Anyone who has visited a Social Security Administration (SSA) office knows that dedicated federal employees work hard to provide the best service possible to members of the public. For fiscal year 2004, Social Security’s 63,000 employees will pay benefits to more than 50 million people each month, process more than 5 million claims for benefits, issue 16 million new and replacement Social Security cards, post 265 million earnings items to workers’ earnings records, and handle 54 million phone calls. These workloads will continue to grow each year and will increase significantly with the aging of the baby boom generation.
Despite the best efforts of the SSA’s employees, the Agency continues to face many challenges including:
•Implementing the Medicare Prescription Drug Law. The SSA will play a substantial role in implementing the new Medicare Prescription Drug Law by identifying low-income beneficiaries for enrollment in the prescription drug benefit, making low-income subsidy determinations, calculating Part B premiums for high-income beneficiaries, and withholding premiums appropriate to beneficiaries’ selected plans.
Protecting Americans from Misleading Mailings. Countless seniors, newlyweds, new parents, and other individuals are victimized by misleading mailings that use references to Social Security and Medicare to mislead the public. Some mailings ask individuals for personal information in exchange for promises of additional Social Security benefits as part of a scam. Other mailings offer Social Security services for free, even though the same services are available from the Social Security Administration free of charge. The Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security is shedding light on individuals and organizations engaging in shady practices.
Preventing Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Social Security Programs . Safeguarding Social Security programs is a key responsiblity of our government. Taxpayers must be confident their hard earned payroll dollars are being spent wisely. We cannot allow Social Security to hemorrhage precious dollars through fraud and misuse of benefits when that money is so vital to millions of Americans.
I strongly support the President’s efforts to increase the budget of the SSA and improve the SSA’s service to the public. The Subcommittee on Social Security has held a number of hearings to review the SSA’s Service Delivery Budget Plan which provides the details on how the SSA will spend its administrative funds. The Subcommittee also oversees all aspects of the Agency’s operations to ensure that the public is provided with the best possible service with the administrative funds available.
To find out more about how I am working to ensure that the Social Security Administration effectively serves the public, click below:
