds appropriated for the Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefits Act (CIRHBA) in FYs 1996 and 1997 and made available until expended. The lapsed unobligated balance represents the amount of the annual appropriation not obligated in the current year.

ANALYSIS OF CHANGES

The FY 2024 annual appropriation request is $1 million less than the FY 2023 level. We reduced the request to better reflect the Pension Reform trend in obligations. See the addition on page 22 below. The obligations reported below include CIRHBA activity, funded from unobligated balances carried forward from prior years. These funds, provided in FYs 1996 and 1997, remain available until expended.

Table 1.3—Summary of Changes

(In thousands)

BUDGET AUTHORITY AND OBLIGATIONS BY ACTIVITY

The table below displays the budget authority and obligations for each of the PTF activities funded by the annual appropriation. Prior year unobligated balances fund CIRHBA obligations.

Table 1.4—New Budget Authority & Obligations, Annual Authority 1

(In thousands)

The table below displays budget authority and obligations for the PTF activities not subject to the annual appropriation. This includes taxation of benefits, FICA and SECA tax credits, reimbursement for certain union administrative expenses, and reimbursement for the employee payroll tax holiday. The actual amount appropriated for these activities is determined by the actual amount collected from, or to be reimbursed for, each activity.

Table 1.5—Budget Authority and Obligations, Permanent Indefinite Authority

(In thousands)

OBLIGATIONS BY OBJECT CLASS

The table below displays the obligations by object class for the total PTF account (annually and permanently appropriated funds). Other services include pension reform, unnegotiated checks, coal industry retiree health benefits, reimbursement for union administrative expenses, and FICA and SECA tax credits. Financial transfers are the combination of U.S. taxation on benefits and nonresident alien taxation on benefits.

Table 1.6—Obligations by Object

(In thousands)

BACKGROUND

AUTHORIZING LEGISLATION

The Social Security Act sections described below authorize the PTF account.

Table 1.7—Authorizing Legislation

(In thousands)

APPROPRIATION HISTORY

The table below displays our annual appropriation request, amounts approved by the House and Senate, and the amount Congress ultimately appropriated. This does not include amounts appropriated under permanent authority.

Table 1.8—Appropriation History Table

PENSION REFORM

Authorizing Legislation: Section 1131(b)(2) of the Social Security Act.

PURPOSE AND METHOD OF OPERATION

The purpose of this payment is to reimburse the OASI Trust Fund for the cost of certain pension reform activities chargeable to Federal funds.

Table 1.9—Pension Reform: Budget Authority

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, P.L. 93-406 (Pension Reform Act, also known as ERISA) established section 1131 of the Social Security Act. This requires the Commissioner of Social Security to furnish information regarding deferred vested pension rights to pension plan participants (and their dependents or survivors), either upon request or automatically upon application for retirement, survivors, or disability insurance benefits.

Each time an employee leaves employment that earned him or her vested rights to a pension, we receive related information from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in either paper or electronic format. We control, scan (using optical character recognition), and, if necessary, key the paper forms and transfer the data to the ERISA mainframe system. We add these data, along with electronic data received from the IRS to the ERISA Master Files after the name is verified against the NUMIDENT (SSN record) database. Each month, we compare an activity file of new benefit applications to the ERISA Master Files. We send an ERISA notice of pension plan eligibility to individuals included in both the activity file and the ERISA Master Files. This notice includes the information the worker needs to contact the pension plan administrator. We also resolve exceptions and respond to inquiries from employers and the public.

Section 1131(b)(1) permits the administrative expenses of carrying out this pension reform work to be funded initially from the OASI Trust Fund through our LAE account. Section 1131(b)(2) authorizes an annual appropriation of Federal funds to reimburse the OASI Trust Fund. To the extent that resources needed to process this workload exceed the budget authority available for reimbursement in the current year, we make reimbursement to the OASI Trust Fund at the beginning of the subsequent year, including interest as appropriate. We began to incur pension reform administrative expenses in FY 1977.

Table 1.10—Pension Reform: Obligations

RATIONALE FOR BUDGET REQUEST

The FY 2024 budget requests $5,000,000 to reimburse the OASI Trust Fund for the cost of carrying out our responsibilities under the Pension Reform Act. The FY 2024 request is $1,000,000 lower than the FY 2023 level. We reduced the request to better reflect the trend in obligations. The table below summarizes the recent trend of pension coverage report receipts:

Table 1.11—Receipts from Pension Coverage Reports

UNNEGOTIATED CHECKS

Authorizing Legislation: Section 201(m) of the Social Security Act and Section 152 of

P.L. 98-21.

PURPOSE AND METHOD OF OPERATION

The purpose of this payment is to reimburse the OASI and DI Trust Funds for the value of interest on benefit checks cashed after 6 months or subsequently canceled.

Table 1.12—Unnegotiated Checks: Budget Authority

This activity was originally established to reimburse the trust funds for uncashed benefit checks and accrued interest. Beginning October 1, 1989, Social Security checks, like those issued by other Federal agencies, are negotiable for only 12 months from their date of issue under the provisions of the Competitive Equality Banking Act (CEBA) of 1987 (P.L. 100-86). In the 14th month after issue, the Department of the Treasury prepares a listing of checks outstanding from each agency, cancels those checks, and refunds the value of checks canceled to the authorizing agencies. Under this "Limited Payability" procedure, the value of unnegotiated checks issued on or after October 1, 1989, are credited directly to the trust funds from Treasury's general fund when the checks are canceled, pursuant to P.L. 100-86. These funds do not pass through the PTF account. However, the interest adjustment must be paid through this account because CEBA made no provision for it.

This appropriation funds the estimated ongoing level of activity and represents the value of interest for unnegotiated OASDI benefit checks.

Table 1.13—Unnegotiated Checks: Obligations

The actual interest reflects the ongoing shift of benefit payments from paper checks to direct deposit. On December 21, 2010, the Department of the Treasury published a final rule amending 31 Code of Federal Regulations Part 208 to require recipients of Federal benefits and nontax payments to receive their payments by electronic funds transfer. People who apply for Social Security benefits on or after May 1, 2011, receive their payments electronically. Many people who previously received Federal benefit checks before May 1, 2011 have switched to electronic payments. As a result, the final rule has decreased the volume of unnegotiated benefit checks, and we expect this trend to continue. Benefits paid via direct deposit bypass the mechanism in which there is the possibility of an uncashed check. However, the effect of the growth in direct deposit participation on unnegotiated check interest is somewhat offset by increases in the number of beneficiaries and in the average monthly benefit payments. The following table summarizes the recent trend in the percentage of OASDI beneficiaries enrolled in the direct deposit payment program.

Table 1.14—Direct Deposit Participation Rate

RATIONALE FOR BUDGET REQUEST

The FY 2024 request is for $5,000,000 to reimburse the OASDI trust funds for the value of interest on unnegotiated checks. The FY 2024 request is equal to the FY 2023 level.

Table 1.15—Unnegotiated Checks: Budget Authority by Trust Fund

COAL INDUSTRY RETIREE HEALTH BENEFITS

Authorizing Legislation: Sections 9704 and 9706 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as amended by section 19141 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992.

PURPOSE AND METHOD OF OPERATION

The purpose of this payment is to reimburse the OASDI Trust Funds for work carried out under section 19141 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-486), which established the CIRHBA of 1992.

Table 1.16—Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefits: Obligations

CIRHBA combined two existing United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) pension plans into a single fund and required that certain existing coalmine operators pay health benefit premiums for the new combined plan. The law directed the Commissioner of Social Security to:

PROGRESS TO DATE

We completed reviews on all of the retired miners covered under the provisions of the 1992 CIRHBA. We devoted considerable time and resources to implement and comply with the Coal Act provisions of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-432). All court cases challenging SSA’s involvement in the Coal Act are now closed. We have also completed our obligation to provide yearly data on miner assignments to the UMWA Combined Benefit Fund. Our Office of the Chief Actuary continues to compute the beneficiary premiums on a yearly basis.

This account provides general fund reimbursement to the trust funds to the extent that the LAE account advances funds for SSA to carry out this work. We do not request additional funds for FY 2024 because the balance of the $10,000,000 per year appropriated in FY 1996 and in FY 1997 remains available until expended to reimburse the trust funds.

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Purpose and Method of Operation ................................................................................................ 55

Rationale for Budget Request ....................................................................................................... 56

Additional Information on VR Cost Reimbursement and Ticket to Work Programs ................... 57

RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION ................................................................................. 59

Purpose and Method of Operation ................................................................................................ 59

Rationale for Budget Request ....................................................................................................... 61

Related Funding Sources .............................................................................................................. 77

Administration of Our Research Activities ................................................................................... 79

Research Investment Criteria ........................................................................................................ 80

TABLES

Table 2.20—SSI VR Reimbursement and Ticket to Work Payments .......................................... 57

Table 2.21—Research and Demonstration Projects: Budget Authority and Obligations by Funding Authority ................................................................................................ . 59

Table 2.22—Research and Demonstration Projects: Obligations by Funding Source ................ 60

Table 2.23—Major Research Areas ................................................................ .............................. 62

Table 2.24—Research Projects Obligations as of FY 2022 ......................................................... 78

APPROPRIATION LANGUAGE

For carrying out titles XI and XVI of the Social Security Act, section 401 of Public Law 92-603, section 212 of Public Law 93-66, as amended, and section 405 of Public Law 95-216, including payment to the Social Security trust funds for administrative expenses incurred pursuant to section 201(g)(1) of the Social Security Act, [$48,609,338,000] $45,717,853,000, to remain available until expended: Provided, That any portion of the funds provided to a State in the current fiscal year and not obligated by the State during that year shall be returned to the Treasury: Provided further, That not more than [$86,000,000] $91,000,000 shall be available for research and demonstrations under sections 1110, 1115, and 1144 of the Social Security Act, and remain available through September 30, [2025] 2026.

For making, after June 15 of the current fiscal year, benefit payments to individuals under title XVI of the Social Security Act, for unanticipated costs incurred for the current fiscal year, such sums as may be necessary.

For making benefit payments under title XVI of the Social Security Act for the first quarter of fiscal year [2024] 2025, [$15,800,000,000] $21,700,000,000, to remain available until expended. (Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2023.)

LANGUAGE ANALYSIS

The appropriation language provides us with the funds needed to carry out our responsibilities under the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. This includes the funds needed to pay Federal benefits, administer the program, and provide beneficiary services to recipients. The budget authority for these activities is made available until expended, providing us the authority to carry over unobligated balances for use in future fiscal years. Furthermore, the language includes three year authority for research and demonstration projects, providing us the authority to carry over unobligated balances into the next two fiscal years.

In addition, the language includes indefinite authority beginning June 15, in the event Federal benefit payment obligations in FY 2024 are higher than expected, and we do not have sufficient unobligated balances to cover the difference. Consistent with previous years, the appropriation also includes an advance appropriation for Federal benefit payments in the first quarter of FY 2025 to ensure the timely payment of benefits in case of a delay in the FY 2025 appropriations bill.

Table 2.1—Appropriation Language Analysis

GENERAL STATEMENT

The SSI program guarantees a minimum level of income to financially needy individuals who are aged, blind, or disabled. Title XVI of the Social Security Act authorized the program, and payments began January 1974. It is Federally-administered and funded from general revenues.

Prior to the establishment of the SSI program, the Social Security Act provided means-tested assistance through three separate programs—Old-Age Assistance, Aid to the Blind, and Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled. Federal law only established broad guidelines, with each State largely responsible for setting its own eligibility and payment standards. The SSI program was established to provide uniform standards across States.

Table 2.2—Summary of Appropriations and Obligations 1

(in thousands)

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Eligibility Standards

As a means-tested program, individuals must have income and resources below specified levels to be eligible for benefits. Program rules allow some specific categories of income and resources to be either totally or partially excluded. 2 The process of evaluating eligibility and payment levels for the SSI program and addressing the accuracy of payments is inherently complex due to the program rules.

An individual’s benefit payment is reduced dollar for dollar by the amount of his or her “countable income”—income less all applicable exclusions—in a given month. Income in the SSI program includes “earned income,” such as wages and net earnings from self-employment and “unearned income,” such as Social Security benefits, unemployment compensation, deemed income from a spouse or parent, and the value of in-kind support and maintenance, such as food and shelter. Different exclusion rules apply for different types of income.

Benefit Payments

We estimate we will pay $57.6 billion in Federal benefits to over 7.3 million SSI recipients in FY 2024. Including State supplementary payments, we expect to pay a total of $60.9 billion and administer payments to nearly 7.5 million recipients.

Federal benefit payments represent approximately 92 percent of Federal SSI spending. Administrative expenses represent about 8 percent of spending; beneficiary services and research and demonstration projects make up the remaining less than half a percent.

Incentives for Work and Opportunities for Vocational Rehabilitation

The SSI program is designed to help recipients with disabilities achieve independence by encouraging and supporting their attempts to work. The program includes a number of work incentive provisions that enable recipients who are blind or disabled to work and retain benefits. The program also includes provisions to help disabled beneficiaries obtain vocational rehabilitation and employment support services. These provisions were revised by legislation establishing the Ticket to Work program, which is discussed in more detail in the Beneficiary Services section.

State Supplementation

Supplementation is mandatory for certain recipients who were on State rolls just prior to the creation of the Federal program on January 1, 1974. Otherwise, States are encouraged to supplement the Federal benefit and may elect to have us administer their State supplementation program. States that choose to have us administer their program reimburse us in advance and we make the payment on behalf of the State. Participating States also reimburse us for the cost of administering their program, based on a user fee schedule established by the Social Security Act. The user fee is $14.35 per SSI check payment in FY 2023 and is expected to increase to $14.86 in FY 2024. The Department of the Treasury receives the first $5.00 of each fee and we retain, as part of our LAE budget, the amount over $5.00. Additional information regarding State supplementation can be found within the LAE section.

Coordination with Other Programs

We play an important role in helping States administer Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Provisions in the SSI statute ensure that payments made by States or under the Social Security program are not duplicated by SSI benefits.

Generally, SSI recipients are categorically eligible for Medicaid. States may either use SSI eligibility criteria for determining Medicaid eligibility or use their own, provided the criteria are no more restrictive than the State’s January 1972 medical assistance standards.

SSI recipients may also qualify for SNAP. Pursuant to section 11 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (P.L. 88-525, as amended through P.L. 116-260), we work with SSI applicants and recipients in a variety of ways to help them file for SNAP, including informing them of their potential benefits, making applications available to them, and in some cases helping them complete their applications in our field offices. We also share applicant data with a number of States in support of SNAP.

Key Initiatives

We continue to pursue efforts to ensure the proper management and stewardship of the SSI program. This includes a focus on reducing the major factors affecting payment accuracy, processing continuing disability reviews (CDR) and non-disability redeterminations, combatting fraud, improving our debt collection tools, and using our data matching systems to detect changes in circumstances that could affect SSI eligibility. Further information on these programs can be found in our Improper Payments exhibit and the Program Integrity exhibit of the LAE section. Additional detail is also included in our Annual Performance Report (APR) and Agency Financial Report (AFR). 1

Outreach to People Facing Barriers

During the pandemic, we experienced a reduction in applications for benefits, particularly SSI and disability benefits. While our field offices are again open to walk-in traffic, we remain concerned that there may be many underserved individuals have greater difficulties accessing our services. We continue our work to expand access to the program through initiatives such as streamlining and digitizing the SSI application, enlisting the assistance of third parties who work with people facing barriers, promoting our programs through paid social media, television, and radio advertising, and sending out targeted mailers to groups most likely to be eligible for SSI. Further information on our efforts to reach underserved communities can be found in the Research and Demonstration section below and in our Outreach Efforts to People Facing Barriers exhibit in the LAE section of this Congressional Justification. These efforts also contribute to our strategic goal to improve equity in SSI through increased outreach and improved benefit delivery, including to communities of color and underserved communities (For additional information on our Agency Priority Goals, please refer to page 149).

FY 2024 PRESIDENT’S BUDGET REQUEST

The SSI appropriation includes funds for Federal benefit payments, administrative expenses, beneficiary services, and research and demonstration projects. In total, the FY 2024 President’s Budget request is $61,517,853,000. However, this includes $15,800,000,000 appropriated for the first quarter of FY 2024 in the FY 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The appropriation language provides us with our remaining appropriation for FY 2024, $45,717,853,000—the total amount requested for FY 2024 less the advance.

Similarly, in addition to the amount above, the request includes an advance appropriation of $21,700,000,000 for Federal benefit payments in the first quarter of FY 2025. This advance is to ensure recipients continue to receive their benefits at the beginning of the subsequent fiscal year in case there is a delay in passing that year’s appropriation.

Table 2.3—Appropriation Detail 1 , 2

(in thousands)

BUDGETARY RESOURCES

The SSI annual appropriation consists of a regular appropriation made available by the current year’s appropriation bill and an advance made available by the prior year’s appropriation. This advance is for Federal benefit payments in the first quarter of the subsequent fiscal year to ensure recipients continue to receive their benefits in case there is a delay in passing that year’s appropriation bill. The FY 2024 President’s Budget is $61,517,853,000, including $15,800,000,000 appropriated in the FY 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act.

Table 2.4—Amounts Available for Obligation 1 , 2

(in thousands)

The SSI annual appropriation was $65.5 billion in FY 2022. The enacted FY 2023 appropriation is $64.2 billion. We have the authority to carry over unobligated balances for use in future fiscal years for Federal benefit payments and administrative expenses, and beneficiary services because the amounts appropriated are made available until expended. We carried over approximately $4.6 billion in Federal unobligated balances into FY 2023. We expect to carry over approximately $3.6 billion into FY 2024.

In addition to these appropriated amounts, we have spending authority in the amount of the advance reimbursement we receive from States to pay their State supplementary benefits. Because States reimburse us in advance, we carry over the amount received for the October 1 payment, reimbursed at the end of September in the prior fiscal year, for use in the subsequent fiscal year.

ANALYSIS OF CHANGES

The FY 2024 request represents a decrease of approximately $2.7 billion from the FY 2023 level, which is primarily due to having 11 payments instead of 12 in FY 2024. We plan to use unobligated balances to partially fund Federal benefits, beneficiary services, research and demonstration projects, and administrative expenses in FY 2023 and FY 2024. Also, we plan to use nearly $1 billion in unobligated balances and recoveries in FY 2023 and approximately $1.4 billion in FY 2024.

Federal Benefit Payments

The FY 2024 request for Federal Benefit payments is approximately $2.9 billion less than the FY 2023 level. We decreased the FY 2024 request for Federal Benefit payments mainly due to one fewer benefit payment in FY 2024, as well as utilizing the anticipated carryover funding from FY 2023. The decrease is partially offset by the January 2024 COLA and bolstered by the impact of Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) COLAs on concurrent SSI/OASDI recipients. Since OASDI benefits are counted as income in the SSI program, the annual OASDI COLA decreases the SSI benefit payment for concurrent recipients.

We estimate the first quarter advance for FY 2025 will be $5.9 billion more than the first quarter advance for FY 2024. Monthly SSI benefit payments are made on the first of the month, unless the first falls on a weekend or Federal holiday. In that case, the payment is made on the prior business day at the end of the previous month. When October 1 falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the payment is made in the prior fiscal year at the end of September. This timing of payments results in 11, 12, or 13 payments in a given fiscal year, and three or four in a given quarter. The first quarter in FY 2024 will have three benefit payments, while the first quarter in FY 2025 will have four benefit payments.

Administrative Expenses

The FY 2024 request for administrative expenses is $193 million more than the FY 2023 level, and includes approximately $1.2 billion in allocation adjustment funding for program integrity work in the SSI program. We expect to use $70 million in carryover funds in FY 2023 and $55 million in carryover funds in FY 2024 to cover estimated obligations. For details about program integrity funding and activities, please refer to the Program Integrity exhibit in the LAE section.

Beneficiary Services

We are requesting $137 million in new authority for FY 2024. This is $13 million more than our FY 2023 appropriation. Our estimate reflects a steady level of vocational rehabilitation reimbursement awards, and Ticket payments to Employment Networks under the Ticket to Work program. The FY 2024 request funds an estimated 5 percent increase in obligations above the FY 2023 level. We expect to use $43 million in carryover funds in FY 2023 and $38 million in carryover funds in FY 2024 to cover our estimated obligations.

Research and Demonstrations

The FY 2024 request for research and demonstration projects is $5 million more than the FY 2023 level. We expect to use carryover funds in FY 2023 and FY 2024 in addition to our requested appropriation to cover our estimated obligations. For more information, please see the Research and Demonstration exhibit.

Table 2.5—Summary of Changes 1 , 2

(in thousands)

Table 2.6—Explanation of SSI Budget Changes from FY 2023 to FY 2024

(in thousands)

NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY AND OBLIGATIONS BY ACTIVITY

The table below displays budget authority and obligations for the five main SSI activities – Federal benefit payments, administrative expenses, program integrity, beneficiary services, and research and demonstration.

Table 2.7—New Budget Authority and Obligations by Activity 1 , 2 (in thousands)

NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY AND OBLIGATIONS BY OBJECT

In the table below, “Other Services” includes administrative expenses, program integrity, and beneficiary services.

Table 2.8—New Budget Authority and Obligations by Object 1 , 2 (in thousands)

BACKGROUND

AUTHORIZING LEGISLATION

The SSI program is authorized by Title XVI of the Social Security Act. Section 1601 of the Act authorizes such sums as are sufficient to carry out the Title.

Table 2.9—Authorizing Legislation

APPROPRIATION HISTORY

The table below displays the President’s Budget request, amounts passed by the House and Senate, and the actual amount appropriated, for the period FY 2014 to FY 2023. Indefinite budget authority is requested when actual Federal benefit payments exceed the amounts available for Federal benefit payments in a given fiscal year.

Table 2.10—Appropriation History 1

FEDERAL BENEFIT PAYMENTS

Authorizing Legislation: Section 1602, 1611, and 1617 of the Social Security Act.

PURPOSE AND METHOD OF OPERATION

The SSI program was established to pay low-income aged, blind, and disabled individuals a minimum level of income through Federally-administered monthly cash payments. In many cases, these payments supplement income from other sources, including Social Security benefits and State programs. In FY 2024, we estimate benefit payments will total approximately $57.6 billion for approximately 7.3 million Federal SSI recipients.

Table 2.11—Federal Benefit Payments: New Budget Authority and Obligations 1 (in thousands)

RATIONALE FOR BUDGET REQUEST

In FY 2024, we are requesting $56.3 billion in new budget authority for Federal benefit payments, and $21.7 billion in an advance appropriation for the first quarter of FY 2025. We estimate benefit payments based on a number of interrelated factors including the number of SSI recipients, number of applications, award and termination rates, cost-of-living adjustments, maximum benefit rates, average payment amounts, and number of payments per fiscal year.

SSI RECIPIENT POPULATION

The number of Federal SSI recipients has decreased from 8 million in FY 2019 to an estimated 7.4 million in FY 2023, and is expected to decrease to 7.3 million in FY 2024. The estimated decrease in Federal recipients in FY 2024 represents a 1.1 percent decrease compared to the FY 2023 level. We estimate the number of SSI recipients by analyzing a number of factors including applications, as well as award and termination rates. Please refer to the Advancing Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility exhibit in the LAE section for additional information on how we are investigating this trend.

Table 2.12—SSI Recipients, Actual 1 (average over fiscal year, in thousands)

In addition to Federal SSI recipients, we currently administer State supplementary payments for 20 States and the District of Columbia. We administer payments for approximately 1.4 million State supplement recipients, of which 137,000 do not receive a Federal SSI benefit and only receive the State supplementary payment.

Table 2.13—SSI Recipients, Projected 1 (average over fiscal year, in thousands)

SSI Disabled vs. Aged Recipient Population

The number of Federal blind or disabled SSI recipients as a percentage of all Federal SSI recipients remained steady at about 86 percent from FY 2019 to FY 2022, and is projected to decrease to about 85 percent in FY 2023 and FY 2024.

Table 2.14—Blind or Disabled Recipients as a Percentage of Total 1 (average over fiscal year, in thousands)

Concurrent SSI/OASDI Recipients

SSI recipients also receiving Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) or DI benefits have their SSI benefit reduced, less applicable exclusions, by the amount of their OASDI benefit. Approximately 33 percent of all SSI recipients (including those only receiving a State supplement) also receive Social Security benefits. Approximately 57 percent of the SSI aged and 29 percent of the SSI blind and disabled populations receive concurrent payments.

BENEFIT PAYMENTS

Maximum Monthly Federal Payments

The maximum monthly Federal benefit rate (FBR) is increased each January when there are increases in the cost-of-living. There was an 8.7 percent cost of living increase in calendar year (CY) 2023. An increase of 3.6 percent is projected for January 2024. The FBR increased from $841 for an individual and $1,261 for a couple for CY 2022 to $914 for an individual and $1,371 for a couple in CY 2023. We estimate the FBR will increase to $947 for an individual and $1,420 for a couple in CY 2024. The COLA will be effective in January 2024, raising the maximum benefit rate to higher levels than the first 3 months of the fiscal year.

Table 2.15—Maximum Benefit Rates

Average Monthly Benefit Payments

The amount actually paid to a recipient can vary from the FBR based on their income received (e.g., earnings and Social Security benefits) and the living arrangement of the recipient (e.g., residence in one’s own home, the household of another person, or in a nursing home which meets Medicaid standards). The average monthly benefit is expected to increase from $618 in FY 2022 to $666 in FY 2023 and $698 in FY 2024. The increase in the average benefit payment is driven by COLAs and recipient population characteristics.

Table 2.16—Average Monthly Benefit Payments

Cost of Living Adjustments

When applicable, COLAs increase both the maximum and average monthly benefit payment. However, for concurrent SSI/OASDI recipients, increases in SSI benefit payments are partially offset by increases in Social Security benefits resulting from the same COLA. Social Security benefits are counted as income in the SSI program. Therefore, any increase in Social Security benefits resulting from the annual COLA increases countable income in the SSI benefit computation.

Program Integrity Funding

Annual benefit payment estimates factor in results from our legally-required SSI CDRs and redeterminations. Specifically, in FY 2024, we estimate we will conduct approximately 345,000 SSI CDRs and 2,540,000 non-medical redeterminations using dedicated program integrity funds. For details about program integrity funding and activities, please refer to page 144.

Timing of Monthly Benefit Payments

Monthly SSI benefit payments are made on the first of the month, unless the first falls on a weekend or Federal holiday. In that case, the payment is made on the prior business day at the end of the previous month. When October 1 falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the payment is made in the prior fiscal year at the end of September. This timing of payments results in 11, 12, or 13 payments in a given fiscal year.

Table 2.17—Check Payments by Fiscal Year

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES

Authorizing Legislation: Sections 201(g)(1) of the Social Security Act.

PURPOSE AND METHOD OF OPERATION

Administrative expenses for the SSI program are funded from general revenues. Section 201(g)(1) of the Social Security Act provides that administrative expenses for the SSI program, including Federal administration of State supplementary payments, may be financed from the Social Security trust funds with reimbursement, including any interest lost, to the trust funds from general revenues.

This appropriation funds the SSI program share of administrative expenses incurred through the LAE account. Amounts appropriated are available for current year SSI administrative expenses, as well as for prior year administrative expenses that exceeded the amount available through this account for the prior year. If those excess prior year amounts were paid out of the Social Security trust funds, then current year SSI funds must be used to reimburse these trust funds with interest.

The legislative history of the 1972 amendments (which established this funding mechanism) indicates a desire to obtain economy of administration by giving us the responsibility for the SSI program because of its existing field office network and its administrative and automated data processing facilities. Because of the integration of the administration of the SSI and Social Security programs, it was desirable to fund them from a single source (the LAE account). This process requires that the trust funds and the SSI account pay their appropriate shares to the LAE account, which in turn manages the administrative expenses on behalf of the paying accounts. The determination is based on a Government Accountability Office-approved method of cost analysis of the respective expenses of the SSI and Social Security insurance programs, and statute mandates a final settlement by the end of the subsequent fiscal year.

Table 2.18—Administrative Expenses: New Budget Authority and Obligations (in thousands)

RATIONALE FOR BUDGET REQUEST

Our administrative budget is driven by the programs we administer – both in terms of the amount of work performed and the number of people needed to process it – and by our continuing efforts to improve service, stewardship, and efficiency.

The FY 2024 request for SSI administrative expenses is $5 billion. This appropriation is used to reimburse the trust funds for the SSI program’s share of administrative expenses. This amount includes $1.5 billion specifically for FY 2024 SSI program integrity activities.

These amounts exclude funding made available in the LAE account from State user fees for our expenses for administering SSI State supplementary payments. The LAE account assumes funding of up to $150 million in FY 2024 to administer SSI state supplementary payments.

SUPPLEMENTAL KEY INITIATIVE

Extend Supplemental Security Income to the U.S. Territories: As noted in the Budget, the Administration looks forward to improving the Supplemental Security Income program to help low-income older Americans and people with disabilities afford their basic needs. This includes working with Congress to extend SSI eligibility to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Territories, providing parity with the rest of the United States.

BENEFICIARY SERVICES

Authorizing Legislation: Sections 1148 and 1615(d) of the Social Security Act

PURPOSE AND METHOD OF OPERATION

Beneficiary services include the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Cost Reimbursement and Ticket to Work (TTW) programs. The objective of the programs is to help disabled individuals return to work. The trust funds and general revenues fund beneficiary services. Section 222(d)(1) of the Social Security Act authorizes transfers from the OASI and DI trust funds to reimburse for reasonable and necessary costs of vocational rehabilitation services for individuals. The OASI and DI trust funds also fund payments to Employment Networks as part of the TTW program. Beneficiary services funded through the trust funds do not require appropriation. The general revenues fund beneficiary services for disabled Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients as described below.

Table 2.19—Beneficiary Services: New Budget Authority and Obligations (in thousands)

Under the VR cost reimbursement program, we repay VR agencies for the reasonable and necessary costs of services that successfully help disabled recipients return to work. VR agencies are successful when a disabled recipient performs substantial gainful activity (SGA) for a continuous period of 9 out of 12 months. 1

Under the TTW program, authorized by the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-170), we pay Employment Networks (EN) for providing vocational rehabilitation, employment, and other support services to disabled SSI recipients. These recipients select an EN, which we pay when EN services result in prescribed work milestones and outcomes that may reduce reliance on Federal cash benefits.

VR agencies can serve as ENs in the TTW program or receive payments under our VR cost reimbursement program. Ticket payments, unlike VR cost reimbursement payments, are not based on the costs of specific services provided by the EN. We pay ENs using either an outcome-milestone payment method or an outcome-only payment method.

We base Ticket payment amounts for SSI recipients on the prior year’s average disability benefit payable under Title XVI. While we previously made Ticket payments only upon request, we now also initiate payments to ENs when information in our records indicates the recipient has achieved the prerequisite earnings and all other requirements qualifying the EN for a payment are met.

RATIONALE FOR BUDGET REQUEST

We are requesting $137 million in new budget authority for beneficiary services in FY 2024. The FY 2024 forecast is based on an econometric model which uses prior payments to predict future spending. This model creates separate estimates for EN and VR payments using quarterly Federal unemployment data, and TTW participation and beneficiary characteristics data from our administrative records through the Disability Analysis File (DAF). We also review various additional factors when budgeting, such as considering the possible impact of upcoming policy or business process changes on the budget and factor in any current trends in our spending. While the COVID-19 pandemic slowed the expected growth of TTW payments in FY 2020, our TTW payments continue to increase each fiscal year as employed Ticketholders remain in the workforce. As a result, we expect the amount of TTW payments to continue to increase in FY 2023 and FY 2024. The FY 2024 request funds an estimated 5 percent increase in obligations above the FY 2023 level.

The integration of VR payments into the Internet Ticket Operations Provider Support System (iTOPSS) in FY 2017 resulted in an increase in the number of claims submitted by VR agencies, which led to an increase of backlogged claims awaiting payment. In August 2022, we achieved two major milestones: we transferred the VR payment workload to the Ticket Program Manager (TPM) contractor and eliminated the backlog. SSA employees have transitioned to performing quality assurance reviews of the contractor, continually monitoring the payments made by contractor staff, and providing additional guidance and training as necessary. As a result, all payments are processed within 30 days of receipt.

In FY 2022, we saw a 27 percent increase in claims from VRs. While VR agencies can submit their claims electronically, supporting documentation has to be sent via fax. Only 66 percent of all submissions were payable, a decrease of 6 percentage points from the 72 percent payment rate in FY 2021. The most common reason claims were denied was because the claim was untimely – VRs submitted their claims more than 12 months after the client earned the 9th month of SGA.

While the number of receipts increased in FY 2022, so did the average cost per claim. We saw a 6 percent increase in the average cost per claim, from $12,626 in FY 2021 to $13,424 through the first quarter of FY 2023. The increase in the average cost per claim is due primarily to the increase in the direct cost category of job placement 1 . The total amount we reimbursed VR

agencies for job placement related costs doubled between FY 2021 and FY 2022, from $8 million to $16 million. Based on the first quarter of FY 2023, we expect job placement related costs to reach $21 million. We expect VR claims to continue to increase and VR agencies to be more timely with their submissions, resulting in a 25 percent increase in spending in FY 2023 over FY 2022.

Considering all the factors above, and assuming that more beneficiaries will return to work, we estimate an increase in VR cost reimbursement payments and an increase in the number of milestone and outcome payments in FY 2024. We continue our efforts to improve management and oversight of the VR cost reimbursement and TTW programs to ensure effectiveness. These efforts are solidified in the current EN agreements and include ongoing quality reviews of State reimbursement claims and internal reviews of the agency's payment process.

Table 2.20—SSI VR Cost Reimbursement and Ticket to Work Payments 1

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON VR COST REIMBURSEMENT AND TICKET TO WORK PROGRAMS

Each VR may decide on a case-by-case basis whether to receive compensation under the VR cost reimbursement payment option or one of the two TTW payment methods described below. VRs have 90 days after they open a case (ticket assignment) to decide if they want to be reimbursed

for their expenses under the Cost Reimbursement program or if they want to be paid under the TTW program. Regardless of the payment method the VR chooses, the beneficiary must have agreed to assign their Ticket with the VR for the agency to be eligible for either type of payment.

There are two TTW payment methods: Outcome-Milestone and Outcome-Only

Outcome-Milestone Payment Method:

Outcome-Only Payment Method:

When a VR provides services to a recipient under the Cost Reimbursement program, and the recipient later seeks support services from an EN, we may pay the VR and the EN for sequential periods of service. However, the EN is not eligible for Phase I Ticket payments, since the VR would have provided initial services.

We continue to take steps to reduce overpayments incurred by all beneficiaries who work, such as enabling beneficiaries to report earnings and submit work activity reports online. SSI recipients may report earnings and submit paystubs through a mobile app. We are developing a modernized system to process Disability Insurance (DI) work activity and reduce manual keying of data. TTW participants are subject to the same reporting requirements as all other beneficiaries, but have additional opportunities for training and reminders. For example, they often receive benefits counseling which explains how earnings affect their Social Security and other benefits and includes reminders on the importance of reporting their earnings to SSA. Work Incentive Seminar Events teach participants about work incentives and the effects of work on benefits.

This spring we are completing a new study in response to a recent Government Accountability Office recommendation that SSA identify the root causes of overpayments to TTW participants and take appropriate actions as necessary. 1

RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION

Authorizing Legislation: Sections 1110, 1115, and 1144 of the Social Security Act.

PURPOSE AND METHOD OF OPERATION

We conduct extramural research, demonstrations, and outreach under Sections 1110, 1115, and 1144 of the Social Security Act (Act). We currently fund a range of Section 1110 projects designed to:

Table 2.21 - Research and Demonstration Projects:

Budget Authority and Obligations by Funding Authority 1

(in thousands) 2

Table 2.22 - Research and Demonstration Projects:

Obligations by Funding Source

(in thousands) 1

Section 1110 of the Act provides the Commissioner of Social Security the authority to conduct broad, cross-programmatic projects for the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability (OASDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. This section provides for waiver authorities for the SSI program, as well as projects dealing with specific SSI issues. Under Section 1110, we fund a range of extramural projects: disability and retirement policy research, demonstration projects to test creative and effective ways to promote greater labor force participation among people with disabilities (including early intervention rehabilitation strategies), evaluations of proposed or newly enacted legislative changes, and projects to maintain and improve basic data about our programs and beneficiaries.

Many of our Section 1110 projects support our FYs 2022-2026 Learning Agenda and our annual Evaluation Plans that are required under the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018. Our Learning Agenda describes our evidence-building roadmap to support the goals in our FYs 2022–2026 Agency Strategic Plan (ASP). We identified 10 priority questions for our Learning Agenda that correspond to the ASP goals. The priority questions include short-term and long-term questions related to our mission, strategic plans, and agency operations. We expect that answers to our priority questions will provide valuable information about our agency’s performance and promote evidence-based decision-making, informing our efforts to improve service delivery, enhance the customer experience, and advance equity. Our FY 2023 Annual Evaluation Plan describes the most significant evidence-building activities that we will complete during the fiscal year. We define significant activities as those that are required by law, address the President’s priorities, or support the goals in our FYs 2022–2026 ASP. Performance documents are available here: Agency Strategic Plan | SSA

Section 1144 requires us to conduct outreach to individuals with Medicare who are potentially eligible for State-administered Medicaid programs or Medicare prescription drug subsidies under

Medicare Part D. We identify these potential beneficiaries, inform them about these programs, and notify State Medicaid agencies. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, within Health and Human Services (HHS), oversees both the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Section 1115 provides the Secretary of HHS with the funding and authority to waive compliance with Medicaid requirements to enable States to participate in our specific research and disability demonstration projects. There are currently no research projects funded under this section.

Section 234 gives the Commissioner of Social Security the authority to conduct research and demonstration projects testing alternative Disability Insurance (DI) benefit rules. We used trust fund dollars to conduct various demonstration projects, including projects that examined alternative program rules for treating work activity of individuals entitled to DI benefits. Section 234 covered both applicants and current beneficiaries of the program. Our authority to conduct projects under Section 234 expired on December 31, 2022.

RATIONALE FOR BUDGET REQUEST

We are committed to improving the quality, consistency, and timeliness of our disability decisions; maximizing efficiencies throughout the disability program; and enhancing employment support programs to create new opportunities for returning beneficiaries to the workforce. Our research activities are critical to our efforts in all three areas.

In FY 2024, we estimate that we will need $91 million in new budget authority for traditional research activities under Sections 1110 and 1144.

Our FY 2024 budget request builds upon the progress we have made in previous years with initiatives like our data collection and analysis efforts regarding the Occupational Information System (OIS) and Vocational Information Tool (VIT) project. Our advisory services contract with the National Academy of Sciences’ (NAS) Health and Medicine Division (HMD) will help us identify ways to strengthen our disability policy. In addition, Work Disability - Functional Assessment Battery (WD-FAB) studies will help us evaluate the usefulness of the WD-FAB to our continuing disability review (CDR) process. Our demonstration portfolio provides evidence on the effectiveness of potential policies and programs for our current and potential beneficiaries.

Renewal of 234 Authority

We are interested in working with Congress to renew Section 234 authority in order to provide sufficient time to conduct new and ongoing demonstrations.

The table and discussion that follows provides more details on the research and outreach efforts we plan to fund in FY 2024.

Table 2.23—Major Research Areas, Demonstration Obligations and New Budget Authority (in thousands) 1 , 2 , 3