GAO-02-964R OWCP Access to SSA Wage Data

United States General Accounting Office

Washington, DC 20548

July 19, 2002

The Honorable Stephen Horn

Chairman, Subcommittee on Government Efficiency,

 Financial Management and Intergovernmental Relations

Committee on Government Reform

House of Representatives

Dear Mr. Chairman:

This letter responds to the question you raised during your May 9, 2002, hearing on

“Oversight of the Management of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs: Are

the Complaints Justified?” You asked whether GAO thought it would be a good idea

for the Congress to provide the Department of Labor with legislative authority to

access the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) wage data, which Labor could then

cross-match with Federal Employee Compensation Act (FECA) benefits.

Our work has shown that such cross-matching or data sharing can be a valuable

management and oversight practice. OWCP already has the right to access SSA data.

However, such access is subject to SSA’s approval—the Code of Federal Regulations

(20 C.F.R. 10.527) provides that “OWCP may verify the earnings reported by the

employee through a variety of means, including but not limited to computer matches

with the Office of Personnel Management and inquiries to SSA”.

If the Congress believes that OWCP should have direct access to SSA’s database—

without being subject to approval by SSA—the Congress can provide for such access

in legislation. Prior GAO work has demonstrated the importance of and potential

savings from checking applicants’ and beneficiaries’ initial and continuing eligibility

for federal benefits by verifying the economic information they provide with

independent, third-party sources. For example, in our report entitled Benefit and

Loan Programs: Improved Data Sharing Could Enhance Program Integrity

(GAO/HEHS-00-119, Sept. 13, 2000) we estimated that direct on-line connections

between SSA’s computers and databases maintained by state agencies containing

information on wages, welfare benefits, and workers’ compensation benefits could

have prevented or more quickly detected $131 million in Supplemental Security

Income (SSI) overpayments in one 12-month period. The report included a matter for

consideration by the Congress that it consider legislative amendments to improve the

ability of federally funded benefit and loan programs to obtain and share the

information they need to make accurate eligibility determinations while protecting
Page 2 GAO-02-964R OWCP Access to SSA Wage Data

personal privacy. In addition, our 1998 report entitled Supplemental Security

Income: Action Needed on Long-Standing Problems Affecting Program Integrity

(GAO/HEHS-98-158) cited prior work that determined recipients not always reporting

required information was resulting in overpayments of supplemental income by SSA.

The report recommended that the Social Security Commissioner enhance SSA’s

ability to verify applicant- and recipient-reported eligibility information and deter

overpayments by accelerating efforts to identify more timely and complete sources

for verifying financial eligibility information. Such sources could include other

federal agencies or third parties.

We remain available to discuss these issues further with you or members of your

staff. My phone number is (202) 512-9490.

Sincerely yours,

George H. Stalcup

Director

Strategic Issues