Social Security Administration

Fiscal Year 2025

FY 2025 Congressional Justification Table of Contents

Budget Overview

A Message from the Acting Commissioner ... 1 Social Security Administration Overview ... 4 Budget Highlights ... 9 FY 2025 Performance Table ... 16 FY 2025 President’s Budget by Major Workload ... 18 Strategic Goal 1: Optimize the Experience of SSA Customers ... 19 Strategic Goal 2: Build An Inclusive, Engaged, and Empowered Workforce ... 35 Strategic Goal 3: Ensure Stewardship of SSA Programs ... 39 Other Administration Initiatives: Looking Toward the Future ... 50

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 ... 13 Budgetary Resources ... 15 Budget Authority and Obligations by Activity ... 16 Obligations by Object Class ... 18 Background ... 19 Authorizing Legislation ... 19 Appropriation History ... 20

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

ension Reform P ... 22 Purpose and Method of Operation ... 22 Rationale for Budget Request ... 23 Unnegotiated Checks ... 24 Purpose and Method of Operation ... 24 Rationale for Budget Request ... 26 Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefits ... 27 Purpose and Method of Operation ... 27 Progress to Date ... 28

Supplemental Security Income Program

Appropriation Language ... 31 Language Analysis ... 32 General Statement ... 33 Program Overview ... 33 FY 2025 President’s Budget Request ... 35 Budgetary Resources ... 36 Analysis of Changes ... 37 New Budget Authority and Obligations by Activity ... 40 New Budget Authority and Obligations by Object ... 41 Background ... 42 Authorizing Legislation ... 42 Appropriation History ... 43 Federal Benefit Payments ... 46 Purpose and Method of Operation ... 46 Rationale for Budget Request ... 46 SSI Recipient Population ... 47

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

enefit Payments B ... 49 Administrative Expenses ... 51 Purpose and Method of Operation ... 51 Rationale for Budget Request ... 52 Beneficiary Services ... 53 Purpose and Method of Operation ... 53 Rationale for Budget Request ... 54 Additional Information on VR Cost Reimbursement and Ticket to Work Programs ... 55 Research and Demonstration ... 58 Purpose and Method of Operation ... 58 Rationale for Budget Request ... 60 Related Funding Sources ... 78 Administration of Our Research Activities ... 80 Research Investment Criteria ... 81

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Appropriation Language/Background ... 89 Authorizing Legislation ... 89 Appropriation Language ... 90 Language Analysis ... 93 Significant Items in Appropriations Committee Reports ... 97 Improper Payments ... 106 Pilot Programs ... 109 Consultative Exams ... 113 Appropriation History ... 116 SSA-Related Legislation from April 2023 to March 2024 ... 121 General Statement/Budgetary Resources/Performance ... 122

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses Overview ... 122 Key Priorities ... 123 Size and Scope of Our Programs ... 125 Funding Request ... 126 All Purpose Table ... 128 SSI State Supplementation/Impact of States Dropping Out ... 130 Budget Authority and Outlays ... 132 Amounts Available for Obligation/Analysis of Changes ... 135 Summaty of Change – Budget Authority ... 137 Summary of Change in Administrative Obligations from FY 2024 to FY 2025 ... 138 Budgetary Resources by Object ... 140 Estimated Distribution of Agency Costs ... 141 Workload Processing and Cost Distribution Across the Organization ... 144 Performance Targets ... 146 Program Integrity ... 148 FY 2023 Disability Decision Data ... 153 Priority Goals ... 154 Customer Experience ... 155 Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in the Workforce, and Conducting Outreach to People Potentially Facing Barriers ... 158 Information Technology ... 169 SSA Organizational Chart ... 193 Major Building Renovation and Repair Costs ... 194 Social Security Advisory Board ... 201

Office of the Inspector General

Appropriation Language ... 207

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

General Statement ... 208 Overview ... 208 Strategic Goals ... 210 Budgetary Resources ... 229 Appropriation History ... 233

Annual Performance Report

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Social Security Administration

Budget Overview Fiscal Year 2025

MESSAGE FROM THE COMMISSIONER

Social Security is the most important act of social and economic justice that the people of the United States have done for each other, and it is my honor to serve as Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA). Having dedicated my entire career to public service, I have seen firsthand the impact government programs such as Social Security have on the lives of individuals. We administer programs that play a vital role in maintaining the financial well-being of more than 72 million people. Our programs not only help lift and keep people out of poverty, but also support the national economy.

As I begin my term as Commissioner, I inherit an agency facing a customer service crisis. SSA has approximately 500 million interactions with the public each year through field office visits, call centers, and other engagements. While we have exceptional employees dedicated to serving millions of people, we are serving 50 percent more customers with less staff than we had in

Staffing shortages and technology challenges have led to unacceptable wait times on our National 800 Number and for lengthy decisions on disability claims. It has also led to declining morale amongst our employees who report feeling more overworked and exhausted than those at any other Federal agency. Staffing shortages, chronic underfunding, and beneficiary growth combined to create historic backlogs in our workloads. Initial disability claims pending are now over 1.1 million, almost double what they were at the end of fiscal year (FY) 2019. The average wait time for a disability decision is nearly 8 months and an additional 7 months for those who have requested an appeal of the initial decision compared to about 4 months at each step in FY 2019. Wait times on our National 800 Number have doubled from 20 minutes on average in FY 2019 to about 40 minutes. With the increase in funding we received in FY 2023, we began restoring our staffing levels by hiring over 10,000 people in our offices and the State disability determination services to process our most critical workloads. We set a goal of achieving an average processing time for initial disability claims of 215 days (7 months) by the end of FY 2025. We are also striving to reach an average speed of answer of 12 minutes on the National 800 Number by the end of FY 2025. Millions of individuals count on the convenience and accessibility of our National 800 Number. We also plan to eliminate our backlog of hearings this year and complete a sufficient number of hearings in FY 2025 to prevent its recurrence and maintain an annual average hearing wait time of 270 days. Now, we are confronted with managing a potentially austere FY 2024 budget that will undermine the progress we have made. We had to freeze hiring during the extended continuing resolution, which has caused our staffing levels to fall back to where they were in April 2023. If we continue the hiring freeze throughout FY 2024, we will lose over 4,500 full-time permanent

FY 2025 President’s Budget 1

staff this fiscal year, resulting in our lowest staffing since 1972 (55,000 staff), including about 750 fewer employees in National 800 Number call centers and about 2,100 fewer employees in field offices across the country. This loss of staff will negatively impact call wait times, disability timelines, and other key performance metrics and be felt by the people we serve.

It is vitally important that we receive our FY 2025 President’s Budget request of $15.402 billion. Without sustained and sufficient funding, service will further deteriorate, jeopardizing the financial security of our customers—despite our unwavering commitment to improve customer experience. Considering the growth in our fixed costs, level funding does not cover the over $600 million increase in our annual fixed costs such as salaries and rent on our more than 1,500 field and hearings offices across the country. Our Budget request will allow us to cover annual increases in our fixed costs, restore staffing to FY 2023 levels, and meet our service delivery goals.

This Budget ensures we will deliver accessible Social Security services to all eligible individuals, while maintaining rigorous stewardship and oversight of our programs. Our programs must reach underserved communities and people potentially facing barriers to accessing our services, including individuals with low income, limited English proficiency, mental and intellectual disabilities, and those facing homelessness. With the Budget, we can also collaborate with other Federal and State Government agencies and third-party organizations in local communities to ensure people are aware of their potential eligibility for Supplemental Security Income, especially for eligible children.

We must understand the experiences of SSA’s customers, which will enable reforms to policy, design, technology, and operations to save time, reduce stress, and improve benefits access for millions of Americans, while maintaining rigorous stewardship and oversight of our programs. We must also develop a discipline for harnessing data and information technology (IT) to improve information sharing and get the best out of our large, siloed organization, and turn the agency around with improved service, a revamped IT infrastructure, and an engaged and qualified workforce. I have initiated an agency-wide, cross-cutting program to measure performance that I used successfully in the City of Baltimore and the State of Maryland, which relies on real-time data analysis to improve service delivery. I am also engaging with and listening to frontline workers. With sufficient funding, ideas for improving service from the people who are seeing and serving our customers, and strong performance management, we can make significant progress in providing the public with the service they expect and deserve going into the future.

At the beginning of the year, I sent an email to all SSA employees identifying top customer service challenges:

National 800 Number hold times;
Average processing time for disability determinations, and
Overpayment and underpayment process improvements.

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These customer service challenges are cross-cutting. No component—however well-led—will be able to solve any one of these problems by itself. We must work together in timely, agile, and collaborative ways as never before.

In my first month, I traveled across the country and held town halls for employees in all 10 regions and in our headquarters, which surfaced a number of actionable ideas. For example, one process improvement is a new Automated Medicare Process (AMP) to improve back-end processing for internet Medicare claims, which testing has shown reduces a 7-8 minute process down to under 20 seconds. This innovation alone can gain the agency 30-40 work years of effort for employees to process online retirement and disability claims.

Public service is an important and noble calling. I have no doubt whatsoever that our hardworking employees are dedicated to providing the best service to our customers, and so am I.

My ultimate goal is to make our programs more accessible and transparent, while keeping the American people at the heart of our work. With our FY 2025 President’s Budget request of $15.402 billion, we will make the essential improvements necessary to providing quality and timely service for the millions of people who depend on our programs.

Respectfully,

Martin O’Malley Commissioner

Commissioner

March 11, 2024

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 and to serve a historic high number of beneficiaries.

In fiscal year (FY) 2025, we will pay approximately $1.6 trillion directly to our beneficiaries; our administrative costs are only about 1 percent of the benefits we pay. 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 provides retirement and survivors benefits to

qualified workers and their family members. The OASI program is one of the Nation’s most successful Government programs, and one that is part of the life of nearly every individual and family in the nation.

DI: Established in 1956, the DI program provides benefits for workers who become disabled,

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, Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, State Children’s Health Insurance Program, E-Verify, 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 are descriptions of our components, which are funded by our main administrative account, the Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) account.

The Office of Operations provides frontline and support services to millions of customers each year and completes our program stewardship work, ensuring we pay the right person the right amount at the right time:

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o Over 1,200 field offices handle benefit claims, appeals, program integrity (PI) work, and post-entitlement events; process applications for Social Security and Medicare cards; enroll people in Medicare; and address urgent needs and questions from visitors and callers;

o Our 24 teleservice centers answer a broad range of Social Security and Medicare questions; schedule appointments with our field offices; provide status updates on current claims or appeals; and ensure the accuracy of our records;

o Our 8 processing centers (PC) handle the most complex benefit payment decisions, issue benefit payments after appeals decisions, determine and collect debt, correct records, and perform PI work; and

o Our 10 regional offices around the country oversee and support our frontline offices across the nation.

The Office of Hearings Operations holds hearings and makes decisions on determinations that people have appealed to the hearing level.
The Office of Analytics, Review, and Oversight handles the final level of administrative appeals, conducts quality reviews, and oversees agency data, analysis, and fraud prevention.
The Office of the General Counsel (OGC) provides administrative and programmatic legal counsel and prosecutes fraud cases. OGC also oversees privacy protections and ensures that privacy requirements are met.
The Office of the Chief Information Officer oversees our large information technology (IT) infrastructure and modernizes, expands, and improves our digital services.
The Office of Transformation is responsible for strategic guidance and oversight of enterprise-wide programs, addressing policies, business processes, and systems.
The Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity promotes a diverse, inclusive, and accessible workforce to enable delivery of quality Social Security services.
Headquarters components, such as human resources, facilities, communications, legislation and congressional affairs, finance, and policy support our frontline offices.

There are two other significant parts of our budget:

The Information Technology Services (ITS) budget represents the non-staff portion of our IT spending. Even as we focus on enhancing our digital services, a significant portion of this budget, around two-thirds, is allocated to maintaining our existing data

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centers, computer networks, and phone systems across the country, ensuring they are up- to-date and functioning efficiently.

The disability determination services (DDS) budget funds the State DDSs that make medical determinations for disability claims, reconsiderations, and continuing disability reviews (CDR). DDSs perform a critical part of our disability claims and PI processes.

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Figure 1: Benefit Payments and Beneficiaries by Program, FYs 2023-2025

Benefits(Outlays in Millions)	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate
Trust Fund Programs
OASI	1,192,126	1,291,318	1,375,713
DI	149,443	153,462	160,587
Subtotal，OASDI	1,341,569	1,444,780	1,536,300
General Fund Programs
SSI-FederalNote:There were 12 monthly benefit payments in FY2023 and will be 11 in FY2024 and 12 in FY2025.	60,031	57,235	63,107
SSI State Supplementary Benefits	3,123	3,140	3,475
Total	1,404,723	1,505,155	1,602,882
Beneficiaries(in Thousands)	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate
Trust Fund Programs
OASI	57,529	58,869	60,216
DI	8,765	8,491	8,436
Subtotal，OASDI	66,294	67,360	68,652
General Fund Programs
SSI Federal Recipients	7,382	7,304	7,273
SSI State Supplementary Recipients(with no Federal SSI payment)	134	135	137
Total，including about2.5 million concurrentrecipients who receive SSI aswell as OASI or DI	73,810	74,799	76,062

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Research Budget

The funding request for research is $91 million, $5 million more than the FY 2024

Continuing Resolution (CR) level. As in previous years, the Budget will fund data

development and dissemination, modeling efforts, administrative research, evaluations of agency programs and initiatives, and retirement and disability policy research to better serve the public. We are also interested in working with Congress to renew Section 234 authority. For additional details, please see our Research and Demonstration Projects exhibit in the Program Budget section.

Office of the Inspector General

The funding request for the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is $121.3 million, an

increase of $6.6 million over the FY 2024 CR 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 $19.6 million from the cap adjustment to the OIG to support CDI units.

Figure 2: Benefits and Administrative Budget by Program

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BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS

Our FY 2025 Budget request is $15.402 billion, a $1.3 billion or 9 percent increase from the FY 2023 level. As we serve more beneficiaries than ever in the agency’s history, this increase is necessary to improve services at our field offices, State DDSs, and teleservice centers to assist retirees, people with disabilities, and their families. The Budget would reduce wait times on our 800 Number by over 20 minutes to 12 minutes, reduce initial disability claims wait times to an average of 215 days, and reduce the claims backlog by 15 percent.

The Budget assumes the same level of funding in FY 2024 as in FY 2023, with the exception of the higher program integrity cap adjustment amount. While we are working diligently to do so within our resource constraints, we face multiple challenges to restore service delivery to the standards both we and the public expect. Level funding in FY 2024 would have detrimental effects on service and halt the progress we made to begin improving service in FY 2023. We froze hiring across the agency, and staffing levels will reach the lowest staffing since 1972 by the end of this year. We also significantly reduced overtime levels in FY 2024 compared to FY 2023, limiting one of our most important tools for increasing processing capacity and supporting offices. As a result, wait times for a disability decision will increase and our backlogs will worsen. Relative to level staffing, a hiring freeze and loss of 4,500 staff in 2024 would add an estimated 20 more days and 175,000 more cases in the disability backlog. A hiring freeze would also increase our lengthy 800 Number wait times. We need a strong workforce to provide timely, quality service to the public. Staffing comprises 57 percent of our LAE budget, while the DDSs contribute another 18 percent (see Figure 3). The Budget will allow us to restore staffing to FY 2023 levels and increase overtime, which will help us increase processing capacity and improve customer service.

The Budget also supports our efforts to simplify and update the SSI application processes and expand access to agency programs and services through our outreach efforts, particularly for underserved communities. With this Budget, we will improve our IT systems; provide a more consistent, equitable, and accessible experience for our customers; reduce burdensome manual processes for our employees; increase self-service options on our National 800 Number; and expand our cybersecurity program. Further, the Budget prioritizes preventing and resolving improper payments.

Major investments include: 1

Increasing Frontline Staff to Improve Customer Service. Total Federal payroll costs of over $8.7 billion, an increase of nearly $700 million from the FY 2024 CR level, fund salaries and benefits of employees who provide direct service to the public to: o Strengthen Service in Our Field Offices. The Budget includes an increase of $269 million to restore staffing in our field offices, which will deliver quicker

1 The numbers are not additive to the budget total. Some costs are associated with more than one category.

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decisions on disability and retirement claims, shorter wait times to get an appointment in our offices, and improved telephone service in our field offices.

o Improve National 800 Number Service. The Budget includes an increase of $79 million to increase staffing levels for teleservice centers to significantly reduce wait times by over 20 minutes on our 800 number.

o Address PC Backlogs. The Budget includes an increase of $85 million for PCs to handle more complex benefit decisions and address the PC backlog.

o Eliminate the Disability Hearings Backlog. The Budget includes an increase of $89 million for our staffing in our hearings offices to eliminate the backlog and maintain an average wait time of 270 days throughout FY 2025.

• Reduce the Initial Disability Claims Backlog. The Budget includes over $2.8 billion to fund our State DDSs, an increase of about $180 million from our FY 2024 CR level, to reduce the backlog by 179,000 cases (15 percent). The DDS budget funds payroll and benefits for State employees, workload processing costs, and other expenses. The Budget supports restoring staff to FY 2023 levels and includes pay increases2 that help with recruitment and retention. The Budget expands processing capacity by increasing staffing and overtime in the DDSs over FY 2024 levels, yielding an expected 185,000 more initial disability claims processed and over 100,000 more reconsiderations than we estimate processing in FY 2024.

• Modernizing IT Services for the Future. The Budget includes nearly $1.7 billion for IT, an increase of over $200 million from our FY 2024 CR level, to help us maintain and modernize our large IT infrastructure and increase our suite of digital and automated services. Our IT budget supports ongoing high-priority projects, such as enumeration and service delivery modernization; cybersecurity efforts; and IT enhancements to prevent overpayments.

• Improving Customer Experience (CX) and Equity. The Budget request supports our efforts to build our internal CX capacity through our CX office to better understand the SSA customer experience, making focused improvements to our designated priority services, and delivering on our commitments in Executive Order (EO) 14058, Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government cross-agency life experience projects. We are also prioritizing actions outlined in our Equity Action Plan 2023 Update. We are improving equity in the SSI program by increasing underpayment processing of our oldest and highest priority cases, including those disproportionately impacted by poverty.

2 SSA funds the full costs, including pay, for State DDS employees. Each State sets its own pay rates. Multiple States are requesting approval on pay increases for DDS employees to remain competitive.

Continuing PI Efforts. The Budget includes $1.9 billion, $52 million above the FY 2024 Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) level, for dedicated PI work, including cost- effective PI reviews, cooperative disability investigations (CDI), and fraud. This level is consistent with the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2023 (P.L. 118-5). Figure 3: LAE Budget by Major Funding Category, FY 2025 Estimates

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Sufficient and sustained funding is required to provide service to the public. Figure 4 displays actual and budgeted funding and workyears (WY).

Budget Authority and Workyears(WY)(numbers may not add due to rounding)	FY2023Enacted	FY2024Estimate³	FY2025President'sBudget
Budget Authority,One-Year(Dollars in Millions)
Limitation on Administrative Expenses(LAE)⁴,⁵	$14,127	$14,194	$15,402
(Dedicated Program Integrity Level,Base and Adjustment,included in LAE)⁶	($1,784)	($1,851)	($1,903)
Research and Demonstrations⁷,⁸	$86	$86	$91
Office of the Inspector General(OIG)⁹	$115	$115	$121
Total,Budget Authority	$14,328	$14,395	$15,614
SSA WYs	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025President'sBudget
Full-Time Equivalents¹⁰	58,485¹¹	57,490	59,211
Overtime	2,782	1,800	2,167
Lump Sum Leave	150	242	242
Total SSA WY¹²	61,417	59,532	61,620
Disability Determination Services(DDS)	13,554	13,364	13,555
Total SSA/DDS WY	74,971	72,896	75,175
OIG	501	517	532
Total SSA/DDS/OIG WY	75,472	73,413	75,707

\bar{L A E})^{6}

3 Our regular LAE funding level in FY 2024 assumes level funding of the annual appropriations included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328). The FY 2025 President’s Budget assumes the Fiscal Responsibility Act (P.L. 118-5) level for the program integrity cap adjustment in FY 2024. 4 LAE funding includes $140 million in FY 2023, $140 million in FY 2024, and $170 million in FY 2025 for SSI user fees. LAE funding also

adjustment in FY 2024. 4 LAE funding includes $140 million in FY 2023, $140 million in FY 2024, and $170 million in FY 2025 for SSI user fees. LAE funding also includes $1 million in Social Security Protection Act (SSPA) user fees. 5 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328) provided $55 million in dedicated funding to address the hearings backlog. 6 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328) provided FY 2023 PI funding availability for 18 months (through March 31, 2024).

10 Full-time equivalents include those funded by the CDI unit PI transfer from the LAE account to the OIG. 11 FY 2023 workyears are final numbers and will not match the preliminary estimates included in the Budget Appendix.

These amounts include $7 million in base research funding classified as mandatory. 8 Congress appropriated $86 million in three-year authority in both FYs 2023 and 2024 for research and demonstration projects. The FY 2025 President’s Budget proposes $91 million in FY 2025 for research and demonstration projects in three-year authority (available through September 30, 2027). 9 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328) allowed SSA to transfer $15.1 million in FY 2023 from the LAE account to the OIG

Figure 5: FY 2025 Summary Statement Table

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

Dollars in Thousands	FY 2023 Actual		FY 2024 Estimate		FY 2025 Request		FY 2024 vs FY 2025 Increase(Decrease)
Component	Cost	Workyears	Cost	Workyears	Cost	Workyears	Cost	Workyears
Field Offices	$3,887,914	29,002	$4,024,699	27,720	$4,295,168	28,609	$270,469	889
Teleservice Centers	$387,313	4,144	$410,862	4,123	$490,231	4,700	$79,369	577
Regional Offices	$533,911	1,247	$533,857	1,071	$554,327	1,088	$20,470	17
Subtotal, RC Field	$4,809,138	34,393	$4,969,418	32,914	$5,339,726	34,397	$370,308	1,483
Program Service Centers and Office of Central Operations	$1,231,337	10,400	$1,274,545	9,839	$1,362,996	10,043	$88,451	204
Subtotal, Operations	$6,040,476	44,793	$6,243,963	42,753	$6,702,722	44,440	458,759	1,687
Office of Hearings Operations	$1,406,271	7,785	$1,462,785	7,714	$1,569,260	7,892	$106,475	178
Office of the Chief Information Officer	$650,901	3,323	$695,317	3,359	$748,958	3,386	$53,641	27
Office of Analytics, Review, and Oversight	$321,160	1,929	$336,729	1,907	$364,900	1,960	$28,171	53
Office of the General Counsel	$228,703	702	$202,095	686	$209,343

13 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328) allows SSA to transfer $15.1 million in FY 2023 from the LAE account to the OIG for the costs associated with jointly operated CDI units. This funding is not included in the FY 2023 total LAE.

Figure 6a: Staffing History

In FY 2022, we reached our lowest staffing level in over 25 years. The funding increase we received in FY 2023 allowed us to start rebuilding our workforce so that we could position ourselves to improve customer experience. Unfortunately, the austere budget climate in FY 2024 led us to implement a hiring freeze, which is reversing the progress we made in FY 2023. Under a full-year CR, staffing levels would reach the lowest levels since 1972 by the end of FY 2024 while the number of beneficiaries increase. It is critical that we receive sufficient funding in FY 2024 and FY 2025 to restore our staffing levels and improve service for the millions of people that depend on us.

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Figure 6b: Staffing Scenario

We expect that a full-year CR would result in extremely low staffing levels by the end of the fiscal year, as we are forced to freeze hiring, and further reductions in public service (blue line). In contrast, the FY 2025 President’s Budget (orange line) will allow us to restore our staffing to FY 2023 levels and begin to improve service.

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FY 2025 PERFORMANCE TABLE

Our Performance Table shows actual performance in FY 2023; estimated performance for FY 2024, assuming level funding and a hiring freeze; and estimated performance in FY 2025 based on full funding of the FY 2025 President’s Budget (see Figures 7 and 8). Restoring our staffing to FY 2023 levels will help us turn the corner and begin reducing backlogs and improving wait times in critical areas, especially in our disability workloads, where people currently face lengthy wait times. In addition, we will significantly improve our National 800 Number service. Please see the subsequent section on Strategic Goals for a discussion of performance.

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Figure 7: FY 2025 Performance Table

Workload and Outcome Measures	FY 2023Actual	FY 2024Estimate	FY 2025President'sBudget
Retirement and Survivor Claims(includes Medicare)
Retirement and Survivor Claims Completed (thousands)	6,693	6,654	6,735
Disability Claims
Initial Disability Claims Receipts (thousands)	2,185	2,254	2,211
Initial Disability Claims Completed (thousands)	1,974	2,205	2,390
Initial Disability Claims Pending (thousands)	1,128	1,166	987
Average Processing Time for Initial Disability Claims(days)	218	230	215
Disability Reconsiderations
Disability Reconsiderations Receipts (thousands)	546	618	669
Disability Reconsiderations Completed (thousands)	483	578	684
Disability Reconsiderations Pending (thousands)	290	325	310
Average Processing Time for Disability Reconsiderations(days)^{14}$	$213	225	215
Hearings
Hearings Receipts (thousands)	356	395	475
Hearings Completed (thousands)	378	435	425
Hearings Pending (thousands)	322	282	332
Annual Average Processing Time for Hearings Decisions(days)	450	345	270
National 800 Number
National 800 Number Calls Handled(millions)^{15}$	$30	31	32
Average Speed of Answer(ASA)(minutes)^{16}$	$36	32	12
Agent Busy Rate(percent)	8%	2%	1%
Program Integrity

FYs 2024 and 2025.

15 National 800 Number call volumes include those handled by automation. For FYs 2024 and 2025, we project about 4 million automated calls handled in each year. 16 The 12-minute target in FY 2025 is an aspirational goal, which we will continue to evaluate as we gain experience with NGTP and monitor the

FY 2025 to send Statements to individuals aged 25 and older.

18 DDS Production Per Workyear (PPWY) for FY 2023 includes cases completed via Federal assistance. However, the FYs 2024 and 2025 DDS PPWY figures displayed on this table exclude cases completed via Federal assistance. For comparison purposes, the FYs 2024 and 2025 DDS PPWY including the estimated number of cases completed via Federal assistance would be 272 and 291, respectively. 19 We do not have a budgeted workload measure for “Additional Operations Workyears Needed to Process Incoming Work (Workyear Shortfall)”

17 The Social Security Statements Issued measure includes paper Statements only. It does not include electronic Statements issued. In FY 2023,

my Social Security users accessed their Social Security Statements 32.6 million times. Consistent with FY 2023, in FYs 2024 and 2025, we will send paper Statements to people aged 60 and older who are not receiving Social Security benefits and who are not registered for a my Social Security account, at a cost of approximately $8 million and $11 million, respectively. It would cost approximately $151 million more in FY 2025 to send Statements to individuals aged 25 and older.

18 DDS Production Per Workyear (PPWY) for FY 2023 includes cases completed via Federal assistance. However, the FYs 2024 and 2025 DDS

19 We do not have a budgeted workload measure for “Additional Operations Workyears Needed to Process Incoming Work (Workyear Shortfall)” in the actual year.

FY 2025 PRESIDENT’S BUDGET BY WORKLOAD

Figure 8: FY 2025 President’s Budget by Workload

SSA Workloads(Dollars in Millions)	FY2024Estimate	FY2025President'sBudget
Retirement and Survivors Claims Completed	$1,607	$1,709
Initial Disability Claims Completed	$4,194	$4,547
Reconsiderations Completed	$595	$677
Hearings Completed	$2,433	$2,660
Social Security Numbers	$873	$944
CDRs and Redeterminations Completed	$1,797	$1,848

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.

We are designing and delivering services that reflect the perspective of the people we serve. Our FYs 2022–2026 Agency Strategic Plan focuses on delivering 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 improve customer experience. Our CX office is part of the Office of Transformation, embedding customer-centered principles into the most critical enterprise business and technology enhancements that serve the public and support our frontline employees. Our CX office coordinates CX management practices and standards agency-wide, and supports, guides, educates, and enables us to ensure we consistently prioritize the customer’s experience. The Budget helps us further integrate and expand CX practices across our organization. For additional details, please see our CX exhibit in the LAE section, and Performance.gov.

We plan to centralize how we collect customer feedback on trust and satisfaction, ensuring we have real-time data directly from customers on our agency’s performance across all major service channels (i.e., online, National 800 Number, and field offices). We successfully migrated all online surveys to the new Voice of Customer (VoC) Feedback platform, which is a major milestone towards standardizing and integrating VoC feedback within our decision- making processes. We established a baseline satisfaction measurement that complies with Federal requirements, allowing customers to access our survey at any time and provide feedback on their experiences.

In FY 2025, we will fulfill our commitments in EO 14058, Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government and make focused improvements to our three designated priority services: Filing for Social Security Retirement Benefits, Applying for a Replacement Social Security Card, and Obtaining Adult Disability Benefits.

We will contribute to cross-agency life experience projects, which are intended to help streamline service delivery at critical points in a person's life when they interact with Government. We are engaged in the Approaching Retirement and Facing a Financial Shock life experiences. We worked with CX industry experts to develop journey mapping standards and CX decision modeling on each of these life experiences to help us identify which aspects of our current service delivery channels generate the greatest customer pain points.

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Identify and Address Barriers to Accessing Services

We are working to improve access to 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 supports our commitment to improving equity in our SSI program access through outreach and improved benefit delivery, including to communities of color and underserved communities. For more information on our actions and progress, please see the Advancing Equity, Including Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in the Workforce, and Conducting Outreach to People Potentially Facing Barriers exhibit in the LAE section. Provided below are some highlights.

Accomplishments

In FY 2023, we:

Achieved our goal of increasing the number of SSI applications from underserved communities by 25 percent, relative to the 2021 baseline. We received nearly 135,000 SSI applications from underserved communities in FY 2023;
Notified 1.4 million Social Security beneficiaries of their potential eligibility for SSI, resulting in 48,567 approved SSI claims paying over $11 million in benefits through March 17, 2023;
Expanded race and ethnicity data collection to determine whether our programs are equitably serving our applicants and beneficiaries;
Increased outreach and developed relationships with a diverse group of advocates, civil rights organizations, and community organizations. For example, we published 12 Dear Colleague Letters to promote and raise awareness of our programs and services to underserved communities, which were distributed to more than 12,000 contacts;
Implemented two mandatory agency-wide DEIA trainings on workplace harassment, discrimination, and disability awareness; and an executive training regarding inclusive workplace cultures;
Developed DEIA training that will help our adjudicators understand, recognize, and remove barriers to fair and equitable decision making; and
Made it easier for customers to provide feedback by providing additional options for accessing agency surveys, such as placing Quick Response (QR) codes on notices and receipts and sending targeted emails to make it easier for our customers to provide feedback.

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Major Initiatives

In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to:

Audit existing public information, including webpages, and revise materials using plain language to make eligibility requirements clear and inclusive for women, same-sex couples and families, people from underserved communities, and others who access public benefits;
Increase availability of translated materials and the number of languages in which those materials are offered, improve access to language interpretation services, and increase culturally attuned outreach to Native American and Alaska Native, limited English proficiency, and migrant communities;
Air television and radio public service announcements, run paid social media and marketing campaigns, and promote the outreach toolkit, Outreach Materials for People Facing Barriers;
Reach out to unrepresented claimants at the pre-hearing phase to inform them of their rights at the hearing level of appeal;
Make hearings more accessible to claimants through in-person, video hearings at an SSA office, and telephone and online video hearing options;
Expand engagement with claimant representative and disability advocacy communities;
Engage with Tribal Coordinators in Urban Indian Centers to better assist Tribal members with a targeted focus on understanding their training needs and building partnerships;
Enhance our online services to reduce the need for people to come into our offices; and
Improve the customer experience for initial disability applicants through changes to policy, business processes, and IT, as informed by a study of adult disability applicants’ journey from application to a final decision.

Expand Digital Services

We are committed to making our services more convenient and efficient. my Social Security, our personalized, self-service alternative to telephone and in-person services, gives our customers access to a growing suite of services using their mobile device or computer. Through January 2024, more than 84 million people have signed up to use my Social Security to conduct their business online securely and conveniently. In FY 2023, we surpassed 400 million successfully completed online transactions in one year. The Budget provides for ongoing

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digitization of our services and forms that are most viewed or utilized by the public or otherwise important for public engagement.

Accomplishments

In FY 2023, we:

Simplified our secure credentials process for my Social Security portal access, supporting increased account registrations;
Released the annual updates to the Social Security Statement and supplemental fact sheets to provide information on retirement planning tools;
Rolled out a simple and secure way for customers to upload digital forms, documents, and electronic signatures online. The goal is to reduce or eliminate paper processes by automating workflows and updating policies to better connect technicians with customers and their evidence;
Successfully deployed self-scheduling of in-office enumeration appointments through the Enterprise Scheduling System (ESS) to all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands;
Expanded the use of the Internet Social Security Number Replacement Card (iSSNRC) option to request a replacement card for name change due to marriage to additional States. As of February 2024, the name change feature is available in Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri, South Dakota, Wyoming, Maine, Michigan, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Kentucky, Maryland, Rhode Island, Nebraska, Colorado, Virginia, and Wisconsin; and
Released CDR product functionality to allow adult beneficiaries with no representative payee to fully complete their review online.

Major Initiatives

In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to:

Simplify our SSI application policy and procedure with the goal of making it easier for individuals to apply for SSI, especially children;
Expand online self-scheduling options to the public;
Expand video service options for hearings, interviews for replacement cards, and post- entitlement actions;
Increase the number of services and forms available on our secure digital platforms to provide more convenient, user-friendly, and secure digital self-service options;

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Expand the option of requesting a replacement card online for name change due to marriage to additional States;
Roll out and increase functionality for a mobile-accessible, online process for customers to upload forms, documentation, evidence, or correspondence and electronically sign forms; and
Conduct cognitive testing on the Spanish Statement and fact sheets and implement feedback from this cognitive testing to improve our Spanish-language documents.

Build a Customer-Focused Organization

Reducing the Initial Disability Claims Backlog

We have a public service crisis in our disability program. Initial disability claims pending increased to over 1.1 million in FY 2023, and the percentage of these cases that are older than 180 days also increased (see Figure 9). The average wait time to receive a disability decision is nearly 8 months and an additional 7 months for those who have requested an appeal of the initial decision. Staffing shortages and difficulty hiring and retaining people in the DDSs contributed to these long delays.

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Figure 9: The Percent of Initial Disability Claims Pending Over 180 Days is Growing

In FY 2023, we hired about 2,500 DDS employees to increase processing capacity, ending the year with over 700 more people than in FY 2022. We deployed Federal staff units to assist the DDSs in processing cases, especially in regions facing disproportionate staffing losses. We are using our disability case processing system (DCPS2) and other technologies to help us identify cases that meet the criteria for expedited processing. As a result, we estimate we will process over 230,000 more initial disability claims in FY 2024 than we did in FY 2023. Our goal is to process 92 percent of initial disability claims that started the fiscal year 180 days or older by September 30, 2024.

Unfortunately, we expect that backlogs and wait times will grow in FY 2024 due to the hiring freeze and minimal overtime as we operate under a CR. While we expect to process more cases this year, we will have significantly less staff at the end of the year than at the beginning. The Budget will allow us to restore our staffing to FY 2023 levels and expand our capacity to process significantly more cases. In FY 2025, we expect to process over 180,000 more initial disability cases than in FY 2024 (see Figure 10), allowing us to achieve an annual average processing time of 215 days—over 2 weeks faster than this year. While it will take a multi-year effort to see significant improvements, the Budget will put us on the right path.

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Figure 10: Initial Disability Claims Receipts and Completed, FYs 2015–2025

Accomplishments

In FY 2023, we:

• Published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), Intermediate Improvement to the Disability Adjudication Process, Including How we Consider Past Work, to reduce from 15 to 5 years the number of years of past relevant work that SSA considers when making disability decisions. This rule will reduce burden on claimants and our staff while still providing us with enough relevant information to make accurate disability determinations and decisions;

• Collaborated with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to streamline the background check process for new hires and reduced the clearance time from an average of 30 days to 12 days so that we can get new DDS employees working earlier;

• Created a video-on-demand of “a day in the life” of a disability examiner to educate potential applicants on what the job entails while also diversifying platforms for recruitment, including the use of Handshake to reach college students;

Developed a Site-to-Site Training Tool to facilitate a way for different DDS sites to match training needs with extra training capacity available in other sites;
Developed screening questionnaires to assist DDSs in identifying the most qualified candidates prior to the interview process;
Developed an exit survey to assist DDSs in identifying trends and reasons for attrition, while providing the opportunity to develop retention strategies; and
Worked with the DDS to simplify Transferability of Skills Assessment policies and revise the vocational development policy so applicants better understand vocational assessments.

Major Initiatives

In FYs 2024 and 2025, we are improving business processes and policies and enhancing our IT to help us process cases quicker:

We are utilizing staff from across the agency to assist the DDSs and are having high- performing States assist us with workloads in other States. We have cadres of Federal employees that assist States with large backlogs, by processing initial disability claims or offloading disability hearings work.
We are engaging State DDS Administrators to increase retention through initiatives such as pay increases. In FY 2023, we approved 14 pay increases or incentives for 12 States. We have additional salary increases from States that we expect will be implemented in FY 2024 or beyond.
We will publish the final rule, Intermediate Improvement to the Disability Adjudication Process, Including How we Consider Past Work, in FY 2024.
We established a national contract with medical and psychological consultants to assist the DDSs in the States who are most in need.
We are working with the DDSs to update vocational policy training materials.
We are making user-requested enhancements from the DDSs and Federal sites to optimize DCPS2 functionality and improve processing efficiency.
We are using Intelligent Medical Language Analysis Generation (IMAGEN), a decision- support tool, to ensure accuracy and improve efficiency in the review of lengthy medical reports. Since April 2023, the IMAGEN Predictive Listing Dossier has identified over 11,000 pending claims that contain evidence with a high probability of meeting or

FY 2025 President’s Budget 26

equaling a medical listing. This tool enables States to identify potential allowances or presumptive disability determinations quickly, reducing wait times.

We are expanding our Health IT partnerships with new Electronic Health Records exchanges and Electronic Records Express, which allows us to obtain medical evidence in a timely manner and utilize our decision support tools.
We are exploring IT to improve customer service and communications, including email; text messaging; automated reminders; Voice Over Internet Protocol, which allows staff to use their laptops to hold calls with customers; and MicroStrategy, the management information (MI) software tool used to analyze all DDS information collected in DCPS2.
By the end of 2025, we plan to achieve an average processing time for initial disability claims of 215 days, and decide 92 percent of pending initial disability claims that begin the fiscal year 180 days old or older.

Eliminating the Disability Hearings Backlog

In FY 2022 and FY 2023, in support of our plan to eliminate the backlog, we hired administrative law judges (ALJ) for the first time since FY 2018 and legal assistants to prepare for an expected uptick in the hearings workload and to improve scheduling of hearings. We experienced a temporary increase in the average processing time in FY 2023, as we prioritized individuals waiting the longest and those 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 anticipate eliminating the backlog and achieving a 270-day monthly average wait time by the end of FY 2024. The Budget will allow us to ensure sufficient staffing for our hearings operation to prevent the recurrence of the hearings backlog and maintain an annual average wait time of 270 days (see Figure 11).

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Figure 11: Hearings Wait Times, FY 2015-FY 2025

Accomplishments In FY 2023, we:

Reduced our pending number of hearings to below 322,000 cases in September 2023 from the peak of over 1.1 million cases in September 2017; and
Reduced the monthly average wait time for a hearing to 458 days in September 2023 from the peak of 633 days in September 2017.

Major Initiatives

In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to:

Eliminate the hearings backlog by the end of FY 2024 and use efficient, modern business processes to make fair, policy-compliant disability decisions; and
Enhance our Hearings and Appeals Case Processing System (HACPS) to improve service, in-line quality, and efficiency in our hearings process.

Improving National 800 Number Service

Our National 800 Number representatives provide a variety of services, including:

Answering a broad range of Social Security and Medicare questions;
Scheduling appointments with our field offices;

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Providing status updates on current claims or appeals; and
Ensuring the accuracy of our records. Millions of people depend on our National 800 Number technicians to answer important questions. Our outdated phone systems have frustrated the public and our telephone agents with increased busy signals and dropped calls. Hiring challenges and high attrition have also affected service and caused long waits. Our efforts to modernize our phone system, which began in FY 2019, were interrupted by the pandemic. We implemented an interim system to maintain our National 800 Number; however, the interim system had limitations that resulted in poor service over the last few years.

In early FY 2024, we worked with our contractor to roll out a new modernized system, the Next Generation Telephony Project (NGTP), and transitioned our National 800 Number service to this new platform. We expect NGTP to reduce customer wait times and improve service by providing stable, reliable, and accessible phone service to the public. Features such as estimated wait time and call back assistance will provide our customers with a better customer experience. Successful implementation of NGTP virtually eliminated busy rates starting in November 2023, a tremendous achievement since our customers had been facing high busy rates prior to implementation.

In FY 2023, we hired more teleservice representatives and improved training to help us serve the public. We expect to reduce our average speed of answer from 36 minutes in FY 2023 to 32 minutes in FY 2024, and our busy rate from 8 percent in FY 2023 to 2 percent in FY 2024. However, with level funding or below expected in FY 2024, we froze hiring, which will reverse the progress we made with teleservice center staffing in FY 2023.

The Budget will help us restore staffing levels and improve performance, although it will take time for the new hires to become trained and proficient. We remain confident that our continued systems improvements will improve our performance. Our FY 2025 goal is a 12- minute average speed of answer, an ambitious target, and a 1 percent busy rate (see Figure 12). We expect our FY 2025 hires will further improve our wait times in FY 2026 as we work towards providing quicker service.

Accomplishments

In FY 2023, we:

Handled about 30 million calls on our National 800 Number, including self-service calls; and
Prepared to implement our new phone system.

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Major Initiatives

In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to:

Reduce wait times for our customers by over 20 minutes;
Leverage NGTP to provide estimated wait time and call back options to our customers; and
Increase newly hired agent performance by improving our training processes and telephone platform. Figure 12: National 800 Number Wait Times, FY 2015-FY 2025

Strengthening Service in Our Field Offices

Our field offices are critical for providing direct service to individuals seeking in-person assistance. Our representatives provide a broad range of services including, for example:

Initiating and processing benefit claims and appeals;
Handling post-entitlement events such as changes to beneficiary information, benefit verifications, and improper payment resolutions;

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Processing applications for Social Security cards;
Enrolling people in Medicare; and
Confirming benefit eligibility, a critical role in fulfilling our stewardship responsibilities. In FY 2023, we hired customer service representatives to help us serve the public timely. The Budget will allow us to invest in our field office staff after a hiring freeze this year. We will invest in IT modernization to expand online services and provide our employees with user- friendly systems and tools to perform their work. We are improving CX in our field offices by expanding enumeration self-scheduling, implementing additional self-scheduling options, and providing options that will make visits easier, such as an enhanced mobile check-in application.

Accomplishments

In FY 2023, we:

Allowed visitors to check-in for in-office service using their personal mobile device through our Mobile Visitor Intake Process Check-In system. Visitors can use this service for appointments and non-appointment check-ins. The system includes email and text message communication to the visitor’s mobile device. The public can elect to receive email and text reminders for both telephone and in-office appointments. In addition, we launched a QR Code mobile check-in service;
Implemented an interactive online scheduling application (i.e., ESS) for both original and replacement Social Security cards, the first-time customers can self-schedule an appointment;
Implemented our 21st Century PolicyNet20 proof of concept in June 2023, taking advantage of in-house cloud-based tools to demonstrate the key features of PolicyNet in a scalable enterprise platform; and
Improved the Consolidated Claims Experience (CCE) product, which is a holistic, integrated platform to assist employees in processing claims. 20 PolicyNet is an SSA Intranet website which provides employees with a one-stop resource for policy and information to administer our programs.

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Major Initiatives

In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to:

Allow the public to use their mobile devices to schedule appointments with us to apply for benefits. Consolidate our scheduling system to reduce the overhead required to manage and maintain redundant systems;
Update the 21st Century PolicyNet product to allow all frontline employees access to important policy details from within programmatic applications; decrease time spent searching for and interpreting policies; and improve accuracy of employee work; and
Expand our use of electronic document upload to allow customers to complete SSA forms online and electronically sign forms through my Social Security, reducing their need to come into a field office.

Addressing Processing Center Backlogs

Our PC technicians process the most complex benefit payment decisions; adjudicate benefit payment after appeals decisions; determine and collect debt; correct records; apply benefit offsets; perform stewardship work, and complete other post-entitlement actions.

Our PC staff remain focused on addressing a backlog of pending actions that reached about

4.6 million through FY 2023. The PCs have experienced high staff attrition in recent years. Employees that were hired in FY 2023 are undergoing training and mentoring and are not yet fully productive. Our Budget will allow us to resume our hiring efforts and restore staffing to FY 2023 levels after a hiring freeze in FY 2024. We plan to work towards decreasing our PC technicians’ processing time for incoming actions, improving payment timeliness, implementing automation to eliminate duplicate work such as through robotic process automation (RPA) software, and addressing pending actions by maximizing our processing capacity across our PCs. Accomplishments

In FY 2023, we used RPA software to automate high volume, labor-intensive, or repeatable tasks, allowing employees to focus their efforts on more complex actions. Approximately 2,635 users utilized bots an average of 26,500 times per week.

Major Initiatives

In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to:

Transfer workloads across our eight PCs to maximize processing capacity and assist in processing the oldest pending cases across all workloads; and

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Expand our use of robotic processes to automate additional workloads, prioritizing those that will have the biggest impact on reducing improper payments.

Modernizing Our Information Technology

Our technology modernization investments focus on simple, seamless, and secure service by delivering customer-centric digital capabilities with human-centered design, business intelligence, and mobile accessible platforms. We will implement digital services that focus on enhancing CX and removing barriers to service to meet the needs and preferences of our customers, partners, and employees. We are prioritizing self-service options to improve customer service while reducing manual work completed by frontline staff.

In FY 2024 and beyond, we plan to increase self-service options on my Social Security; simplify the online SSI application; and implement an end-to-end mobile-friendly electronic document and evidence service that allows customers to complete, sign, and submit SSA forms and documents online. We will eliminate the need for our employees to manually process mail by continuing efforts to centralize incoming mail, digitize evidence for processing, and use a robust workload control system. We also will consolidate and modernize our systems to help us adapt to future needs and automated processes.

Accomplishments

In FY 2023, we:

Added electronic notices in my Social Security that customers can choose to receive electronically. As of September 2023, 8.7 million users have chosen the electronic notices option;
Gave individuals the ability to track the status of their pending retirement, survivors, Medicare, disability, and aged claims and appeals online instead of having to call or visit a field office. The tracker indicates specifically which step in the decision process their claim is currently, general overall time expectations as well as expected times in each step, and in some situations, contact information for the office where they can direct questions;
Expanded the Analytics and Disability Decision Support/IMAGEN system, which provides modern analytic tools that enable faster and easier reviews of lengthy medical record content, to 130 offices across all 50 States and Washington, D.C. We have processed over 40 million evidence documents and reviewed over 650,000 claims with IMAGEN;
Developed the Hearing Recording and Transcription (HeaRT) infrastructure, which will ultimately eliminate the use of legacy technology, to save costs and maximize flexibility

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for hearing participants. It will produce an accurate and automated transcription to assist with drafting decisions; and

Began developing and testing parts of our SSI Application Simplification initiative.

Major Initiatives

In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to:

Consolidate our benefits legacy mainframe systems and over 100 separate regional applications into a single universal benefits processing experience, the Consolidated Claims Experience system, to support the claims-taking and post-entitlement or post- eligibility process through the lifecycle of a claim for benefits;
Develop and implement a simplified SSI application;
Reduce the burden on the public by eliminating requirements to present original documents or sign documents, and offering electronic signing options;
Expand rollout of HeaRT to improve quality and efficiency in our hearings process;
Sunset legacy applications and improve efficiencies of our code; and
Use VoC feedback to develop and implement human-centered design solutions to address customer pain points and improve customer satisfaction.

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STRATEGIC GOAL 2: BUILD AN INCLUSIVE, ENGAGED, AND

EMPOWERED WORKFORCE

Our employees are the heart of the agency; we strive to foster an environment that allows them to develop and succeed. Increasing demands on a declining number of staff has reduced morale, which we saw in our Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) results. Our Human Resources analyses demonstrated SSA’s FEVS scores were among the highest in Federal government when our funding and staffing were sufficient. After a decade of insufficient funding, we scored among the lowest for the largest agencies in FY 2023.

Our employees work extremely hard to serve the public and provide the best customer service possible. The increase in pending cases and wait times frustrates our customer-focused employees. While technology has helped us serve more beneficiaries than ever, we must find a way to replace the staff necessary to complete our complex workloads. We are empowering our workforce and ensuring inclusion, fairness, accessibility, and equity. We are implementing 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 to accomplishing our mission. Our goal is to improve policies and practices to maintain a representative workforce, including identifying and fostering talent, announcing vacancies using various methods, supporting new members of the workforce, educating managers about bias to ensure fair promotion processes, addressing potential barriers in accessing job opportunities, removing technological and other barriers for employees with disabilities, and complying with laws and regulations related to Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Architectural Barriers Act Accessibility Standards.

We are expanding manager recruitment capabilities by utilizing OPM special hiring authorities (e.g., direct hiring authority for approved mission-critical vacancies, Schedule A, Pathways, Military Spouse) and using new software platforms for direct outreach to colleges and universities nationwide. We are leveraging partnerships with universities and institutions that specifically work with underserved communities and are providing guidance and program oversight for veteran hiring, training, and retention activities. We are increasing the use of social media platforms to recruit students, recent graduates, and direct hire applicants and attract top talent from anywhere in the country. We also are seeking opportunities to increase internships and develop student interest in SSA careers.

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Accomplishments

In FY 2023, we:

Published the FYs 2023-2026 Human Capital Operating Plan (HCOP) in September 2023. The HCOP represents our commitment to ensure that all employees have the tools, resources, and skills needed to serve the public. The HCOP is reflective of our cross-agency collaboration and centers around three Human Capital Strategic Goals: (1) Transform SSA into an Employer of Choice; (2) Improve Workplace Conditions to Drive Engagement; and (3) Invest in Learning and Development;
Used contractors to support existing staff in ongoing workforce planning analysis and to support the administration of our agency-wide inaugural FY 2023 Core and Leadership Competency Assessment to identify skill gaps for future training and career development opportunities outlined in the FYs 2023-2026 HCOP;
Hired over 700 veterans and developed a Veterans New Hire website, which includes links to financial resources and benefits available to veterans; and
Conducted diversity training for managers to increase recruitment efforts of underrepresented talent, using Handshake.

Major Initiatives

In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to:

Release and enhance the Civil Rights and Diversity Empowerment Portal, a consolidated equal opportunity training site for our non-managers, managers, and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) practitioners. We will implement DEIA strategies, policies, practices, and processes to identify and eliminate barriers in hiring and advancement;
Develop a comprehensive Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Outreach Best Practices and Lessons Learned Guide, elevating our engagement strategies. Additionally, we plan to boost HBCU recruitment and attendance at career events by 10 percent compared to the FY 2023 benchmark;
Support hiring opportunities and paid internships that provide meaningful work experiences to students by hiring approximately 1,500 interns in FY 2025; and
Improve accessibility to employees with disabilities; enhance data collection and analysis of reasonable accommodations (RA) requests to inform agency RA policies; and increase function, evaluation, and compliance with Architectural Barriers Act Accessibility Standards and Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

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Support Employees’ Chosen Career Paths

We acknowledge our employees’ abilities and encourage them to pursue their chosen career paths by fostering an engaging workplace environment and by providing training and development opportunities. 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 supervisors with training focused on employee communication, mentorship, and equity. In addition, we are providing opportunities for employees at all levels to participate in development programs that will broaden their skills and prepare them for the next step in their career paths.

Accomplishments

In FY 2023, we:

Implemented mini-flash mentoring events for over 5,000 employees on career development, interpersonal skills, and soft skills with a 96 percent participant satisfaction rate;
Adopted an efficient and effective succession planning business process, using an automated tool (wePrepare) that allows for agency-wide data collection, reporting, and collaboration;
Held two Virtual Career Enrichment Workshops for over 1,000 participants. These workshops provide personal and professional enrichment and growth through training on SSA’s core and leadership competencies;
Scheduled and administered 175 virtual training classes for almost 4,000 agency employees including Project Management, Analyst Curriculum, Professional Development, and Contracting Officers Representative;
Completed first developmental assignment and executive-level training for the Senior Executive Service (SES) Candidate Development Program (CDP) to ensure a pipeline of ready successors for critical SES positions;
Launched the National Leadership Development Program (NLDP) Preparatory Series to train prospective applicants on how to apply for the NLDP; and
Achieved an average post-training assessment score of 90 percent among Reaching Every Supervisor or Leader Very Early (RESOLVE) participants who rated their post-training knowledge as either “adequate” or “high.” RESOLVE is a training initiative to provide proactive training to managers on issues such as time and attendance, performance

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management, and other common issues managers regularly face. The score represents an average 25 percentage point increase in reported knowledge levels between pre-and post- training assessments.

Major Initiatives

In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to:

Enhance our educational series, to include quarterly training and continuation of the SES CDP preparatory series, designed to prepare prospective applicants for the CDP application process;
Announce a re-engineered NLDP opportunity for employees agency-wide;
Implement an updated agency-level Improve Workplace Morale plan, spanning FYs 2024–2025, and component-level plans to serve as roadmaps for change and improvement in the areas of employee morale, recruitment, and retention;
Share agency-wide best practices, tools, and strategies to address employee career path resources, development opportunities, and workplace flexibilities;
Update our supervisory records application (e7B) to keep pace with changes to agency system and security policies, provide a more intuitive user experience for supervisors and employees, and improve supervisors’ compliance with performance management timelines; and
Implement Leadership Fundamentals, a multi-year online and self-paced curriculum that provides sequential training for managers within the first three years of their supervisory roles. The curriculum includes personnel management, labor and employee relations, managing a diverse workplace, managing performance, and health and safety training.

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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 to our mission. We pursue opportunities to improve payment accuracy and prevent improper payments through enhanced technology, data analyses, and fraud prevention, while ensuring we provide our customers with the services and resources they need. We will work with and assess our collaboration 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 CDI program; and funds special attorneys for fraud prosecutions.

The Budget assumes PI funding levels set forth in the FRA in both FYs 2024 and 2025. With this funding, we will process 575,000 full medical CDRs in each of these years. The Budget will allow us to eliminate the CDR backlog in FY 2026 and prevent a new backlog from forming. We will also process around 2.5 million SSI non-medical redeterminations in FY 2024 and FY 2025. For additional details please see our PI exhibit in the LAE section.

Enhancing Our Payment Accuracy Efforts

We are committed to reducing improper payments for each program, especially to ensure that we pay eligible individuals the correct amounts on time. Our commitment to improve the integrity of our programs includes reducing overpayments and underpayments through streamlining our policies and procedures, automating our business processes, and leveraging data through exchanges with other entities. We perform quality reviews, conduct training, and promote timely reporting by beneficiaries. We established an executive-led Overpayment Review Team to conduct a holistic assessment of how our administrative procedures influence our overpayment processes. We are pursuing both regulatory and non-regulatory changes to simplify our policies, which should result in fewer improper payments. In addition, we are adding automated programs to reduce manual data entry and error.

While our payment accuracy rates are high, even small error rates add up to substantial improper payment amounts given the magnitude of the benefits we pay each year. For instance, in FY 2022, the last year for which we have data, we issued about $1.3 trillion in benefit payments,

FY 2025 President’s Budget 39

and our combined overpayments and underpayments for OASDI and SSI totaled approximately $13.6 billion.

Overpayments can occur for many reasons. We handle overpayments on a case-by-case basis given that each person’s situation is unique. However, by law, Social Security is required to adjust benefits or recover debts when people receive payments to which they were not entitled.

Wages are a major cause of payment errors, and we continue to make it easier for people to self- report wages. Individuals can report wage information via the myWageReport online application, the automated SSI Telephone Wage Reporting system, or the SSA Mobile Wage Reporting application. The Payroll Information Exchange (PIE) will be a significant step forward in improving customer service and combating improper payments. By receiving payroll information directly from payroll data providers and using that data to automatically adjust benefits, PIE will help prevent overpayments. PIE will help our customers by reducing the responsibility to report wage information. PIE will also help our technicians by eliminating work and time spent obtaining and verifying wage data.

We are working to simplify our overpayment notices so individuals clearly understand the overpayment, as well as available options to repay, appeal, or request a waiver. We tell people to call us if they think they are not at fault for an overpayment of $1,000 or less, as we may be able to process the request quickly over the phone. In FY 2024, we are identifying, evaluating, and simplifying our overpayment notices and other correspondence. Our initial focus will be on notices that can be quickly updated using one of our automated systems. We will also use a variety of resources to communicate to the public and advocates on improper payment matters, including reminders about reporting responsibilities and waiver and appeal rights. For additional detail and a list of our initiatives, please see our Improper Payments exhibit in the LAE section.

Enhancing Our Fraud Prevention and Detection Activities

Our PI and payment accuracy efforts include initiatives to combat fraud. For example, our National Anti-Fraud Committee (NAFC) provides a forum for leaders to collaborate and provide guidance on fraud challenges and mitigation opportunities. We have established a robust Enterprise Fraud Risk Management program. We are conducting Fraud Risk Assessments for our major programmatic areas on a regular basis, while providing training to our employees to equip them with tools to effectively prevent, detect, and resolve fraud issues.

Our OGC maintains a robust Criminal Fraud Program in which criminal fraud prosecutors are recruited, hired, and assigned as Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys (SAUSA) to U.S. Attorney’s Offices around the country. These SAUSAs work with our OIG and other law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute cases of alleged Social Security fraud and related crimes that would not otherwise be prosecuted in Federal courts. Consistent with U.S. Department of Justice priorities, our SAUSAs have expanded their caseloads to include investigating and prosecuting widespread imposter scams and the widespread fraudulent use of stolen SSNs and other personally identifiable information to commit aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, money laundering, and other crimes.

FY 2025 President’s Budget 40

Accomplishments

In FY 2023, we:

Conducted a media campaign, with videos on YouTube, social media platforms, and in field offices, to explain the importance of reporting wages and the various options that are available to report;
Simplified the Request for Waiver of Overpayment Recovery form;
Initiated a fraud risk profile and completed several fraud risk assessments to ensure the integrity of our programs;
Revised the NAFC Charter to mandate quarterly meetings and ensure ongoing collaboration as outlined in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) December 2021 Memo: Promoting Accountability through Cooperation among Agencies and Inspectors General. We held the Third Annual Anti-Fraud Summit in September 2023. The Summit brought together agency and OIG leadership to address fraud issues facing the agency;
Provided mandatory anti-fraud training for all employees;
Updated the Representative Payee System to ensure we perform background checks at least once every five years for all non-exempt representative payees for Social Security beneficiaries; and
Received the Certificate of Excellence in Accountability Reporting for the 25th year in a row, an unprecedented accomplishment in the Federal Government, which demonstrates our dedication to transparent and accurate financial reporting.

Major Initiatives

In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to:

Improve equity in the SSI program by increasing underpayment processing of our oldest and highest priority cases, including those disproportionately impacted by poverty;
Re-assess fraud risks in the eServices and Administrative programs, and complete the Disability program fraud risk re-assessment and the Enumeration and Debt Management fraud risk profiles;

FY 2025 President’s Budget 41

Re-assess fraud risks in the Representative Payee and SSI programs; complete the re- assessment of fraud risk in the eServices, Administrative, and Representative Payee programs; and the Disability fraud risk profile;
Reevaluate the NAFC Charter to ensure it reflects current roles, responsibilities, and agency objectives and initiatives. We will hold mandatory quarterly meetings and the Annual Anti-Fraud Summit;
Maintain a corps of 35 SAUSAs to deter Social Security fraud, investigate and prosecute individuals who defraud the government, and secure court-ordered restitution for the agency. We will explore opportunities to expand our coverage by having SAUSAs work remotely to prosecute cases in Federal districts adjacent to their home districts; and
Provide mandatory anti-fraud training for all employees.

Addressing the Climate Crisis

Our Sustainability Plan demonstrates our commitment to reducing energy use at our delegated 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 will transition our vehicle fleet to Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) and reduce our carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions. 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 target is to achieve 86 percent ZEV acquisitions in 2025.

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Improve Operations

Consistent with EO 14110, Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, we acknowledge the need to balance the rapidly evolving nature of technology and artificial intelligence (AI), with national security and potential perils to the public. To satisfy the requirements of the EO, we have officially assigned the role of Responsible AI Official (RAIO) to our Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer (CAIO) and established a Responsible AI (RAI) Core Team, which includes the Acting CAIO and representation from various SSA components. This Core Team will be the first line of review for all things related to AI at our agency. In addition, we are establishing an AI Executive Council to provide strategic leadership and oversight, while ensuring the implementation of AI technology is in alignment with our strategic goals. The RAI

FY 2025 President’s Budget 42

Core Team will develop guidance, policies, and training to use generative AI21 technology safely and responsibly at the agency.

\mathrm{A I}^{21}

We introduced a policy to emphasize our commitment to designing, developing, acquiring, utilizing, and evaluating AI in a manner that builds public trust and confidence while safeguarding privacy, civil rights, civil liberties, and American values. The policy defines the scope of AI and sets key principles governing SSA's AI governance. Our policy mandates the annual maintenance and public availability of the agency's current AI inventory on SSA.gov/data. Furthermore, the policy identifies the roles and responsibilities of the RAIO, various agency components, and members of AI use case teams. Our AI policy outlines the process for integrating new AI use cases and emphasizes ongoing coordination with the agency's Enterprise Risk Management Council, Investment Review Board, and National Anti-Fraud Council for AI governance.

We recognize the opportunities offered by AI, such as increased efficiency, higher quality, more equitable service, and more substantive work for our staff. We will explore ways to responsibly leverage cutting-edge technologies to enhance our operations and improve public service, while engaging in ongoing research to identify suitable use cases for AI and evaluate postimplementation effects. In the interim, we instituted a temporary block on third-party generative AI tools on agency devices to prevent the release of personally identifiable information or other sensitive data, while we develop further guidance, policies, and training to ensure the safe use of AI.

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, detecting threats quickly, sharing cyber threat information with our Federal and industry partners, and making new investments to mature and expand our Zero Trust Architecture. For additional details, please see our IT exhibit in the LAE section.

21 Generative AI refers to algorithms used to create new content, including audio, code, images, text, simulations, and videos, based on the data they were trained on.

Accomplishments

In FY 2023, we:

Enhanced our security controls to address the risks inherent in our legacy applications, ensuring continuous monitoring, a comprehensive integrity review process, and employee access to only the resources that are appropriate for their job function;
Received support from the Technology Modernization Fund to accelerate Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to improve our security posture and reduce risks from compromised credentials; and
Evolved the agency’s Integrity Review application to a cloud-based infrastructure, improving the application’s security posture and enhanced analytics capabilities.

Major Initiatives

In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to:

Update privacy protection and compliance training for employees based on their roles within the agency;
Accelerate phishing-resistant MFA for all internal agency systems, which will strengthen protections for our customers’ sensitive data; and
Build upon our cybersecurity efforts with both short-term and long-term authentication strategies that incorporate market innovation and data-driven, secure, and privacy- enhancing solutions to protect individuals and prevent fraud. We will establish services that offer the highest authentication security on the market, support an omni-channel service approach, reduce operational costs, and provide access for all individuals who wish to conduct online business with the agency.

Identify and Eliminate Potential Barriers to Accessing Contracts and Grants

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 are devising best practices to encourage participation by HBCUs 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 within the process, 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

FY 2025 President’s Budget 44

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

In FY 2023, we:

Created a Listserv of contacts at various ISSCs and professional organizations with the goal of engaging directly with individuals with interest in our research programs;
Announced the Retirement and Disability Research Consortium (RDRC) funding opportunity and sent the Request for Applications to the newly created Listserv to notify potential applicants. We held two information sessions on the RDRC geared towards assisting applicants unfamiliar with the application process and have taken steps to make our review processes more equitable;
Created language for a Small Business Evaluation Factor to use in our General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule procurements;
Upgraded the Small Business Forecasting tool, on our public-facing Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization webpage, to provide more timely and robust information to small businesses; and
Received a score of “A” from the Small Business Administration (SBA) for increasing our contracting with small businesses and small disadvantaged businesses.

Major Initiatives

In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to:

Track changes in the number of applications and proposals submitted to us by, and the percentage of research grants and procurement opportunities we award to, HBCUs, ISSCs, and small and disadvantaged businesses to evaluate and improve our outreach and engagement efforts and ensure access to our research grants and procurement opportunities;
Maximize use of the Listserv and seek opportunities to engage with the ISSC research community;
Partner with other agencies to identify best practices for increasing participation by HBCUs and ISSCs in grant, cooperative agreement, and contracting opportunities;

FY 2025 President’s Budget 45

Work with the SBA Procurement Center Representative to identify contractors who can meet our needs and help us ensure equity for underrepresented groups;
Conduct monthly outreach meetings with the vendor community to discuss upcoming contracting opportunities and help small businesses, including HUBZone businesses and other disadvantaged businesses, find possible subcontracting opportunities; and
Implement language for a Small Business Evaluation Factor to use in our GSA Schedule procurements.

Improve Organizational Performance and Policy Implementation

We are advancing administrative actions to simplify the SSI program, improve case processing, and leverage partnerships to reduce burden on our customers and improve customer service.

Simplify Our Policies and Procedures

Our disability determinations process continues to result in decisions in line with our statute, and we continue updates to 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.

SSI Simplification

We are revising our regulations and simplifying policies and business processes to make applying for SSI less burdensome for people, especially individuals facing barriers to accessing our services. We are using user-centered design to streamline the SSI application.

In August 2023, we updated our policies on the temporary institutionalization (TI) benefits policy, which allows for the continued receipt of SSI payments while in a medical facility for an extended period of time that does not exceed 90 days. We also created and implemented Form SSA-186: Temporary Institutionalization Statement to Maintain Household and Physician Certification. These changes make it easier for recipients facing barriers, representative payees, and medical institutions to provide the documentation necessary for obtaining TI benefits.

We are working on regulations to simplify our In-Kind Support and Maintenance (ISM) policy. ISM is unearned income in the form of food and shelter and can affect the SSI benefit amount. In FY 2023, we published three NPRMs that will omit food as a source of ISM, expand the rental subsidy exception policy nationwide, and expand the definition of Public Assistance Household. We plan to publish the final rules in FY 2024.

FY 2025 President’s Budget 46

Disability Determination Case Processing Enhancements

We are improving disability case processing and hearings and appeals case processing systems through our enterprise-wide efforts to develop and implement modern, national claims processing systems. The two systems will seamlessly interact with each other from initial claim filing through a final appeal decision. In FY 2023, we supported ongoing DCPS2 operations and introduced capabilities to reduce dependency on inefficient and outdated software applications. We eliminated all remaining exclusion scenarios, and all new cases are now being worked in DCPS2.

All DDSs and Federal disability processing components are using DCPS2, which now supports initial and reconsideration disability case processing across the agency. Out of 52 DDSs, 50 are using DCPS2 exclusively, and 48 have decommissioned their legacy systems. As of December 2023, DCPS2 has received 11.1 million claims and has processed 8.7 million claim determinations.

We are bringing decision support tools to many aspects of the disability determination process to improve decisional accuracy and policy compliance.

Hearings and Appeals Case Processing System

HACPS facilitates end-to-end hearings case development, includes robust MI reporting, and supports the retirement of outdated legacy applications. In FY 2023, we mandated the use of HACPS in 100 percent of hearing offices and national hearing centers and reduced reliance on legacy systems by implementing functionality associated with receipt, workup, scheduling, and case closure.

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 collaborated with Treasury and OMB to start a data exchange and reimbursable statutory agreement that allows us to provide State death data to Treasury for their Do Not Pay (DNP) system with the goal of preventing improper payments to deceased individuals. We delivered the State death information to DNP on December 27, 2023.

We are developing PIE to prevent overpayments by allowing us to electronically access wage and employment data directly from payroll providers for individuals who authorize us to obtain it.

FY 2025 President’s Budget 47

We are working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to increase 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 2023 Update. As of December 2023, nine States/territories have agreed to participate in our initiative to include race and ethnicity data through Enumeration at Birth. We use race and ethnicity information for research and statistical purposes only, to help ensure all SSA customers are treated equitably.

Accomplishments

In FY 2023, we:

Published three NPRMs that will simplify ISM policy: o Omitting Food from ISM: The proposed rule would remove food as a source of ISM, so that food assistance received from others does not impact claimants’ benefit eligibility and amounts. We also proposed to add conforming language to our definition of income, excluding food from the ISM calculation. o Expanding the Definition of a Public Assistance Household: The proposed rule would expand the definition of a public assistance household to include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as an additional means-tested public income maintenance program. We also requested public comment on expanding the definition to include households in which any other (as opposed to every other) member receives public assistance. When other household members receive assistance, we assume that they need their income to support their own needs and do not subject the SSI claimant to ISM or deeming. o Expanding the Rental Subsidy Policy: The proposed rule would expand nationwide the rental subsidy exception in effect in seven States, exempting claimants from ISM in the form of room or rent if the amount they pay in rent equals or exceeds the presumed maximum value or current market rental value, whichever is less.
Achieved national implementation of DCPS2 in the State DDSs and mandatory use of HACPS in our hearings offices to improve consistency and quality of our disability processes; and
Conducted pre-implementation development of PIE by creating wage-reporting notices specific to the exchange, updating existing authorization receipt language, and creating special alerts for cases that require manual review by a technician.

FY 2025 President’s Budget 48

Major Initiatives

In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to:

Release our online SSI benefits application;
Publish final regulations that will help us simplify our programs, improve service, and reduce improper payments;
Improve data collection for program data on race and ethnicity so we can examine whether our programs are equitably serving our applicants and beneficiaries;
Automate wages received from payroll data providers through PIE, refining the use of third-party data and reducing manual workloads; and
Develop enhancements to improve the quality and efficiency of our DCPS2 processes, which will help us reduce the disability claims backlog.

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OTHER ADMINISTRATION INITIATIVES: LOOKING

TOWARD THE FUTURE

Protects the Social Security Benefits that Americans Have Earned

The Administration is committed to protecting and strengthening Social Security and opposes any attempt to cut Social Security benefits as well as proposals to privatize Social Security. The Administration believes that protecting Social Security should start with asking the highest- income Americans to pay their fair share. In addition, the Administration supports efforts to improve Social Security benefits, as well as Supplemental Security Income benefits, for seniors and people with disabilities, especially for those who face the greatest challenges making ends meet.

Provides National, Comprehensive Paid Family and Medical Leave

The vast majority of America’s workers do not have access to employer-provided paid family leave, including 73 percent of private sector workers. Among the lowest-paid workers, who are disproportionately women and workers of color, 94 percent lack access to paid family leave through their employers. In addition, 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 —otherwise known as “safe leave.” 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.

Extends 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.

Authorizes SSA to refer Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security

Income beneficiaries to State Vocational Rehabilitation Services

The Budget proposes increasing beneficiaries’ access to vocational rehabilitation services, particularly for SSI transition-age youth who are not eligible for services through the Ticket to Work program. The Budget assumes that SSA will only make referrals upon the State agency’s request and that beneficiaries’ participation would be voluntary.

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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

FY 2025 PRESIDENT'S BUDGET

Key Tables

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

FY2025	FTE	Amount
Payments to Social Security Trust Funds		$15,000,000
Supplemental Security Income(SSI)Program	-
FY2025Request	-	$46,555,635,000^{1}$
FY2026FirstQuarterAdvance	-	$22,100,000,000
LimitationonAdministrativeExpenses(LAE)	$59,211^{2}$	$15,401,924,000^{3}$
OfficeoftheInspectorGeneral(OIG)	531	$121,254,000

^9{,11}^{2}

1 Excludes $21,700,000,000, previously reported in the FY 2024 President’s Budget as a first quarter advance for FY 2025. 2 FTEs include those funded from dedicated funding for program integrity and for reimbursable work.

2 FTEs include those funded from dedicated funding for program integrity and for reimbursable work. 3 Includes $170,000,000 for SSI State Supplementary user fees and up to $1,000,000 for non-attorney user fees.

3 Includes $170,000,000 for SSI State Supplementary user fees and up to $1,000,000 for non-attorney user fees.

Table i.2 – SSA Full Time Equivalents and Workyears

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate	ChangeFY24/FY25
SSA Full Time Equivalents	58,485	57,490	59,211	1,721
SSA Overtime/Lump Sum Leave	2,932	2,042	2,409	367
Subtotal，SSA Workyears1,2	61,417	59,532	61,620	2,088
Disability Determination Services(DDS)Workyears	13,554	13,364	13,555	191
Subtotal，SSA and DDS Workyears	74,971	72,896	75,175	2,279
OIG Full Time Equivalents	500	516	531	15
OIG Overtime/Lump Sum Leave	1	1	1	0
Subtotal，OIG Workyears	501	517	532	15
TOTAL SSA/DDS/OIGWORKYEARS	75,472	73,413	75,707	2,294

2 Due to variations in the reporting of Full-Time Equivalents, the workyears included in this table will not match those included in the Budget Appendix.

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

	FY 2023Actual	FY 2024Estimate	FY 2025Estimate	ChangeFY 24/FY 25
Trust Fund Programs
Old-Age and Survivors Insurance(OASI)	$1,202,046	$1,301,423	$1,386,174	$84,751
Disability Insurance(DI)	$152,519	$156,348	$163,592	$7,244
Subtotal，Trust Fund Programs	$1,354,565	$1,457,771	$1,549,766	$91,995
General Fund Programs
Supplemental Security Income(SSI)	$64,588	$61,867	$68,290	$6,423
Special Benefits for Certain World War II Veterans^{2}$	$0	$0	$0	$0
Subtotal，General Fund Programs	$64,588	$61,867	$68,290	$6,423
TOTAL SSA Outlays，Current Law	$1,419,153	$1,519,638	$1,618,056	$98,418
Percent change from FY 2024				6.48%

Percent change from FY 2024

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

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate	ChangeFY24/FY25
Outlays
OASI Benefits	$1,192,126	$1,291,318	$1,375,713	$84,395
DI Benefits	$149,443	$153,462	$160,587	$7,125
Other3	$12,996	$12,991	$13,466	$475
TOTAL OUTLAYS，Current Law	$1,354,565	$1,457,771	$1,549,766	$91,995
Income
OASI	$1,152,202	$1,197,897	$1,240,796	$42,899
DI	$180,745	$189,564	$197,917	$8,353
TOTAL INCOME，Current Law	$1,332,947	$1,387,461	$1,438,713	$51,252

1 Totals may not equal sums of component parts due to rounding. 2 Totals are less than $500,000 for all years.

Totals are less than $500,000 for all years. 3 “Other” includes SSA & non-SSA administration expenses, beneficiary services, payment to the Railroad Retirement Board, demonstration projects, and in FY 2023, includes prior year Employment Tax refund.

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

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate	ChangeFY24/FY25
Average Number of Beneficiaries
OASI	57,529	58,869	60,216	1,347
DI	8,765	8,491	8,436	-55
TOTAL BENEFICIARIES	66,294	67,360	68,652	1,292
Average Monthly Benefit
Retired Worker	$1,795	$1,897	$1,975	$78
Disabled Worker	$1,455	$1,527	$1,580	$53
COLA Payable in January	8.7%	3.2%	2.8%	-0.4%

	FY 2023Actual	FY 2024Estimate	FY 2025Estimate	ChangeFY 24/FY 25
Federal Benefits1	$60,031	$57,235	$63,108	$5,873
Other2	$4,551	$4,875	$5,188	$313
Subtotal,Federal Outlays	$64,582	$62,110	$68,296	$6,186
State Supplementary Benefits	$3,123	$3,140	$3,475	$335
State Supplementary Reimbursements	-$3,118	-$3,383	-$3,481	-$98
Subtotal,Net State Supplementary Payments3	$6	-$243	-$6	$237
TOTAL OUTLAYS,Current Law	$64,588	$61,867	$68,290	$6,423

2 “Other" includes beneficiary services, research, and administrative expenses. 3 States must reimburse us in advance for State Supplementary Payments. There will always be 12 State

1 FY 2023 had 12 payments, FY 2024 has 11 payments, and FY 2025 has 12 payments. 2 “Other" includes beneficiary services, research, and administrative expenses.

“Other" includes beneficiary services, research, and administrative expenses. 3 States must reimburse us in advance for State Supplementary Payments. There will always be 12 State reimbursements in each fiscal year, but there can be 11, 12, or 13 benefit payments per fiscal year because a monthly payment is advanced into the end of the previous month anytime the due date falls on a weekend or holiday. Hence, the “Net State Supplementary Payment” numbers vary from year-to-year depending on the timing of the October benefit payments at the beginning and end of each fiscal year. 4 Totals may not equal sums of component parts due to rounding.

4 Totals may not equal sums of component parts due to rounding.

Table i.7 – SSI Recipients and Benefit Payments1 (Recipients in thousands)

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate	ChangeFY24/FY25
Average Number of SSI Recipients
Federal Recipients
Aged	1,095	1,113	1,127	14
Blind or Disabled	6,287	6,192	6,146	-46
SUBTOTAL,FEDERALRECIPIENTS	7,382	7,304	7,273	-31
State Supplement Recipients(withno Federal SSI payment)	134	135	137	2
TOTAL SSI RECIPIENTS,Current Law	7,516	7,440	7,411	-29
SSI Federal Recipients Concurrently Receiving
OASDI Benefits(included above)	2,532	2,515	2,513	-2
Average Monthly Benefit
Aged	$485	$508	$526	$18
Blind and Disabled	$698	$729	$749	$20
AVERAGE,All SSI Recipients	$667	$695	$715	$20
Projected COLA Payable in January	8.7%	3.2%	2.8%	-0.4%

Table i.8 – Special Benefits for Certain WWII Veterans Overview2 (Outlays in millions)

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate	ChangeFY24/FY25
Federal Benefits	$0	$0	$0	$0
Administration	$0	$0	$0	$0
TOTAL OUTLAYS	$0	$0	$0	$0
Average Number of Beneficiaries	56	41	24	-17
Average Monthly Benefit	288	295	304	9

1 Totals may not equal sums of component parts due to rounding. 2 Federal benefits and administrative expenses are less than $500,000 in all years.

2 Federal benefits and administrative expenses are less than $500,000 in all years.

Table i.9 – Administrative Outlays as a Percent of 1 Trust Fund Income and Benefit Payments - FY 2025 (in millions)

	Administrative Outlays	Trust Fund Income	Percent of Trust Fund Income
OASI	$3876	$1240796	0.3%
DI	$2661	$197917	1.3%
OASDI (combined)	$6537	$1438713	0.5%

	Administrative Outlays	Benefit Payments	Percent of Benefit Payments
OASI	$3876	$1375713	0.3%
DI	$2661	$160587	1.7%
Subtotal, OASDI (combined)	$6537	$1536300	0.4%
SSI(Federal and State)	$5098	$66583	7.7%
Other2	$4038	-	-
TOTAL	$15673	$1602883	1.0%

1 Totals may not equal sums of component parts due to rounding. 2 Includes administrative outlays for Hospital Insurance and Supplemental Medical Insurance ($3.902 billion),

Totals may not equal sums of component parts due to rounding. 2 Includes administrative outlays for Hospital Insurance and Supplemental Medical Insurance ($3.902 billion), administrative outlays from the General Fund to OIG, SCHIP, MIPPA LIS ($33 million), and reimbursables ($103 million). Our calculation of discretionary administrative expenses excludes Treasury administrative expenses, which are mandatory outlays.

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

	CY 2023	CY 2024	CY 2025	Change CY 24/CY 25
Employer/Employee Rates(each)
OASDI(Social Security)	6.20%	6.20%	6.20%	0.0%
Hospital Insurance(HI)(Medicare)	1.45%	1.45%	1.45%	0.0%
EMPLOYEE TOTAL	7.65%	7.65%	7.65%	0.0%
Self-Employment Rates
OASDI(Social Security)	12.40%	12.40%	12.40%	0.0%
HI(Medicare)	2.90%	2.90%	2.90%	0.0%
TOTAL	15.30%	15.30%	15.30%	0.0%
Cost of Living Adjustments(COLAs)
January	8.7%	3.2%	2.8%	-0.4%
Contribution and Benefit Base
OASDI	$160,200	$168,600	$176,700	$8,100
HI(no cap)	(no cap)	(no cap)	(no cap)
Annual Retirement Test
Year Individual Reaches Full Retirement Age(FRA)^{1}$	$56,520	$59,520	$62,400	$2,880
Under Full Retirement Age	$21,240	$22,320	$23,400	$1,080
Wages Required for a Quarter of Coverage	$1,640	$1,730	$1,810	$80

1 For months prior to attaining FRA. There is no limit on earnings beginning the month an individual attains full

retirement age.

THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK.

Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds

CONTENTS

APPROPRIATION LANGUAGE ... 11

GENERAL STATEMENT ... 12

Annual Appropriation ... 12 Permanent Indefinite Authority ... 13 BUDGETARY RESOURCES ... 15 Budget Authority and Obligations by Activity ... 16 Obligations by Object Class ... 18 BACKGROUND ... 19 Authorizing Legislation ... 19 Appropriation History ... 20 PENSION REFORM ... 22 Purpose and Method of Operation ... 22 Rationale for Budget Request ... 23 UNNEGOTIATED CHECKS ... 24 Purpose and Method of Operation ... 24 Rationale for Budget Request ... 26 COAL INDUSTRY RETIREE HEALTH BENEFITS ... 27 Purpose and Method of Operation ... 27 Progress to Date ... 28

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds

TABLES

Table 1.1—Annual Appropriation and Obligations ... 12

Table 1.2—Amounts Available for Obligation ... 15

Table 1.3—New Budget Authority & Obligations, Annual Authority ... 16

Table 1.4—Budget Authority and Obligations, Permanent Indefinite Authority ... 17

Table 1.5—Obligations by Object ... 18

Table 1.6—Authorizing Legislation ... 19

Table 1.7—Appropriation History Table ... 20

Table 1.8—Pension Reform: Budget Authority ... 22

Table 1.9—Pension Reform: Obligations ... 23

Table 1.10—Receipts from Pension Coverage Reports ... 23

Table 1.11—Unnegotiated Checks: Budget Authority ... 24

Table 1.12—Unnegotiated Checks: Obligations ... 25

Table 1.13—Direct Deposit Participation Rate ... 25

Table 1.14—Unnegotiated Checks: Budget Authority by Trust Fund ... 26

Table 1.15—Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefits: Obligations ... 27

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds

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, $15,000,000.

Note.—A full-year 2024 appropriation for this account was not enacted at the time the Budget was prepared; therefore, the Budget assumes this account is operating under the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2024, and Other Extensions Act (Division A of Public Law 118- 15, as amended). The amounts included for 2024 reflect the annualized level provided by the continuing resolution.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds

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 2025.

The FY 2025 annual appropriation request is $4 million more than the FY 2024 level because of a rise in the actual and projected interest rates on new issues to the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) trust funds, which results in higher interest adjustments due to the trust funds from Unnegotiated Checks. 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.

Social Security checks, like those issued by other Federal agencies, are negotiable for only 12 months from their date of issue. Under the "Limited Payability" procedure, the value of unnegotiated checks issued on or after October 1, 1989, is credited directly to the trust funds from Treasury's general fund when the checks are canceled. These funds do not pass through the Payments to Social Security Trust Funds account, but the interest adjustments do pass through this account.

Section 1131 of the Social Security Act requires the Commissioner of Social Security to furnish information regarding deferred vested pension rights to pension plan participants (and their dependents or survivors). It permits the administrative expenses of carrying out this pension reform work to be funded initially from the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund through SSA's Limitation on Administrative Expenses and authorizes an annual appropriation of Federal funds to reimburse the OASI Trust Fund.

Table 1.1—Annual Appropriation and Obligations

(In thousands)

FY 2023 FY 2024 FY 2025 FY 2024 to FY 2025 Actual Estimate Estimate Change Appropriation $11,000 $11,000 $15,000 +$4,000

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds

FY 2023 FY 2024 FY 2025 FY 2024 to FY 2025 Actual Estimate Estimate Change Obligations1 $6,241 $11,050 $15,050 +$4,000

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 $55,582 million in FY 2024 and $60,536 million in FY 2025 from U.S. citizens; the taxes imposed on aliens are withheld from benefit payments and will generate estimated income of $303 million in FY 2024 and $323 million in FY 2025. The estimates for taxation of benefits reflect corresponding growth related to benefit levels and the beneficiary population.

1 The obligations include Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefits Act activity, funded from unobligated balances carried forward from prior years. These funds, provided in FYs 1996 and 1997, remain available until expended to reimburse the trust funds.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds

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 2024 and 2025, $10 million will be temporarily funded by SSA’s Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) appropriation prior to reimbursement from general funds.

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.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

BUDGETARY RESOURCES

The FY 2025 annual appropriation request for PTF is $15,000,000. We expect to make $60,884,050,000 in payments to the trust funds in FY 2025, including amounts appropriated under permanent indefinite authority.

Table 1.2—Amounts Available for Obligation1 (In thousands)

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate
Annual Appropriation	$11,000	$11,000	$15,000
Permanent Appropriation	50,795,604	55,895,000	60,869,000
Total Appropriation	50,806,604	55,906,000	60,884,000
Unobligated Balance，Start-of-Year	$12,822	$12,822	$12,772
Subtotal Budgetary Resources	$50,819,426	$55,918,822	$60,896,772
Obligations	$50,801,845	$55,906,050	$60,884,050
Unobligated Balance，End-of-Year	$12,822	$12,772	$12,722
Unobligated Balance，Lapsing	$4,759	$0	$0

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.

1 Totals may not add due to rounding.

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 1.3—New Budget Authority & Obligations, Annual Authority1 (In thousands)

	FY 2023Actual	FY 2024Estimate	FY 2025Estimate
Appropriation
Pension Reform	$6,000	$6,000	$6,000
Unnegotiated Checks	$5,000	$5,000	$9,000
Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefits	$0	$0	$0
Total Annual Appropriation	$11,000	$11,000	$15,000
Obligations
Pension Reform	$2,430	$6,000	$6,000
Unnegotiated Checks	$3,811	$5,000	$9,000
Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefits	$0	$50	$50
Total Obligations	$6,241	$11,050	$15,050

1 Totals may not add due to rounding.

Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds

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 1.4—Budget Authority and Obligations, Permanent Indefinite Authority (In thousands)

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate
Appropriation
Reimb. for Union Administrative Expenses	$9,784	$10,000	$10,000
Employee Payroll Tax Holiday1	$140	$0	$0
Taxation of Benefits,U.S.	$50,503,978	$55,582,000	$60,536,000
Taxation of Benefits,Nonresident Alien	$281,700	$303,000	$323,000
FICA Tax Credits	$0	$0	$0
SECA Tax Credits	$2	$0	$0
Total Permanent Appropriation	$50,795,604	$55,895,000	$60,869,000
Obligations
Reimb. for Union Administrative Expenses	$9,784	$10,000	$10,000
Employee Payroll Tax Holiday	$140	$0	$0
Taxation of Benefits,U.S.	$50,503,978	$55,582,000	$60,536,000
Taxation of Benefits,Nonresident Alien	$281,700	$303,000	$323,000
FICA Tax Credits	$0	$0	$0
SECA Tax Credits	$2	$0	$0
Total Obligations	$50,795,604	$55,895,000	$60,869,000

1 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 the loss in tax revenue (Title VI, Sec 601). While the law has expired, we expect additional adjustments for prior years will continue to occur.

Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds

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 1.5—Obligations by Object (In thousands)

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate
Other Services	$16,027	$21,050	$25,050
Financial Transfers	$50,785,678	$55,885,000	$60,859,000
Financial Transfers:Employee Payroll TaxHoliday	$140	$0	$0
Total Obligations	$50,801,845	$55,906,050	$60,884,050

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

Table 1.6—Authorizing Legislation (In thousands)

	Amount Authorized	FY 2023 Actual	FY 2024 Estimate	FY 2025 Estimate
Pension Reform: S.S. Act, Section 1131(b)(2)	Indefinite	$6,000	$6,000	$6,000
Unnegotiated Checks: S.S. Act, Section 201(m); Social Security Amendments of 1983, Section 152	Indefinite	$5,000	$5,000	$9,000
Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefits: Internal Revenue Code of 1986, Sections 9704 and 9706; Energy Policy Act of 1992, Section 19141^{1}$	Indefinite	$0	$0	$0
Subtotal Annual PTF Appropriation		$11,000	$11,000	$15,000
Reimbursement for Union Administrative Expenses: FY 2002 Social Security Appropriations Act	Permanent Indefinite	$9,784	$10,000	$10,000
Employee Payroll Tax Holiday: P.L. 111-312, Section 601, As Amended By Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act: P.L. 112-78	Permanent Indefinite	$140	$0	$0
Taxation of Benefits, U.S.: Social Security Amendments of 1983, Section 121	Permanent Indefinite	$50,503,978	$55,582,000	$60,536,000
Taxation of Benefits, Nonresident Aliens: Social Security Amendments of 1983, Section 121	Permanent Indefinite	$281,700	$303,000	$323,000
FICA/SECA Tax Credits: Social Security Amendments of 1983, Section 124(b)	Permanent Indefinite	$2	$0	$0
Subtotal Permanent PTF Appropriation		$50,795,604	$55,895,000	$60,869,000
Total Appropriation		$50,806,604	$55,906,000	$60,884,000

1 We do not request additional funds because the balance of the $10,000,000 per year appropriated in FYs 1996 and 1997 remains available until expended to reimburse the trust funds.

Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds

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 1.7—Appropriation History Table

Fiscal Year	Budget Estimate to Congress	House Committee Passed	Senate Committee Passed	Enacted Appropriation
2015	$16,400,000	$16,400,000^{1}$	- - $^{2}$	$16,400,000^{3}$
2016	$20,400,000	$20,400,000^{4}$	$20,400,000^{5}$	$11,400,000^{6}$
2017	$11,400,000	$11,400,000^{7}$	$11,400,000^{8}$	$11,400,000^{9}$
2018	$11,400,000	$11,400,000^{10}$	$11,400,000^{11}$	$11,400,000^{12}$
2019	$11,000,000	$11,000,000^{13}$	$11,000,000^{14}$	$11,000,000^{15}$
2020	$11,000,000	$11,000,000^{16}$	- - $^{17}$	$11,000,000^{18}$
2021	$11,000,000	$11,000,000^{19}$	- - $^{20}$	$11,000,000^{21}$
2022	$11,000,000	$11,000,000^{22}$	- - $^{23}$	$11,000,000^{24}$
2023	$11,000,000	$11,000,000^{25}$	- - $^{26}$	$11,000,000^{27}$
2024	$10,000,000	$10,000,000^{28}$	$10,000,000^{29}$
2025	$15,000,000

1 H.R. 83. 2 The Senate Committee on Appropriations did not report a bill.

H.R. 83. 2 The Senate Committee on Appropriations did not report a bill. 3 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235).

The Senate Committee on Appropriations did not report a bill. 3 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235). 4 H.R. 3020.

S. 3158. 15 Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019 and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019 (P.L 115-245). 16 H.R. 2740.

12 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L 115-141). 13 H.R. 6470.

5 S. 1695. 6 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113).

Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235). 4 H.R. 3020. 5 S. 1695.

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L 115-141). 13 H.R. 6470. 14 S. 3158.

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113). 7 H.R. 5926. 8 S. 3040. 9 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (P.L 115-31).

H.R. 2740. 17 The Senate Committee on Appropriations did not report a bill.

Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds

18 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020 in the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-94). 19

H.R. 7614. 20 The Senate Committee on Appropriations did not report a bill. 21 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260). 22

H.R. 4502 23 The Senate Committee on Appropriations did not report a bill 24 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (P.L. 117-103). 25

H.R. 8295 26 The Senate Committee on Appropriations did not report a bill. 27 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328) 28

H.R. 5894. The House bill was passed at the subcommittee level and did not go to the full committee. 29

S. 2624.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

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 1.8—Pension Reform: Budget Authority

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate	FY2024toFY2025Change
Budget Authority	$6,000,000	$6,000,000	$6,000,000	$0

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. We began to incur pension reform administrative expenses in FY 1977.

Table 1.9—Pension Reform: Obligations

Fiscal Year	Obligations
FY 2015	$858,477
FY 2016	$1,421,941
FY 2017	$881,832
FY 2018	$1,582,104
FY 2019	$1,000,827
FY 2020	$862,908
FY 2021	$2,643,759
FY 2022	$1,918,944
FY 2023	$2,430,320
FY 2024 Estimate	$6,000,000
FY 2025 Estimate	$6,000,000

RATIONALE FOR BUDGET REQUEST

The FY 2025 budget requests $6,000,000 to reimburse the OASI Trust Fund for the cost of carrying out our responsibilities under the Pension Reform Act. The FY 2025 request is the same as the full-year continuing resolution level for FY 2024. The table below summarizes the recent trend of pension coverage report receipts:

Table 1.10—Receipts from Pension Coverage Reports

Fiscal Year	Pension Coverage Report Receipts
FY 2015	6,310,851
FY 2016	7,964,997
FY 2017	7,061,212
FY 2018	7,243,179
FY 2019	6,414,367
FY 2020	6,706,157
FY 2021	7,091,453
FY 2022	7,529,828
FY 2023	7,753,653

Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds

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 1.11—Unnegotiated Checks: Budget Authority

FY 2023 FY 2024 FY 2025 FY 2024 to Actual Estimate Estimate FY 2025 Change

Budget Authority $5,000,000 $5,000,000 $9,000,000 +$4,000,000

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 14 th 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.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Table 1.12—Unnegotiated Checks: Obligations

Fiscal Year	Obligations
FY 2015	$2,989,099
FY 2016	$2,091,901
FY 2017	$2,028,629
FY 2018	$2,402,793
FY 2019	$2,941,121
FY 2020	$2,575,849
FY 2021	$1,523,486
FY 2022	$1,894,718
FY 2023	$3,810,668
FY 2024 Estimate	$5,000,000
FY 2025 Estimate	$9,000,000

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.

	Direct Deposit Participation Rate
FY 2015	99%
FY 2016	99%
FY 2017	99%
FY 2018	99%
FY 2019	99%
FY 2020	99%
FY 2021	99%
FY 2022	99%

Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds

RATIONALE FOR BUDGET REQUEST

The FY 2025 request is for $9,000,000 to reimburse the OASDI trust funds for the value of interest on unnegotiated checks. The FY 2025 request is $4,000,000 more than the FY 2024 level. We increased the request because of a substantial rise in the actual and projected interest rates on new issues to the OASDI trust funds which results in higher interest adjustments due to the trust funds from Unnegotiated Checks.

Table 1.14—Unnegotiated Checks: Budget Authority by Trust Fund

	FY2025 Estimate
OASI Trust Fund	$6,000,000
DI Trust Fund	$3,000,000
Total	$9,000,000

Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds

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 1.15—Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefits: Obligations

FY 2023 FY 2024 FY 2025 FY 2024 to FY 2025 Actual Estimate Estimate Change

New Budget Authority $0 $0 $0 $0

Obligations $0 $50,000 $50,000 $0

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:

Search the earnings records of the group of retired coal miners covered by the combined plan;
Determine which retirees should be assigned to which mine operators;
Notify the involved mine operators of the names and Social Security numbers of eligible beneficiaries who have been assigned to them;
Process appeals from operators who believe that assignments have been made incorrectly; and
Compute the premiums based on a formula established in the Act.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds

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 2025 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.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Supplemental Security Income Program

CONTENTS APPROPRIATION LANGUAGE ... 31 Language Analysis ... 32 GENERAL STATEMENT ... 33 Program Overview ... 33 FY 2025 President’s Budget Request ... 35 BUDGETARY RESOURCES ... 36 Analysis of Changes ... 37 New Budget Authority and Obligations by Activity ... 40 New Budget Authority and Obligations by Object ... 41 BACKGROUND ... 42 Authorizing Legislation ... 42 Appropriation History ... 43 FEDERAL BENEFIT PAYMENTS ... 46 Purpose and Method of Operation ... 46 Rationale for Budget Request ... 46 SSI Recipient Population ... 47 Benefit Payments ... 49 ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES ... 51 Purpose and Method of Operation ... 51 Rationale for Budget Request ... 52 BENEFICIARY SERVICES ... 53 Purpose and Method of Operation ... 53 Rationale for Budget Request ... 54 Additional Information on VR Cost Reimbursement and Ticket to Work Programs ... 55 RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION ... 58 Purpose and Method of Operation ... 58 Rationale for Budget Request ... 60 Related Funding Sources ... 78 Administration of Our Research Activities ... 80 Research Investment Criteria ... 81

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Supplemental Security Income Program

TABLES

Table 2.1—Appropriation Language Analysis ... 32

Table 2.2—Summary of Appropriations and Obligations ... 33

Table 2.3—Appropriation Detail ... 35

Table 2.4—Amounts Available for Obligation ... 36

Table 2.5—Summary of Changes ... 38

Table 2.6—Explanation of SSI Budget Changes from FY 2024 to FY 2025 ... 39

Table 2.7—New Budget Authority and Obligations by Activity ... 40

Table 2.8—New Budget Authority and Obligations by Object ... 41

Table 2.9—Authorizing Legislation ... 42

Table 2.10—Appropriation History ... 43

Table 2.11—Federal Benefit Payments: New Budget Authority and Obligations ... 46

Table 2.12—SSI Recipients, Actual ... 47

Table 2.13—SSI Recipients, Projected ... 47

Table 2.14—Blind or Disabled Recipients as a Percentage of Total ... 48

Table 2.15—Maximum Benefit Rates ... 49

Table 2.16—Average Monthly Benefit Payments ... 49

Table 2.17—Check Payments by Fiscal Year ... 50

Table 2.18—Administrative Expenses: New Budget Authority and Obligations ... 51

Table 2.19—Beneficiary Services: New Budget Authority and Obligations ... 53

Table 2.20—SSI VR Cost Reimbursement and Ticket to Work Payments ... 55

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

Funding Authority ... 58

Table 2.22—Research and Demonstration Projects: Obligations by Funding Source ... 59

Table 2.23—Major Research Areas, Demonstration Obligations and New Budget Authority ... 61

Table 2.24—Current Research Projects Obligations through FY 2023 ... 79

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Supplemental Security Income Program

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, $46,555,635,000, 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 $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, 2027. 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 2026, $22,100,000,000, to remain available until expended.

Note.—A full-year 2024 appropriation for this account was not enacted at the time the Budget was prepared; therefore, the Budget assumes this account is operating under the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2024 and Other Extensions Act (Division A of Public Law 118- 15, as amended). The amounts included for 2024 reflect the annualized level provided by the continuing resolution.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Supplemental Security Income Program

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.

In addition, the language includes indefinite authority beginning June 15, in the event Federal benefit payment obligations in FY 2025 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 2026 to ensure the timely payment of benefits in case of a delay in the FY 2026 appropriations bill. Table 2.1—Appropriation Language Analysis

Table 2.1—Appropriation Language Analysis

Language provision	Explanation
“For carrying out titles XI and XVI of the Social Security Act...including payment to the Social Security trust funds for administrative expenses incurred pursuant to section 201(g)(1) of the Social Security Act,$46,555,635,000,to remain available until expended:”	Appropriates funds for Federal benefit payments, administrative expenses, beneficiary services,and research and demonstration projects under the SSI program.We may carry over unobligated balances for use in future fiscal years.
“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.”	Ensures that States do not carry unobligated balances of Federal funds into the subsequent fiscal year.Applies primarily to the beneficiary services activity.
“Provided further,That not more than $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 30,2027.”	Specifies that not more than $91 million of the SSI appropriation is available for research and demonstration projects.We may carry over unobligated balances through September 30,2027,at which point,funds are expired.
“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.”	Provides an indefinite appropriation to finance any shortfall in the definite appropriation for benefit payments during the last months of the fiscal year.
“For making benefit payments under title XVI of the Social Security Act for the first quarter of fiscal year 2026,$22,100,000,000,to remain available until expended.”	Appropriates funds for benefit payments in the first quarter of the subsequent fiscal year.Ensures that recipients will continue to receive benefits during the first quarter of FY 2026in the event of a temporary funding delay.

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 Obligations1 (in thousands)

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate	Change
Appropriation	$64,209,338	$64,209,338	$68,255,635	+$4,046,297
Obligations	$65,408,367	$62,172,415	$68,356,008	+$6,183,593
First Quarter Advance Appropriation for Subsequent Fiscal Year	$15,800,000	$21,700,000	$22,100,000	+$400,000

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 2 to be either totally or partially excluded. 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.

1 Does not include State supplementary payments and reimbursements or the corresponding State supplement user fee collections; user fees are included in the Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) appropriation.

2 The ABLE Act of 2014 created a new type of tax-advantaged account that has a limited effect on an individual’s eligibility for the SSI program and other Federal means-tested programs.

Supplemental Security Income Program

Benefit Payments

We estimate we will pay $63.1 billion in Federal benefits to about 7.3 million SSI recipients in FY 2025. Including State supplementary payments, we expect to pay a total of $66.6 billion and administer payments to over 7.4 million recipients.

Federal benefit payments represent approximately 92 percent of Federal SSI spending. Administrative expenses represent about 7 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 $14.78 per SSI check payment in FY 2024 and is expected to increase to $15.22 in FY 2025. 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.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

FY 2025 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 2025 President’s Budget request is $68,255,635,000. However, this includes $21,700,000,000 requested for the first quarter of FY 2025 in the FY 2024 President’s Budget. The appropriation language provides us with our remaining appropriation for FY 2025, $46,555,635,000—the total amount requested for FY 2025 less the first quarter advance.

Similarly, in addition to the amount above, the request includes an advance appropriation of $22,100,000,000 for Federal benefit payments in the first quarter of FY 2026. 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.

1, 2 Table 2.3—Appropriation Detail (in thousands)

	FY 2023Actual	FY 2024Estimate3	FY 2025Estimate	Change
Advance for Federal Benefits4	$15,600,000	$15,800,000	$21,700,000
Regular for Federal Benefits	$43,630,213	$43,677,435	$41,408,000
Subtotal Federal Benefits	$59,230,213	$59,477,435	$63,108,000	+$3,630,565
Base Administrative Expenses	$3,333,420	$3,018,584	$3,353,410	+$334,826
Program Integrity(Base)	$221,292	$242,000	$265,000	+$23,000
Program Integrity(Adjustment)	$1,214,413	$1,261,319	$1,294,225	+$32,906
Subtotal Administrative Expenses	$4,769,125	$4,521,903	$4,912,635	+$390,732
Beneficiary Services	$124,000	$124,000	$144,000	+$20,000
Research and Demonstration	$86,000	$86,000	$91,000	+$5,000
Subtotal Advanced Appropriation	$15,600,000	$15,800,000	$21,700,000
Subtotal Regular Appropriation	$48,609,338	$48,409,338	$46,555,635
Total Appropriation	$64,209,338	$64,209,338	$68,255,635	+$4,046,297
Advance for Subsequent Year	$15,800,000	$21,700,000	$22,100,000	+$400,000

2 Totals may not add due to rounding.

3 The FY 2025 President’s Budget assumes the Fiscal Responsibility Act (P.L. 118-5) level for the program integrity cap adjustment in FY 2024.

4 Amount provided or requested in the previous year’s appropriation bill.

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 2025 President’s Budget is $68,255,635,000, including $21,700,000,000 requested in the FY 2024 President’s Budget.

1,2 Table 2.4—Amounts Available for Obligation (in thousands)

	FY 2023Actual	FY 2024Estimate	FY 2025Estimate
Regular Appropriation	$48,609,338	$48,409,338	$46,555,635
Advanced Appropriation from prior FY	$15,600,000	$15,800,000	$21,700,000
Total Annual Appropriation	$64,209,338	$64,209,338	$68,255,635
Federal Unobligated Balance	$4,629,711	$3,801,599	$5,838,522
Recovery of Prior-Year Obligations	$370,917	$0	$0
Subtotal Federal Resources	$69,209,966	$68,010,937	$74,094,157
State Supp. Reimbursements	$3,117,544	$3,383,000	$3,481,000
State Supp. Unobligated Balance	$11,528	$5,910	$248,910
Total Budgetary Resources	$72,339,038	$71,399,847	$77,824,067
Federal Obligations	$65,408,367	$62,172,415	$68,356,008
State Supp. Obligations	$3,123,162	$3,140,000	$3,475,000
Total Obligations	$68,531,529	$65,312,415	$71,831,008
Federal Unobligated Balance	$3,801,599	$5,838,522	$5,738,149
State Supp. Unobligated Balance	$5,910	$248,910	$254,910
Total Unobligated Balance	$3,807,509	$6,087,432	$5,993,059

The SSI annual appropriation was $64.2 billion in FY 2023 and estimated to be the same in FY 2024. 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 $3.8

Does not include State supplementary user fees; user fees are included in the LAE appropriation.

2 Totals may not add due to rounding.

Supplemental Security Income Program

billion in Federal unobligated balances into FY 2024. We expect to carry over approximately $5.8 billion into FY 2025.

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 2025 request represents an increase of approximately $4 billion from the FY 2024 level, which is primarily due to having 12 Federal benefit payments instead of 11 in FY 2024. We plan to use unobligated balances to partially fund administrative expenses, beneficiary services, and research and demonstration projects in FY 2024 and FY 2025. In total, we plan to use approximately $208 million in unobligated balances and recoveries in FY 2024 and $100 million in unobligated balances and recoveries in FY 2025.

Federal Benefit Payments

The FY 2025 request for Federal Benefit payments is approximately $3.6 billion more than the FY 2024 level. We increased the FY 2025 request for Federal Benefit payments mainly due to one more benefit payment in FY 2025. The increase is partially offset by the January 2025 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 2026 will be $400 million more than the first quarter advance for FY 2025. 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 2025 and the first quarter in FY 2026 will have four benefit payments.

Administrative Expenses

The FY 2025 request for administrative expenses is approximately $400 million more than the FY 2024 level, including a$1.3 billion of the $1.6 billion cap adjustment funding for program integrity work in the SSI program. We expect to use $140 million in carryover funds in FY 2024 and approximately $66 million in carryover funds in FY 2025 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 $144 million in new authority for FY 2025. This is $20 million more than our FY 2024 level. Our estimate reflects an increased level of vocational rehabilitation reimbursement awards, and Ticket payments to Employment Networks under the Ticket to Work program. The FY 2025 request funds an estimated 2 percent increase in obligations above the

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Supplemental Security Income Program

FY 2024 level. We expect to use $39 million in carryover funds in FY 2024 and $23 million in carryover funds in FY 2025 to cover our estimated obligations.

Research and Demonstrations

The FY 2025 request for research and demonstration projects is $5 million more than the FY 2024 level. We expect to use carryover funds in FY 2024 and FY 2025 in addition to our requested appropriation to cover our estimated obligations. For more information, please see the Research and Demonstration exhibit.

1,2 Table 2.5—Summary of Changes (in thousands)

	FY2024 Estimate	FY2025 Estimate	Change
Appropriation	$64,209,338	$68,255,635	+4,046,297
Obligations Funded from Prior-Year Unobligated Balances and Recoveries	$0	$100,373	+$100,373
Estimated Federal Obligations	$62,172,415	$68,356,008	+$6,183,593

1 Does not include State supplementary payments and reimbursements or the corresponding State supplement user fee collections; user fees are included in the LAE appropriation.

2 Totals may not add due to rounding.

Supplemental Security Income Program

Table 2.6—Explanation of SSI Budget Changes from FY 2024 to FY 2025 (in thousands)

	FY 2024 Obligations	Change
Federal Benefit Payments	$59,477,435
COLA-2.8% beginning January 2025		+$2,386,000
Net change due to annualized closings and awards		-$332,000
October FY 2024 payment obligated during FY 2023		+$4,417,000
Effect of OASDI COLA for concurrent SSI/OASDI Recipients		-$598,000
Federal Benefit Payments-Carryover	-$2,242,435
Administrative Expenses	$4,521,903
Increase in base funding		+$390,732
Administrative Expenses-Carryover	$140,097
Decrease in amount of carryover funding planned for obligation in FY 2025		-$74,507
Beneficiary Services	$124,000
Increase in base funding		+$20,000
Beneficiary Services-Carryover	$39,000
Decrease in amount of carryover funding planned for obligation in FY 2025		-$16,000
Research and Demonstration	$86,000
Increase in base funding		+$5,000
Research and Demonstration-Carryover	$26,415
Decrease in amount of carryover funding planned for obligation in FY 2025		-$14,632
Total Obligations Requested, Net Change	$62,172,415	+$6,183,593

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.

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

	FY 2023Actual	FY 2024Estimate3,4	FY 2025Estimate13
Federal Benefit Payments
Appropriation	$59,230,213	$59,477,435	$63,108,000
Obligations	$60,417,888	$57,235,000	$63,108,000
Monthly Check Payments	12	11	12
Base Administrative Expenses
Appropriation	$3,333,420	$3,018,584	$3,353,410
Obligations	$3,325,244	$3,161,000	$3,419,000
Program Integrity (Base)
Appropriation	$221,292	$242,000	$265,000
Obligations	$221,292	$242,000	$265,000
Program Integrity (Adjustment)
Appropriation	$1,214,413	$1,261,319	$1,294,225
Obligations	$1,214,413	$1,259,000	$1,294,225
Beneficiary Services
Appropriation	$124,000	$124,000	$144,000
Obligations	$137,215	$163,000	$167,000
Research and Demonstration
Appropriation	$86,000	$86,000	$91,000
Obligations	$92,316	$112,415	$102,783
Total Appropriation	$64,209,338	$64,209,338	$68,255,635

2 Totals may not add due to rounding.

3 We expect to use carryover of prior year unobligated balances and recoveries for FY 2024 and FY 2025 obligations.

4 The FY 2025 President’s Budget assumes the Fiscal Responsibility Act (P.L. 118-5) level for the program integrity cap adjustment in FY 2024.

NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY AND OBLIGATIONS BY OBJECT

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

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

	FY 2023Actual	FY 2024Estimate	FY 2025Estimate
Other Services3
Appropriation	$4,893,125	$4,645,903	$5,056,635
Obligations	$4,898,164	$4,825,000	$5,145,225
Federal Benefits and Research
Appropriation	$59,316,213	$59,563,435	$63,199,000
Obligations	$60,510,204	$57,347,415	$63,210,783
Total Appropriation	$64,209,338	$64,209,338	$68,255,635
Total Obligations	$65,408,368	$62,172,415	$68,356,008

1 Does not include State supplementary payments and reimbursements or the corresponding State supplement user fee collections; user fees are included in the LAE appropriation.

2 Totals may not add due to rounding.

The administrative portion of these services includes the SSI’s prorated share of unobligated LAE money that has been converted into no-year IT funds. It is not part of the annual administrative appropriation.

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

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate	FYAmountAuthorized
TitleXVI of the SocialSecurity Act,Section401ofP.L.92-603 and Section212ofP.L.93-66,as amended,andSection405ofP.L.92-2161	$64,209,338,000	$64,209,338,000	$68,255,635,000	Indefinite
FirstQuarterAdvanceAppropriationforSubsequentFiscalYear	$15,800,000,000	$21,700,000,000	$22,100,000,000	---

1 Does not include State supplementary payments and reimbursements or the corresponding State supplement user fee collections; user fees are included in the LAE appropriation.

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 History1

Fiscal Year	Budget Estimate to Congress	House Committee Passed	Senate Committee Passed	Enacted Appropriation
Q1 Advance	$19,700,000,000		$19,700,000,000	$19,700,000,000
Current Year	$40,927,000,000			$41,232,978,000^{2}$
2015 Total	$60,627,000,000			$60,932,978,000^{3}$
Q1 Advance	$19,200,000,000			$19,200,000,000
Current Year	$46,422,000,000	$46,232,978,000^{4}$	$46,110,777,000^{5}$	$46,305,733,000^{6}$
2016 Total	$65,622,000,000	$65,432,978,000	$65,310,777,000	$65,505,733,000^{7}$
Q1 Advance	$14,500,000,000			$14,500,000,000
Current Year	$43,824,868,000	$43,162,469,000^{8}$	$43,618,163,000^{9}$	$43,618,163,000^{10}$
2017 Total	$58,324,868,000	$57,662,469,000	$58,118,163,000	$58,118,163,000^{11}$
Q1 Advance	$15,000,000,000			$15,000,000,000
Current Year	$38,557,000,000	$38,591,635,000^{12}$	$38,450,927,000^{13}$	$38,487,277,000^{14}$
2018 Total	$53,557,000,000	$53,591,635,000	$53,450,927,000	$53,487,227,000^{15}$
Q1 Advance	$19,500,000,000			$19,500,000,000
Current Year	$41,208,000,000	$41,251,000,000^{16}$	$41,390,721,000^{17}$	$41,366,203,000^{18}$
2019 Total	$60,708,000,000	$60,751,000,000	$60,890,721,000	$60,866,203,000^{19}$
Q1 Advance	$19,700,000,000			$19,700,000,000
Current Year	$41,832,000,000	$41,938,540,000^{20}$	- - $^{21}$	$41,714,889,000^{22}$

Table Continues on the Next Page

Supplemental Security Income Program

Fiscal Year	Budget Estimate to Congress	House Committee Passed	Senate Committee Passed	Enacted Appropriation
Q1 Advance	$19,600,000,000			$19,600,000,000
Current Year	$46,210,256,000	$46,167,573,000^{28}$	- - $^{29}$	$45,913,823,000^{30}$
2022 Total	$65,810,256,000	$65,767,573,000		$65,513,823,000^{31}$
Q1 Advance	$15,600,000,000			$15,600,000,000
Current Year	$48,828,722,000	$48,713,576,000^{32}$	- - $^{33}$	$48,609,338,000^{34}$
2023 Total	$64,428,722,000	$64,313,576,000		$64,209,338,000^{35}$
Q1 Advance	$15,800,000,000			$15,800,000,000
Current Year	$45,717,853,000	$45,455,426,000^{36}$	$45,561,145,000^{37}$
2024 Total	$61,517,853,000	$61,255,426,000	$61,361,145,000	- - $^{38}$
Q1 Advance	$21,700,000,000
Current Year	$46,555,635,000
2025 Total	$68,255,635,000
Q1 Advance	$22,100,000,000
Current Year
2026 Total

1 Does not include State supplementary payments and reimbursements or the corresponding State user fee collections; user fees are included in the LAE appropriation.

2 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235).

2 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235). 3 Of this amount, not more than $48,000,000 is for research and demonstrations and not more than $35,000,000 is

Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235). 3 Of this amount, not more than $48,000,000 is for research and demonstrations and not more than $35,000,000 is for early intervention demonstrations under sections 1110, 1115, and 1144 of the Social Security Act. 4 H.R. 3020. 5 S. 1695

5 S. 1695 6 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113).

S. 1771. 14 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141). 15 Of this amount, not more than $101,000,000 is for research and demonstrations under sections 1110, 1115, and

H.R. 3358. 13 S. 1771. 14 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141).

1144 of the Social Security Act. 8 H.R. 5926. 9 S. 3040.

15 Of this amount, not more than $101,000,000 is for research and demonstrations under sections 1110, 1115, and 1144 of the Social Security Act. 16 H.R. 6470.

16 H.R. 6470. 17 S. 3158.

Supplemental Security Income Program

19 Of this amount, not more than $101,000,000 is for research and demonstrations under sections 1110, 1115, and 1144 of the Social Security Act. 20

H.R. 2740. 21 The Senate Committee on Appropriations did not report a bill. The Committee posted a draft bill which mirrored the FY 2020 President’s Budget request for $41,832,000,000. 22 Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-94) 23 Of this amount, not more than $101,000,000 is for research and demonstrations under sections 1110, 1115, and 1144 of the Social Security Act. 24

H.R. 7614. 25 The Senate Committee on Appropriations did not report a bill but provided a draft showing $40,136,324,000. 26 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260) 27 Of this amount, not more than $86,000,000 is for research and demonstrations under sections 1110, 1115, and 1144 of the Social Security Act. 28

H.R. 4502. 29 The Senate Committee on Appropriations did not report a bill but provided a draft showing $46,122,423,000. 30 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (P.L. 117-103) 31 Of this amount, not more than $86,000,000 is for research and demonstrations under sections 1110, 1115, and 1144 of the Social Security Act. 32

H.R. 8295. 33 The Senate Committee on Appropriations did not report a bill but provided a draft showing $48,644,795,000. 34 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328) 35 Of this amount, not more than $86,000,000 is for research and demonstrations under sections 1110, 1115, and 1144 of the Social Security Act. 36

H.R. 5894. The House bill was passed at the subcommittee level and did not go to the full committee. 37

S. 2624. 38 A full-year appropriation for FY 2024 was not enacted at the time the FY 2025 President’s Budget was prepared. All FY 2024 figures for except for program integrity assume funding at the annualized funding level provided in the Consolidated Appropriation Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328). The FY 2025 President’s Budget assumes the Fiscal Responsibility Act (P.L. 118-5) level for the program integrity cap adjustment in FY 2024.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

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 2025, we estimate benefit payments will total approximately $63 billion for approximately 7.3 million Federal SSI recipients.

Table 2.11—Federal Benefit Payments: New Budget Authority and Obligations1 (in thousands)

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate	Change
Appropriation	$59,230,213	$59,477,435	$63,108,000	+$3,630,565
Obligations Funded from Prior-Year Unobligated Balance and Recoveries	$1,187,675	$0	$0	$0
Obligations	$60,417,888	$57,235,000	$63,108,000	+$5,873,000
Advance for subsequent fiscal year	$15,800,000	$21,700,000	$22,100,000	+$400,000

RATIONALE FOR BUDGET REQUEST

In FY 2025, we are requesting $63 billion in new budget authority for Federal benefit payments, and $22.1 billion in an advance appropriation for the first quarter of FY 2026. 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.

1 Federal benefit numbers reflect the most recent estimates from our Office of the Chief Actuary.

SSI RECIPIENT POPULATION

The number of Federal SSI recipients has decreased from 7.9 million in FY 2020 to an estimated 7.3 million in FY 2024, and is expected to stay steady at 7.3 million in FY 2025. 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, Actual1 (average over fiscal year, in thousands)

	FY2020	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023
Aged	1109	1076	1069	1095
Blind or Disabled	6802	6666	6450	6287
Total Federal	7911	7742	7519	7382
Year-to-Year Change	-0.6%	-2.1%	-2.9%	-1.8%
State Supplement Only	146	137	133	134
Total Federally Administered	8057	7879	7652	7516

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 135,000 do not receive a Federal SSI benefit and only receive the State supplementary payment.

Table 2.13—SSI Recipients, Projected1 (average over fiscal year, in thousands)

	FY2024 Estimate	FY2025 Estimate	Change
Aged	1,113	1,127	+1.3%
Blind or Disabled	6,192	6,146	-0.7%
Total Federal	7,304	7,273	-0.4%
State Supplement only	135	137	+1.5%
Total Federally Administered	7,440	7,411	-0.4%

1 Totals may not add due to rounding.

Supplemental Security Income Program

SSI Disabled vs. Aged Recipient Population The number of Federal blind or disabled SSI recipients as a percentage of all Federal SSI

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 2020 to FY 2022, dropped to about 85 percent in FY 2023, and is projected to remain steady at about 85 percent in FY 2024 and FY 2025.

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

Fiscal Year	Total Federal	Aged	Blind or Disabled	Blind or Disabled as % of Total
2020	7911	1109	6802	86.0%
2021	7742	1076	6666	86.1%
2022	7519	1069	6450	85.8%
2023	7382	1095	6287	85.2%
2024 Estimate	7304	1113	6192	84.8%
2025 Estimate	7273	1127	6146	84.5%

Concurrent SSI/OASDI Recipients SSI recipients also receiving Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) or DI benefits have their

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 34 percent of all SSI recipients (including those only receiving a State supplement) also receive Social Security benefits. Approximately 58 percent of the SSI aged and 29 percent of the SSI blind and disabled populations receive concurrent payments.

1 Totals may not add due to rounding.

Maximum Monthly Federal Payments The maximum monthly Federal benefit rate (FBR) is increased each January when there are

The maximum monthly Federal benefit rate (FBR) is increased each January when there are increases in the cost-of-living. There is a 3.2 percent cost of living increase in calendar year (CY) 2024. An increase of 2.8 percent is projected for CY 2025. The FBR increased from $914 for an individual and $1,371 for a couple for CY 2023 to $943 for an individual and $1,415 for a couple in CY 2024. We estimate the FBR will increase to $969 for an individual and $1,454 for a couple in CY 2025. The COLA was 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

	FY 2024		FY 2025
	First3Months	Last9Months	First3Months	Last9Months
Individual	$914	$943	$943	$969
Couple	$1,371	$1,415	$1,415	$1,454

Average Monthly Benefit Payments The amount actually paid to a recipient can vary from the FBR based on their income received

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 $667 in FY 2023 to $695 in FY 2024 and $715 in FY 2025. The increase in the average benefit payment is driven by COLAs and recipient population characteristics.

Table 2.16—Average Monthly Benefit Payments

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate
Aged	$485	$508	$526
Blind or Disabled	$698	$728	$749
All SSI Recipients	$667	$695	$715

Supplemental Security Income Program

Cost of Living Adjustments When applicable, COLAs increase both the maximum and average monthly benefit payment.

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

Annual benefit payment estimates factor in results from our legally-required SSI CDRs and redeterminations. Specifically, in FY 2025, we estimate we will conduct approximately 371,000 SSI CDRs and 2,482,000 non-medical redeterminations using dedicated program integrity funds.

For details about program integrity funding and activities, please see the Program Integrity exhibit within the LAE section of this Congressional Justification.

Timing of Monthly Benefit Payments Monthly SSI benefit payments are made on the first of the month, unless the first falls on a

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

	Number of Check Payments	Federal Benefit Obligations
FY 2016	13	$59,044,228,391
FY 2017	12	$54,729,471,841
FY 2018	11	$50,949,421,097
FY 2019	12	$55,590,534,196
FY 2020	12	$56,161,567,718
FY 2021	12	$55,717,174,588
FY 2022	13	$60,910,067,748
FY 2023	12	$60,417,887,895
FY 2024	11	$57,235,000,000
FY 2025	12	$63,108,000,000

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)

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate	Change
Total Appropriation	$4,769,125	$4,521,903	$4,912,635	+$390,732
Obligations Funded from Prior-Year Unobligated Balance	$0	+$140,097	+$65,590	-$74,507
Obligations	$4,760,949	$4,662,000	$4,978,225	+$316,225

Supplemental Security Income Program

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 2025 request for SSI administrative expenses is approximately $5 billion. This appropriation is used to reimburse the trust funds for the SSI program’s share of administrative expenses. This amount includes about $1.6 billion specifically for FY 2025 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 $170 million in FY 2025 to administer SSI state supplementary payments.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

BENEFICIARY SERVICES

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

PURPOSE AND METHOD OF OPERATION

Beneficiary services consist of the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Cost Reimbursement and Ticket to Work (TTW) programs. The objective of the programs is to assist disabled individuals in returning 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 (EN) 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)

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate	FY2024toFY2025Change
Appropriation	$124,000	$124,000	$144,000	+$20,000
Prior-Year UnobligatedBalances and Recoveries	$125,525	$112,310	$73,310	-$39,000
Total BudgetaryResources	$249,525	$236,310	$217,310	-$19,000
Obligations	$137,215	$163,000	$167,000	+$4,000

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

1 In 2024, we consider non-blind and blind disabled beneficiaries to be performing SGA if they earn more than $1,550 and $2,590 per month, respectively.

Supplemental Security Income Program

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 $144 million in new budget authority for beneficiary services in FY 2025. The FY 2025 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 unemployment data from OMB 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, 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 2024 and FY 2025. The FY 2025 budget request funds an estimated two percent increase in obligations above the FY 2024 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 2023, we saw a 20 percent increase in claims from VRs. While VR agencies can submit their claims electronically, supporting documentation must be sent via fax. Only 57 percent of all submissions were payable, which is a decrease of 9 percentage points from the 66 percent payment rate in FY 2022. We reimburse VR agencies when payment claims are submitted within a 12-month period after a VR client completes their ninth month of SGA, for services that fall within the scope of reasonable and necessary services under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Social Security regulations. We deny reimbursement claims when the VR services provided do not meet our criteria. We also deny payment when VR agencies are late in submitting reimbursement claims, or a VR client has not completed the required nine months of SGA, meaning the VR agency submitted the claim too soon.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

We expect VR claims receipts to increase as we work with VR agencies to ensure timely and accurate submission of payment claims. This will lead to an increase in the percentage of payable claims.

In addition, we expect more beneficiaries will return to work, and estimate an increase in VR cost reimbursement payments and an increase in the number of TTW milestone and outcome payments in FY 2025. 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 VR reimbursement claims and internal reviews of the agency's payment process.

Table 2.20—SSI VR Cost Reimbursement and Ticket to Work Payments1 ($ in thousands)

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate
Vocational Rehabilitation
SSI Only Reimbursement Payments	7,503	9,000	9,178
SSI/DI Concurrent Reimbursement Payments	4,334	5,199	5,301
Total Reimbursement Awards	11,837	14,199	14,479
VR Obligations	$116,914	$140,000	$143,000
Ticket to Work
SSI Only Milestone Payments	6,481	7,165	7,649
SSI Only Outcome Payments	24,650	27,252	29,093
SSI/DI Concurrent Milestone Payments	7,860	8,690	9,277
SSI/DI Concurrent Outcome Payments	8,249	9,120	9,736
Total Ticket Payments	47,240	52,227	55,755
Ticket Obligations	$20,301	$23,000	$24,000
Total VR Reimbursements & Ticket Payments	59,077	66,426	70,234
Total Obligations	$137,215	$163,000	$167,000

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

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON VR COST REIMBURSEMENT AND TICKET TO WORK PROGRAMS

1 Totals may not add due to rounding.

Supplemental Security Income Program

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: -here are two phases of outcome T-milestone payments. Phase I allows 4 payments, and Phase II allows 18 payments.

-We begin paying the EN when the recipient successfully achieves certain predetermined work-related milestones while still receiving Federal benefits.

-We stop paying milestone payments and begin outcome payments when the recipient’s monthly Federal cash benefits are not payable because of work and earnings.

Outcome-Only Payment Method: -utcome payments are payable for a maximum of 60 months (consecutive or otherwise). O

-We begin issuing monthly outcome payments after the individual’s monthly Federal cash benefit payments cease and the individual earns above the SGA level in a month.

-The dollar amounts of the monthly outcome payments are larger when the EN elects not to receive milestone payments while the recipient still receives benefits.

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.

In FY 2023, we completed a 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 We found that TTW participants have overpayments similar to non-participants. We are working to reduce overpayments and improve the integrity

1 See: Government Accountability Office. (2021). Social Security Disability: Ticket to Work Helped Some Participants, but Overpayments Increased Program Costs. (GAO Publication No. 22-104031). Washington, D.C.:

U.S. Government Printing Office. https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-22-104031.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Supplemental Security Income Program

of our programs. For information on our efforts to decrease overpayments, please see the Program Integrity and Improper Payment exhibits in the LAE section.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

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).

Table 2.21—Research and Demonstration Projects: Budget Authority and Obligations by Funding Authority1 2 (in thousands)

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate	Change fromFY2024to FY2025
Appropriation3	$86,000	$86,000	$91,000	$5,000
Prior Year Unobligated Balance and Recoveries	$56,244	$49,928	$23,513	-$26,415
Total Budgetary Resources	$142,244	$135,928	$114,513	-$21,415
Obligations by Authority4
FY2021-2023 Authority4	$805	$0	$0
FY2022-2024 Authority	$41,338	$295	$0
FY2023-2025 Authority	$50,173	$35,827	$0
FY2024-2026 Authority	N/A	$73,893	$12,106
FY2025-2027 Requested Authority	N/A	N/A	$87,677
No-Year Authority	$0	$2,400	$3,000
TOTAL Obligations	$92,316	$112,415	$102,783	-$9,632
Total Unobligated Balance	$49,928	$23,513	$11,730	-$11,783

1 Please note, the exhibit does not include a narrative for projects that are using prior year funds.

Total Unobligated Balance

3 These amounts include $7,000,000 in base research funding classified as mandatory.

4 We are authorized to expend research funds within three years of an enacted appropriation. We have a small balance of prior no-year funding authority that we are carrying over until expended. The FY 2024 and FY2025 break out is our current projection for how the funds will be obligated.

Table 2.22—Research and Demonstration Projects: Obligations by Funding Source 1 (in thousands)

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate
Obligations by Source
Section 1110	$90,630	$110,694	$101,062
Section 1144	$1,685	$1,721	$1,721
TOTAL Obligations	$92,316	$112,415	$102,783

Section 1110 of the Act authorizes the Commissioner of Social Security to conduct broad, crossprogrammatic 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.

We currently fund a range of Section 1110 projects designed to:

• Help us keep pace with advancements in medicine and technology;

• Modernize our vocational rules;

• Test work support models;

• Assess barriers to program participation;

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 2025 Annual Evaluation Plan describes the most significant program evaluations and evidencebuilding 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 ASP. Performance documents are available here: Agency Strategic Plan | SSA

• Measure the impact of program changes.

Supplemental Security Income Program

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), oversee 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.

In prior years, we received Section 234 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 SSDI 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 2025, we are requesting $91 million in new budget authority for traditional research activities under Sections 1110 and 1144.

We are also interested in working with Congress to renew Section 234 authority.

The table and discussion that follow provide more details on the research and outreach efforts we plan to fund in FY 2025.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

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

	Obligations3
FY 2023Actual	FY 2024Estimate	FY 2025Estimate
Optimize the Experience of SSA's Customers	$48,550	$63,508	$56,527
Analyzing Relationships between Disability, Rehabilitation,and Work(ARDRAW)*	$0	$900	$900
Behavioral Insights Studies	$0	$2,000	$0
Blanket Purchase Agreement for Time-Sensitive Research Projects	$942	$2,400	$2,000
Census Surveys*	$750	$750	$765
Data Development*	$1,107	$1,166	$1,166
Data Development in an Enterprise Business Platform(EBI)	$2,000	$2,000	$2,000
Disability Analysis File(DAF)	$1,297	$1,510	$1,314
Disability Research Survey*	$0	$10,000	$9,000
Health&Retirement Study(HRS)and Supplement*	$4,575	$4,575	$4,575
Interventional Cooperative Agreement Program(ICAP)*	$12,084	$9,084	$15,084
Medicare Outreach(1144)	$1,685	$1,721	$1,721
National Beneficiary Survey(NBS)	$199	$0	$0
New and Emerging Research	$0	$1,000	$1,000
SSI Outreach Evaluation*	$0	$7,000	$0
Retirement and Disability Research Consortium(RDRC)*	$12,000	$14,400	$12,000
Ticket to Work Evaluation*	$6,732	$0	$0
Understanding America Study(UAS)Enhancements*	$5,000	$5,002	$5,002
Working Disability Functional Assessment Battery(WD-FAB)Data Collection	$179	$0	$0
Ensure Stewardship of SSA Programs

1 Totals may not add up due to rounding. 2 Projects marked with an asterisk support our implementation of Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity

2 Projects marked with an asterisk support our implementation of Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. 3 This amount includes obligations funded from prior-year unobligated balances.

3 This amount includes obligations funded from prior-year unobligated balances.

Supplemental Security Income Program

Optimize the Experience of SSA’s Customers

Update for Projects with Funding Requested

Analyzing Relationships between Disability, Rehabilitation, and Work (ARDRAW)

The ARDRAW program supports young and emerging scholars pursuing careers in public policy research who have a special interest in our beneficiaries’ quality of life and disability program issues, challenges, and outcomes. We recruit graduate students, faculty, and administrators of accredited programs with an academic emphasis in public health, social work, economics, occupational medicine, vocational and rehabilitation counseling, public policy and administration, sociology, psychology, education, medicine, and law.

We extended the ARDRAW grant agreement from five to six years due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In FY 2022, we awarded the sixth and final ARDRAW cohort and received final project papers from the fourth and fifth ARDRAW cohorts. In FY 2023, we received final project papers from the sixth ARDRAW cohort and closed out the existing ARDRAW grant agreement.

Over the six cohorts of the ARDRAW grant program, we provided stipends for 85 graduate student projects. Some students participated in more than one cohort, conducting additional research that built on the previous year’s project. Many students either presented the results of their ARDRAW research at professional conferences or published their ARDRAW research in peer-reviewed journals. Several have continued to do research in the disability field, including projects associated with the Retirement and Disability Research Consortium (RDRC).

In FY 2023, we conducted a competition for a grants management organization to oversee ARDRAW. We did not receive any viable applications and were unable to make an award for a new grant management organization. We will recompete the grant in FY 2024, incorporating funding changes identified during market research. We plan to make the award for a new grant management organization in the fourth quarter of FY 2024. In FY 2025, we will conduct start up activities for the new grant agreement and request applications for the first cohort of the new program. In FY 2026, we will receive final project papers from the first cohort of the new program and request applications and award the second cohort of the new program.

The renewed ARDRAW will support young and emerging scholars who have a research interest in our beneficiaries’ quality of life and disability program issues, with additional emphasis on access and equity challenges. We will increase outreach to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Institutions Serving Students of Color (ISSC) to encourage participation, including working with the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

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Behavioral Insights Studies

Since 2015, we have tested new notices to determine the effects of mailings and alternative language (e.g., encouraging wage reporting in the SSI program and alerting OASDI seniors about potential SSI eligibility). In FY 2024, we will begin new studies that use behavioral insights to improve the information we provide beneficiaries. We are working with stakeholders to prioritize the notices for our efforts. It is included as an evidence-building activity under priority question 4 of our FYs 2022-2026 Learning Agenda.

Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for Time-Sensitive Research Projects

Early in FY 2024, we awarded a 5-year BPA contract, through a full and open competition among research contractors, including small and disadvantaged research firms. The competitive market research for the firms is in support of Executive Order (EO) 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, EO 14091, Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, and our Equity Action Plan 2023 Update. The BPA will allow us to more quickly award multiple research projects simultaneously to support policy and program assessments and studies related to social science, medical, or vocational rehabilitation topics. The BPA will produce research papers, evidence, and relevant data analysis informed by our researchers’ expertise and content knowledge.

In FY 2023, BPA contractors conducted research for two FY 2022-funded studies:

The Functional Limitations project provides medical and vocational experts insight into identifying evidence that supports findings of extreme limitations in functional abilities required for most work in the national economy (as indicated by the Occupational Requirements Survey (ORS) published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)).
A review of the Quick Disability Determination (QDD) predictive model that screens disability applications and identifies cases for which a favorable disability determination is highly likely and medical evidence is readily available. The purpose of this study was to identify any potential bias in the QDD predictive model. We are including relevant recommendations in our FY 2024 re-estimation of the QDD models. In FY 2024, BPA contractors are conducting research for a FY 2023-funded study:
Our Work Smart process identifies Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries whose earnings put them at risk of receiving overpayments. Contractors will assess whether our process is helping us achieve our goals of identifying at-risk earnings earlier and reducing and preventing improper payments. In FY 2024, we plan to fund the following projects in support of EO 13985 and EO 14091:
Legal Assistance During the Age-18 Redetermination Technical Expert Panel (TEP) – to secure expert insight on the policy, resource, and evaluation needs for a study of legal

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representation during the age-18 redetermination process outcomes. The TEP’s report would help to plan future research and would be accessible to organizations developing Interventional Cooperative Agreement Program (ICAP) proposals or other potential demonstrations.

• Analysis of the Mental Requirements for Wave 2 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) – to update the mental and cognitive demands of unskilled work based on Federal sources of occupational information to establish the mental requirements of entry-level of work in the national economy.

• Program Data Quality Rules – Content Development: The goal of this initiative will be to develop quality assurance and control standards based on the data quality framework of the Federal Committee on Statistical Methods and consistency with the Evidence Act requirements. These rules govern how statistical micro and macro data products may be shared with non-SSA colleagues or disseminated to the public (e.g., summary statistics, charts, public use files) along with relevant documentation consistent with metadata standards. The rules will cover data utility, objectivity, and integrity as well as metadata documentation for public release and archiving. These rules must account for any steps taken during the disclosure risk production and their impact on data quality, to include guidelines for quality standards; checklists to be used by data producers, developers and reviewers; relevant examples; and training. This effort will replace informal steps taken by different groups with established, methodized, and clear data quality standards to be used across offices to streamline and promote a consistent process throughout SSA, benefiting all SSA Programs.

In FY 2025, we are planning research topics to support EO 13985 and EO 14091 and our Equity Action Plan 2023 Update.

• Evaluation of Partnership Plus Agreements between Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies and Employment Networks on Beneficiary Work and Earnings Outcomes – to assess whether beneficiaries receiving Partnership Plus services have better work and earnings outcomes versus beneficiaries who receive only Employment Network or Vocational Rehabilitation services.

• Program Data Disclosure Review (PDDR) – Content Update: The goal of this initiative will be to evaluate the effectiveness of privacy-preserving techniques currently in place and expand the disclosure protection rules accordingly to be more comprehensive across micro and macro-data towards strengthening the privacy protection protocols. We will update the PDDR rules and an intake form to account for different rules and scenarios. These documents will demonstrate the required set of diagnostic and data files (disclosure protection evidence) that must be turned over to the PDDR Board along with examples and formulas (as needed). The proposal is to strengthen privacy guidance via use of these rules to guide disclosure review work throughout our review process covering all possible privacy and disclosure rules. This is an effort to support the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act.

Supplemental Security Income Program

Census Bureau Surveys

The Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) is foundational for our policy analysis and modeling efforts. We support efforts to improve the quality and content of the Census Bureau’s SIPP data to facilitate matching SIPP data to our administrative data on benefits and earnings. We rely upon SIPP data matched to our records to study Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI), SSDI, SSI, and related programs and to analyze the effect of changes to these programs on individuals, the economy, and program solvency.

Supporting SIPP gives SSA the opportunity to include concepts that are relevant to our programs. For example, observing whether marriages lasted for ten years is necessary when estimating benefits for divorced spouses. We developed new questions including questions on marriage length, which the Census Bureau integrated into existing SIPP content beginning in 2021.

Data Development

One of the main objectives of our extramural research program is to provide information for decision-makers on the OASI, SSDI, and SSI programs. We develop and maintain a series of detailed, statistical databases drawn from our major administrative data systems and prepare a broad range of statistical tables. We also prepare and publish statistical and research products and develop internal information for research, evaluation, and modeling that uses survey data collected by our agency, other Federal agencies, and Federally sponsored institutions.

In FY 2021, we entered into a new agreement with the Census Bureau for the “Ask US” Panel (i.e., Census Address-and Probability-Based Online Panel). The focus of the interagency agreement is to collaborate on an address-based, probability-based, online research panel that will be available for the Federal Statistical System to conduct robust public opinion and methodological research. The Census Bureau has entered into a cooperative agreement with RTI International to build this panel. In FYs 2023–2025, we will support the Census Bureau’s efforts to implement and use the panel. Our partnership will facilitate longitudinal probability-based research that many Government agencies are interested in conducting.

Quality programmatic data on race and ethnicity for research are essential for our assessment of structural barriers that may limit access to our programs, a focus in our Equity Action Plan 2023 Update. In FY 2022, we assessed the quality of our data, developed metrics and thresholds for reliability, and published statistics and research on those segments of our populations for which we have adequate data on race and ethnicity. In FY 2023, we explored data enhancements through statistical imputation and refined the imputation models. In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to refine models by birth cohort and geographic area, and we will assess possible bias in our initial predictions. We are exploring options for increasing collection of demographic data. For more information on our equity efforts, please see the Advancing Equity, including Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in the Workforce, and Outreach to People Facing Barriers exhibit in the Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) section.

Supplemental Security Income Program

Data Development in an Enterprise Business Intelligence (EBI) Platform

EBI provides advanced analytics and data integration tools for efficient access and analysis of our records to support data-driven decision making. Section 1110 funds support a subset of activities to enhance research and statistical functions, primarily publishing statistics from administrative records.

We generate reports and data files monthly, quarterly, yearly, and on an ad hoc basis. Some of the legacy systems we use for producing statistics still require significant manual intervention. We are improving the report and data production efficiency and accuracy by modernizing and automating the application processes that we use to create statistical data, tables, and reports for research.

FY 2023 work focused on:

Modernizing and automating Cell Suppression methods for OASDI and SSI files.
Computerizing end-to-end validation processes of OASDI and SSI statistical publication tables and reports using modern Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) statistical tools.
Maintaining and upgrading the publication process for: Windfall Elimination Provision- Government Pension Offset (WEP-GPO), SSI, Earnings Geography (GEO), Earnings Publications, and Representative Payee data from SAS 9.4 M5 version to SAS 9.4 M7/SAS Viya.
Using EBI tools to support the production of statistics or data extracts for ongoing publications and critical, ad hoc research projects. In FY 2024, we will strengthen the integrity of our research and statistical reports by:
Maintaining and upgrading software for the publication of WEP-GPO, SSI, GEO, Earnings Publications, and Representative Payee data.
Replacing obsolete data collecting methodologies in the SAS.
Assessing the inclusion of non-Reporting Tax Year (RTY) data into the current GEO automation process.
Evaluating Earnings Publications automated processes to generate the annual earnings publication tables.
Developing and implementing Earnings Publications automated applications to support ad hoc requests. In FY 2025, we plan to strengthen the integrity of our research and statistical reports by:
Maintaining and upgrading software for the publication of WEP-GPO, OASDI, SSI, GEO, Earnings Publications, and Representative Payee data.
Computerizing end-to-end processes of non-RTY data into the current GEO automation process using modern Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) Data Integration Studio statistical tools.

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Computerizing end-to-end validation process of Earnings Publications including non- RTY data to generate the annual earnings publication tables using modern SAS Data Integration Studio statistical tools.
Incorporating enhanced EBI tools to support the production of statistics or data extracts for ongoing publications and critical, as-needed research projects.

Disability Analysis File (DAF)

Administrative data are critical to our understanding of beneficiaries with disabilities by providing details on the entire population and enabling analysis of small subpopulations, which we cannot generally study with survey data based on population samples. The DAF takes data from our 10 most relevant administrative files and creates an annual, formatted database that is ready for analysis, easy to use, and well-documented. We create two versions of the DAF each year—a restricted use version for our staff, grantees, contractors, and Federal partners, and a de- identified public use file (PUF) version available to the public through our website. The DAF focuses on data needed to answer questions about disability and work. It complements the National Beneficiary Survey (NBS), which provides information that is not available from our administrative sources, such as veterans status, interest in work, barriers to work, hours of work, wages, and how disability affects activities. When combined, the DAF and NBS provide a complete picture of demographics, benefits, work, and work attitudes for all SSI and SSDI beneficiaries with disabilities.

We use the DAF for internal research, to support demonstration development and evaluation, and to answer other questions that may arise. We also use the DAF to inform the Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB), our Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Congress, the Government Accountability Office, and others. Additionally, we allow non-SSA researchers to use the DAF, primarily through the RDRC, and through the PUF available at data.gov.

Since we first published public use data from the DAF in November 2018, there has been significant interest in using this file, generally around 45-50 data downloads per month. Since its launch, the DAF-PUF documentation has consistently been a popular data download. In the last year, downloads of the DAF documentation averaged almost 180 downloads per month. As a point of reference, downloads of documentation for the NBS averaged almost 70 per month over the same period. Eleven research papers were published in 2022, utilizing either the public or restricted versions of the DAF for their analysis.

We awarded a competitive contract in FY 2022 to continue building the DAF over FYs 2022–

Under this contract, we expect to complete five annual DAF files under five task orders. Over this period, we are also implementing a transition from mainframe storage and processing to a cloud server environment for DAF construction, storage, and processing. Testing and developing cloud server processing for the DAF began in FY 2022 and continued in FY 2023. In FY 2023, we completed Task Order 1 for the DAF for 2021 and continued construction of the DAF for 2022 under Task Order 2. In FY 2024, we will complete the DAF for 2022 and award Task Order 3 for construction of the DAF for 2023. We will also begin implementation of our transition to cloud computing for the DAF and will explore opportunities for using cloud

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processing to streamline the DAF construction process or shorten the DAF construction timeline. We are developing two extensions to the DAF: adding data from the SSDI and SSI disability application processes; and extending the variables available in the PUF file. We expect to complete our data development and implementation of these two extensions to the DAF in FY

In FY 2025, we will complete the DAF for 2023 and award Task Order 4 for construction of the DAF for 2024.

Disability Research Surveys (DRS)

In FY 2021, we developed a new survey platform, the DRS, to broaden the scope of information we collect about beneficiaries. The DRS included three separate surveys. We identify evidence- building activities using the DRS in our description of priority question 2 in our FYs 2022-2026 Learning Agenda.

The first of the three DRS surveys was an additional round of the NBS. We awarded the NBS task order in FY 2022, began fielding the NBS in FY 2023, and expect to conclude the task in FY 2026.

The second survey, the New Applicant Survey, is to better understand SSDI and SSI applicants’ experiences, their use of services, and the pathways they take before and after application. This work supplements other customer experience efforts by providing additional perspectives on the applicant experience not captured by customer satisfaction surveys. We awarded the task order for the New Applicant Survey in FY 2022. In FY 2023, we began designing the survey instruments, which we will complete in FY 2024. We will field the survey in FY 2025. The final survey will be publicly available to researchers for long-term analyses.

We will award the task order for the third survey on children and youth in late FY 2024. We will begin designing and testing of the survey instrument in FYs 2025-2026, and fielding the survey in FY 2027.

In FY 2025, we will award a new DRS contract and begin work on the next round of the NBS.

Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and Supplement

The University of Michigan’s HRS surveys more than 22,000 Americans over the age of 50 every two years and provides an ongoing source of longitudinal data for research on retirement and aging. The study provides data on health and economic well-being after retirement not available in our program data. HRS data helps us assess a wide range of issues, including pre-retirement saving, health insurance, employment and retirement patterns, and projected benefits of disabled and retired workers. Through jointly financed cooperative agreements with the National Institute on Aging (NIA), we have supported the HRS from its inception.

We use the HRS for research by our staff or for projects funded through the RDRC regarding disability, pension participation, differences in contributions to tax-deferred savings accounts among different birth cohorts, and retirement income resources of near-retirees. For example, in FY 2022, our researchers used the HRS to examine the difference in retirement preparedness between black and white individuals during the pre-retirement period. Research in FYs 2023–

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2024 will use the HRS to study the accuracy of our Income of the Aged Population publications and total retirement resources by race and ethnicity. The HRS data we support are also available for external researchers to understand the American population aged 50 and older. In FY 2023, RDRC researchers used the HRS to analyze the wealth of the late boomer and early Generation X population, and used questions related to COVID-19 added in the 2020 HRS survey to examine the effects of COVID-19 excess mortality on Social Security outlays. In FYs 2024– 2025, we expect that HRS will provide data for RDRC researchers and internal staff to study retirement income, as well as a number of equity issues.

Interventional Cooperative Agreement Program (ICAP)

The ICAP encourages employment of individuals with disabilities, through cooperative agreements with States, private foundations, and other stakeholders who have an interest in and ability to identify, operate, evaluate, and partially fund interventional research. It is included as an evaluation in our FY 2025 Evaluation Plan and as an evidence-building activity under priority question 2 of our FYs 2022-2026 Learning Agenda.

The research and interventions under this program support efforts to promote equity. Via ICAP, we can systematically review demonstration proposals from outside organizations and enter into cooperative agreements to collaborate with non-Federal entities on demonstration research. ICAP is distinct from our other research grant programs in that it focuses on experimental demonstration research. The projects have a 5-year period of performance, requiring renewal after the first year based on completion of startup activities.

In FY 2021, we awarded our first two cooperative agreements to the Kessler Foundation and the State of Georgia’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. The Kessler Foundation is conducting the Vocational Resource Facilitator Demonstration (VRFD), a randomized controlled trial of an early intervention employment intervention for rehabilitation patients who have experienced recent neurotrauma. The State of Georgia’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council is conducting the SSI and SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) model in Georgia County Jails Pilot (SGCJP), a feasibility study of the implementation of the SOAR model in county jails with incarcerated people with serious and persistent mental illness across the State.

In FY 2022, we conducted start-up activities with the initial FY 2021 awardees. We solicited applications for additional projects in FY 2022 and issued awards in the first quarter of FY 2023 to Mathematica and Westat. Mathematica will conduct the Transition Exploration Demonstration (TED), a randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of an employment intervention for youth with disabilities who are transitioning into the adult workforce. Westat will conduct the Supportive Housing and Individual Placement and Support (SHIPS) study, a randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of combining supportive housing with Individual Placement and Support, which are supported employment services for recently homeless people experiencing a range of disabilities and mental health conditions.

In FY 2023, we completed start-up activities for each of the initial projects. We also began conducting start-up activities for the second round of projects and solicited applications for the third round of projects. We issued awards for the third round of projects in the fourth quarter of FY 2023 to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) and to the University

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of Chicago’s Inclusive Economy Lab (IEL). CDLE will conduct the Interagency Cooperative Action Network (ICAN) demonstration, a randomized assignment trial to test the impact on income and benefit receipt of assisting potentially eligible individuals in acquiring SSA Disability Benefits (whether SSDI, SSI, or both types of benefits) while they are concurrently working and seeking employment. The IEL will conduct the Developing Opportunities for ABLE Account Holders (DOABLE) demonstration, a randomized study aimed at promoting the take-up and use of Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) accounts and provide information on how ABLE accounts impact employment-related outcomes.

In FY 2024, we begin implementation, enrollment, and evaluation activities for the initial two ICAP projects awarded in 2021, VRFD and SGCJP. We will complete start up activities for the second round of ICAP projects (TED and SHIPS) and begin their implementation and evaluation phase. We will also conduct start up activities for the third round of ICAP projects (ICAN and DOABLE) and solicit applications for the fourth round of projects.

In FY 2025, we will continue implementation and evaluation activities for the initial and second round of ICAP projects, VRFD, SGCJP, TED and SHIPS. We will complete start up activities for the third round of ICAP projects (ICAN and DOABLE) and begin the implementation and evaluation phases of each of those projects. We will also conduct start up activities for the fourth round of ICAP projects and solicit applications for the fifth round of projects.

Medicare Outreach – Section 1144

We send outreach letters to income-tested, Medicare-eligible beneficiaries and those who have experienced a decrease in income. 1 These letters provide help with “traditional” Medicare and include information about Extra Help, when appropriate.

We annually notify 20 percent of those who previously received an outreach letter, have not received the benefits, and meet the income test. In FY 2023, we mailed approximately 1.3 million outreach letters to those who potentially qualified for Medicare Savings Program or Extra Help. In FYs 2024–2025, we anticipate mailing a similar number of outreach letters each year. We factor in a contingency amount for possible increases in enrollment, for beneficiaries who experience a decrease in income, and other expected costs such as an increase in postage. In addition, we share lists of individuals potentially eligible for cost sharing with State Medicaid agencies. The major objective of these projects is to increase the enrollment of eligible low- income individuals into programs that assist Medicare beneficiaries with their out-of-pocket medical expenses, including prescription drug coverage premiums. HHS fully reimburses our costs in an amount not exceeding $3 million per year.

Outreach efforts outlined in this section are part of our work under Section 1144 only. For more information on our broader outreach efforts, please see the Advancing Equity, Including DEIA in

1 The Medicare Prescription Drug, Modernization, and Improvement Act of 2003, P.L. 108-173 expanded outreach requirements of Section 1144. The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, P.L. 110-275 deemed every Extra Help application filed with our agency to be a protective filing for the State-administered Medicare Savings Program, unless the claimant objects.

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the Workforce, and Conducting Outreach to People Potentially Facing Barriers exhibit in the LAE section.

National Beneficiary Survey (NBS)

The NBS collects data from a nationally representative sample of SSDI beneficiaries and SSI recipients on a wide range of topics not available in our administrative data or in other public databases. The data include health and functional status, health insurance coverage, interest in work, barriers to work, use of services, work history, income, and experience with Social Security programs. These data improve our ability to conduct useful analysis regarding factors that facilitate SSDI beneficiary and SSI recipient employment and conversely, factors that impede their efforts to maintain employment.

Our researchers and analysts, along with researchers at other Federal agencies, research organizations, and academic institutions, use NBS data extensively to evaluate the Ticket to Work program and other SSDI and SSI work incentive programs and policies.

The NBS gathers information through three samples:

A nationally representative sample of SSDI beneficiaries and SSI recipients called the Representative Beneficiary Sample, which collects information on health and well-being, employment-related goals and activities, and use of programs and services.
The Successful Workers Sample (SWS), which focuses on beneficiaries who have attained sufficient earnings to have their benefits suspended due to work.
A longitudinal sample of successful workers who were part of the 2017 SWS. In FY 2023, we developed the final data files and documentation covering all rounds of the NBS and closed out the contract. Future rounds of the NBS are included in the DRS project.

Reports and public use files containing data from prior rounds of the NBS are available on our website at: ssa.gov/disabilityresearch/nbs.html.

New and Emerging Research (formerly known as New and Emerging Research –

Disability)

Given the size and scope of our research agenda, this category allows us the flexibility to cover unanticipated cost increases and new research projects to respond to changes in laws, regulations, policy, and agency or administration priorities. Projects under this category typically include studies of program policy issues and the identification of trends in the disability program.

“New and Emerging Research” covers the costs of small initiatives or initial project development for larger initiatives. Larger, multi-year initiatives receive their own funding in future budget planning depending on project scope, duration, and cost.

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In FYs 2023–2024, we will seek input from beneficiaries and service providers on their understanding, preferences, and use of work incentive policies. We also anticipate using this funding for new research to support operational activities and equity initiatives in FYs 2024-

We will explore opportunities to obtain ongoing feedback on updates to notices, forms, and processes from beneficiaries, claimants, and other individuals with lived experience. For example, we will evaluate and provide information for improvements to our Disability Starter Kits. In FY 2024, we will begin developing a Community Advisory Board (CAB), composed of individuals with lived experiences with OASDI or SSI or who are at risk of interacting with these programs. The CAB will provide early feedback on selected planned activities, such as new research projects, to ensure that we appropriately include the views of people impacted by our research, policies, notices, and other activities. The CAB will be available for topics across the agency, particularly to the customer experience team, to include topics relevant to their specific efforts as engagements in the CAB. In FY 2024, we will also conduct research on the experiences of SSI recipients at risk of payment suspension and support an Intergovernmental Personnel Act assignment to conduct research and analysis described in our FYs 2022-2026 Learning Agenda and our Equity Action Plan 2023 Update and other related work.

SSI Outreach Evaluation

We are committed to increasing outreach efforts to ensure that our services are reaching eligible populations, including communities of color and underserved communities. In FY 2024, we will award an evaluation contract to assess the effectiveness of these efforts. We will focus our evaluation on the Third-Party Assistance (TPA) and the electronic SSI Protective Filing Tool (eSPF) initiatives. The TPA involves several outreach activities involving community legal aid organizations, faith-based groups, social services organizations in cooperation with Vulnerable Population Liaisons to mitigate barriers that are hampering applications and enrollments in the SSI program. The eSPF is a public-facing web tool that allows individuals to schedule appointments to file for SSI and records a protective filing date. The evaluation of these two efforts is included in our FY 2025 Evaluation Plan.

The topics and questions we will answer with this evaluation include, but are not limited to:

Program Effectiveness: How much, if at all, did each component within the TPA and eSPF increase SSI applications and approvals? Which components within the TPA and eSPF are most effective in increasing SSI applications and approvals? Which components within the TPA and eSPF are most helpful in increasing SSI applications and approvals? Customer Characteristics: Which demographic groups (e.g., sex, race, ethnicity, disability, or geographic) successfully and unsuccessfully utilized each component within the TPA and eSPF?
Process Assessment and Opportunities for Improvement: How well did each component within the TPA and eSPF function, and what are the areas for improvement?

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Barriers to Application and Process: What barriers did SSA mitigate by the components that make up the TPA and eSPF for individuals applying for SSI? In FY 2025, we will begin data collection clearances and activities. For more information about our outreach efforts, please see the Advancing Equity, Including DEIA in the Workforce, and Outreach to People Facing Barriers exhibit in the LAE section.

Retirement and Disability Research Consortium

We awarded the current set of five-year cooperative agreements for the RDRC at the end of FY 2023. The RDRC comprises six competitively selected research centers based at the University of Michigan, Boston College, the National Bureau of Economic Research, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), City University of New York (CUNY), and the University of Wisconsin. We broadly charge these research centers with planning, initiating, and maintaining a high quality, multidisciplinary research program that covers retirement, disability, and Social Security program issues. The centers perform valuable research and evaluation of retirement and disability policy, disseminate results, provide training awards, and facilitate the use of our program data by outside researchers. We encourage the RDRC centers to conduct research and evaluations that will inform the priority questions in our FYs 2022-2026 Learning Agenda, and our FY 2025 Evaluation Plan identifies our intent to fund RDRC projects that assess changes to our service delivery.

The RDRC actively supports the agency’s equity initiatives, through training, research, funding for research projects by scholars from ISSCs and underserved populations, and projects that focus on topics relating to racial or ethnic disparities. Five of the six centers have an ISSC1 as a lead (UMBC and CUNY) or have an ISSC or HBCU as a co-director. The sixth center is searching for an ISSC or HBCU to be a co-director. Other RDRC training programs that specifically recruit scholars from underserved populations include Boston College’s Undergraduate Fellowship program and a mentorship program through the University of Michigan in collaboration with the Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research.

FY 2023 funding supported projects started in FY 2024, with focus areas including the following topics: Disparities by Race and Ethnicity; Decline in SSDI and SSI Applications; Improving Communication and Outreach; Economic Security of SSA Beneficiaries; Improving Service Delivery; Return-to-Office; and Informing Trust Fund Projections. Within each topic, we provided the centers with specific research questions to consider when developing their research proposals. Topics and questions are based on stakeholder feedback from inside and outside the

The 2022 list based on Department of Education criteria are compiled by Rutgers at https://cmsi.gse.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/2022%20MSI%20List.pdf. The Department of Education’s criteria are listed at: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/edlite-minorityinst.html.

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agency and are aligned with agency research priorities such as the Learning Agenda and relevant Evaluation Plans.

In FY 2024, we will continue our research on equity issues and disparities by race and ethnicity based on the focal areas in the Request for Applications. We will work with the new RDRC centers to continue to expand funding opportunities for institutions and researchers who may have not typically been funded by the government.

In FY 2025, we expect to continue research on equity issues and disparities by race and ethnicity with more in-depth approaches and mixed methods and leverage growing networks of researchers with a variety of quantitative and qualitative skills from a diverse array of disciplines.

Ticket to Work (TTW) Evaluation

To continue to meet the obligations in the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 for ongoing evaluations and to assess the current landscape of the TTW program, we are undertaking an evaluation of the TTW program operations and experiences of TTW users. This evaluation will include consumer and provider experiences for both the Employment Network and the Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) projects and is included as an evaluation in our FY 2025 Evaluation Plan and as an evidence-building activity under priority question 2 of our FYs 2022-2026 Learning Agenda.

In FY 2023, we awarded a contract to conduct an evaluation using surveys, focus groups, semi- structured interviews, an analysis of program data, and other data collection methodologies, as appropriate. The topics and questions we intend to answer with this evaluation include, but are not limited to:

Program Effectiveness and Opportunities for Improvement: To what extent is the TTW programs working effectively and efficiently? What aspects of these programs work effectively and what areas can be improved? What additional services or program improvements can be helpful to SSA beneficiaries? To what extent are beneficiaries aware of the TTW program? Why do beneficiaries use the TTW program? Why do beneficiaries not use the TTW program? Are there any changes to the role SSA plays in the TTW program that might improve service delivery and program outcomes?
Customer Characteristics: Which demographic groups (e.g., impairment, race, ethnicity, sex, SSI vs. SSDI, or other appropriate delineations) and intersections of these groups are using and not using TTW services? What services are most effective for different demographic groups?
Service Provision: How is technology integrated into TTW service delivery? Does this integration vary across service providers? To what extent are services keeping up with modern technological changes? Who are the effective service providers and what do they

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do differently from less effective service providers? How does beneficiary engagement and access vary between in-person and remote services?

Service Equity: Are the TTW services broadly available to everyone or are there disparities between which populations have access to these services? What barriers exist, if any, to service provision, in economically disadvantaged, racially diverse, and rural communities? How do program rules, such as the Ticket payment system, affect service availability? Are there programmatic or other disincentives to service providers in serving specific groups of individuals (based on impairment, education, geographic location, etc.)? This evaluation will supplement findings from the original TTW evaluation completed in 2013 ( https://www.ssa.gov/disabilityresearch/twe_reports.htm). In FY 2024, we expect to work with the contractor to finalize the evaluation design and obtain approval for data collection activities. We expect to field the data collection activities in FYs 2025–2026 and expect a final evaluation report in FY 2027.

Understanding America Study (UAS) Enhancements

UAS is an innovative, nationally representative longitudinal internet panel with a sample of over 13,000 U.S. households. It is funded through a jointly financed cooperative agreement with the NIA. Our support will allow the grantee to maintain and expand the sample size to 20,000 panel members over the next five years. The UAS data are used for an assessment in our FY 2025 Evaluation Plan and as an evidence-building activity under priority question 3 of our FYs 2022- 2026 Learning Agenda.

In FY 2023, we published research on public knowledge of disability programs, and the grantee administered the revised disability public knowledge survey for its second wave. We conducted analyses of race and ethnicity disparities in disability program participation and researched the utilization of my Social Security accounts.

We also published research on Social Security program knowledge by race and ethnicity.

In FYs 2024 and 2025, we will use the longitudinal data from the UAS to assess whether the redesigned Social Security Statement and supplemental fact sheets improve the public’s understanding of our programs in the longer-term. We will also use the UAS to leverage the UAS’ increasing sample size to provide insights into differences in retirement savings, disability participation, and financial security by race/ethnicity, sex, age, and other characteristics.

Ensure Stewardship of SSA Programs

Advisory Services to Assist SSA with Disability Projects/National Academy of Sciences

Multi-Year Contract

In FY 2023, we awarded a new five-year contract with the NAS-HMD to continue their work

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conducting research and answering specific questions related to medical and vocational assessment at steps three, four, and five of the sequential disability evaluation process. Information from HMD assures our disability evaluations reflect the latest knowledge and practice in a wide range of medical disciplines and supports data-driven changes to our regulations and policies. The contract provides for Federal Advisory Committee Act-compliant Consensus Committees of medical and other experts to evaluate the effectiveness of our disability programs for adults and children as well as organizing and leading workshops with subject matter experts and outreach conferences with members of the public. Under this contract, we awarded task orders to:

Create a standing committee of experts to advise SSA on disability issues throughout the five years of the base contract. This secures our continued relationship with leaders and luminaries in the healthcare sector and provides an avenue to receive timely and unbiased guidance on a regular basis.
Plan and conduct a public workshop bringing together experts on health disparities for people facing barriers to accessing our services. This workshop will offer a synthesis of information on the health consequences of barriers to service from a health science perspective as well as other social determinants of health. This information will allow us to effectively consider systemic issues in the provision of health services that take place prior to our involvement. In FY 2024, we plan to award task orders to:
Create a consensus committee on the advancements and challenges in the diagnoses and treatment of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). This information will enable us to examine whether current eligibility rules specific to SCD are both medically appropriate and considerate of equity issues across several domains.
Create a consensus committee on absenteeism and time-off-task expectations and requirements in the national economy. The collected information would help refine our vocational evaluation process and assure we are making accurate and well-supported disability determinations.
Plan and conduct a public workshop comprised of health care and allied professionals to discuss management of chronic pain symptoms in outpatient settings outside of active cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care. This workshop will help us understand the current medical trends and challenges in managing chronic pain symptoms and evaluate claims involving chronic pain. In FY 2025, we will consider task orders to:
Create a consensus committee on the medical description and measurement of the personal experience of pain. This information will enable us to provide adjudicators with

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updated guidance for comprehensively assessing a claimant’s experiences and limitations due to pain.

• Create a consensus committee to discuss the evolving landscape of telemedicine and identify best practices with respect to remote testing or examination. The collected information would help refine our consultative examination guidelines and lower the time and monetary burden on patients to create medical evidence sufficient to allow adjudication of their claims.

• Plan and conduct a public workshop comprised of health care and allied professionals to discuss case prognosis and progression in physical or occupational therapy and how care decisions are made. This workshop will help us understand the drivers behind differences in therapy records and functional reports between claimants with similar underlying impairments.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research on Data Analytics and the Work Disability- Functional Assessment Battery (WD-FAB)

Under an Interagency Agreement, the NIH Clinical Center provides in-depth analysis of our existing data and supports testing the WD-FAB in our CDR process. The WD-FAB aims to provide uniform information about individuals’ self-reported functional ability that we can use to inform our disability data collection and determination processes. The evaluation of the WD- FAB is included in our FY 2025 Evaluation Plan.

In FY 2023, NIH analyzed WD-FAB data collected during the first wave of the project’s pilot study. NIH also used longitudinal measures collected during the Supported Employment Demonstration, including WD-FAB results, to compare the effect of medical improvement versus functional improvement on outcomes such as work and beneficiary status. In addition, NIH provided a report that replicated their linking methods used to associate WD-FAB data with work demands as characterized by the Occupational Information Network (O*NET1) to align WD-FAB and ORS data to support applicability of the linking methods to the SSA context. This exploratory proof of concept’s goal was to measure the functional requirements of an occupation using the WD-FAB functional levels to compare an individual’s WD-FAB scores to the functional work demands of a job. NIH provided us with a report detailing findings from use of their natural language processing (NLP) methods to identify functional terminology within the unstructured text of medical evidence. Additionally, NIH completed their analyses of additional data sources to identify characteristics of beneficiaries most likely to return to work to help inform ongoing SSA TTW program efforts.

1 O*NET is a career exploration tool established by the Department of Labor that contains detailed descriptions of work for use by job seekers, workforce development and human resources professionals, students, developers, and researchers.

Supplemental Security Income Program

evidence and findings in NIH’s report to evaluate the value and feasibility of incorporating the WD-FAB into our CDR business process. NIH will also explore the use of their NLP methods to identify functional terminology within the unstructured text of medical evidence and conclude this area of research.

In FY 2025, we plan to pause interagency research efforts with NIH to allow us time to review, analyze, and consider NIH’s FY 2024 analysis report on the WD-FAB data collected. During this time, we will determine if the WD-FAB instrument adds value to our medical CDR process and determine the viability of incorporating the WD-FAB into our CDR business process. Based on this and the evaluation of other NIH research, we will determine potential next steps for further research in FY 2026.

Occupational Information System (OIS) and Vocational Information Tool (VIT)

We are collaborating with BLS on development of the ORS to collect updated information on the requirements of work in the national economy. We will use the ORS data, along with information from other occupational sources, to create the OIS.

The OIS will classify occupations using the Federally mandated SOC system and include data elements to measure the physical demands, environmental conditions, and mental and cognitive requirements of work, as well as the education and training needed to gain average proficiency in a job. We will house, access, and operationalize the OIS through the VIT, a web-based information technology platform.

BLS determined that a five-year cycle (“Wave”) of data collection is needed for ORS to remain current with changes in the occupational environment. We expect to conduct rulemaking after BLS publishes the ORS Wave 2 final vocational data estimates. We then plan to update our rules as BLS publishes final vocational data estimates for subsequent five-year Waves to ensure our disability adjudications are based on the latest data.

In FY 2023, BLS completed Wave 2 data collection and began data collection for Wave 3. In November 2022, BLS published data from the fourth year of Wave 2. BLS also published the 60-day notice seeking public comments related to the ORS third wave in the Federal Register in December 2022.

In FY 2024, BLS will complete the first year of Wave 3, begin the second year, and publish the final Wave 2 data collection estimates.

In FY 2025, BLS will complete the second year of Wave 3, begin the third year, and publish the first year Wave 3 data estimates.

RELATED FUNDING SOURCES

Section 234 of the Social Security Act gave us the authority to use trust fund monies to conduct research and demonstration projects designed to test SSDI program changes that may encourage disabled beneficiaries to work. Congress extended this authority with the Ticket to Work and

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Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. These demonstration projects were not part of our annual research appropriation request. OMB apportions Section 234 funds. Our authority to initiate such projects ended December 31, 2021, and to carry out such projects ended December 31, 2022. We will not incur additional costs, but for some projects, such as the Ohio Direct Referral Demonstration, we will continue to analyze data and release evaluation reports.

Table 2.24—Current Research Projects Obligations through FY 2023 (in thousands)

	Years	Total
Optimize the Experience of SSA's Customers		$390,722
Analyzing Relationships between Disability, Rehabilitation and Work: A Small Grant Program (ARDRAW)	2016-2023	$1,800
Blanket Purchase Agreement for Time Sensitive Research Projects	2018-2023	$7,279
Census Surveys	2008-2023	$12,000
Data Development1	2008-2023	$4,599
Data Development in an Enterprise Business Platform	2015-2023	$15,449
Disability Analysis File	2008-2023	$19,400
Disability Perceptions Survey	2020-2023	$1,213
Disability Research Surveys	2022-2023	$13,213
Health and Retirement Study(HRS)and Supplement	2008-2023	$65,967
Interventional Cooperative Agreement Program	2021-2023	$16,483
Medicare Outreach(1144)	2008-2023	$18,991
National Beneficiary Survey	2008-2023	$20,105
Retirement and Disability Research Consortium2	2008-2023	$155,025
Ticket to Work Evaluation	2023	$6,732
Understanding America Survey	2009-2023	$30,698
Working Disability Functional Assessment Battery(WD-FAB) Data Collection	2020-2023	$1,767
Ensuring Stewardship of SSA Programs		$354,603
Advisory Services to Assist.SSA with Disability Issues	2008-2023	$40,498
National Institutes of Health-Research on Data Analytics/Functional Assessment Battery Development	2008-2023	$41,351
Occupational Information System and Vocational Info Tool	2012-2023	$272,754
Total Section 1110 and 1144 Obligations		$745,325

1 The Data Development line reflects total obligations for current research projects.

2 The Disability and Research Consortium (DRC) and the Retirement Research Consortium (RRC) were separate

2 The Disability and Research Consortium (DRC) and the Retirement Research Consortium (RRC) were separate grant programs until FY 2017.

Supplemental Security Income Program

ADMINISTRATION OF OUR RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Our primary research components are housed within the Office of Retirement and Disability Policy (ORDP). ORDP is responsible for all major activities in the areas of strategic and program policy planning, policy research and evaluation, statistical programs, and overall policy development, analysis, and implementation. Within ORDP, the Office of Research, Demonstration, and Employment Support; the Office of Disability Policy; and the Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics share the responsibility for administering projects funded under our research appropriation.

Office of Research, Demonstration, and Employment Support (ORDES) - ORDES conducts

research and analysis related to the SSDI and SSI programs. ORDES implements demonstration projects to test changes to the disability programs primarily aimed at improving program administration and supporting employment. It also conducts research, analysis, evaluations, and statistical modeling that support our goals to strengthen our disability programs and improve program integrity. The Associate Commissioner for ORDES is our Evaluation Officer. 1

Office of Disability Policy (ODP) - ODP oversees and supports the planning, development,

evaluation, and issuance of substantive regulations, policies, and procedures for our disability programs; development and promulgation of policies and guidelines for use by State, Federal, or private contractor providers who implement the disability provisions of the Social Security Act; and evaluation of the effects of proposed legislation and legislation pending before Congress to determine the impact on disability programs. ODP uses research to identify opportunities for policy improvement and for keeping medical, vocational, childhood, disability, and CDR policies up to date.

Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics (ORES) - ORES is a statistical unit responsible

for the production and dissemination of research and data on our programs. ORES produces findings on our retirement, disability, and SSI programs from research and microsimulation projects supported through intramural and extramural programs. As a principal statistical unit of the agency, ORES develops program and survey data to support our research and statistical objectives. In addition, ORES maintains a schedule of research and statistical publications. ORES statisticians and researchers provide reliable data about our key program variables, information about the design of social insurance programs around the world to support comparative research, as well as social and behavioral research related to our programs. ORES also provides policymakers and stakeholders with research on retirement security. The Associate Commissioner for ORES is the agency’s Chief Statistical Officer.

As described in M-19-23, the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policy Making Act of 2018 requires CFO-Act agencies to designate a senior staff member with authority and responsibility for providing leadership over the agency's evaluation and learning agenda activities.

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Implementation of the Evidence Act

The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (Evidence Act) of 2018 requires us to develop a Learning Agenda, Annual Evaluation Plan, and Capacity Assessment. For more information on our implementation of the Evidence Act, please see documents posted on https://www.ssa.gov/data.

RESEARCH INVESTMENT CRITERIA

We support research that fosters a better understanding of the socio-economic status and other characteristics of Americans covered by the benefits programs we administer; how changes in demography and the economy might alter the well-being of our customers; the interrelationships between our programs and other private and public programs; and the impact of the programs on the overall economy. Our research also informs many of the priority questions identified in our FYs 2022-2026 Learning Agenda, and our evaluations are described in our Annual Evaluation Plan. Within this framework, our extramural research program places the best available evidence into the hands of policymakers to inform policy development and program administration. We have established guidelines for developing, managing, and vetting projects for inclusion in our long-term research and demonstration agenda, as presented in our Learning Agenda, Annual Evaluation Plan, solicitations, and focal areas for the RDRC, ICAP, and ARDRAW. We are implementing our Plan for Increasing Public Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research (Public Access Plan or PAP), in response to the August 25, 2022, Office of Science and Technology Policy Memorandum, “Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research”. Our public access plan defines general requirements for public access to our scientific research publications and scientific research data and expect implementation by end of 2024. The PAP will apply to all published research generated on or after 12/31/2025. We employ a variety of methods to ensure we meet the funding requirements of the sections of the Act that authorize our extramural research and demonstration activities and our extramural research activities meet high standards for relevance, quality, and performance.

Relevance

The primary purpose of our extramural research is to support evidence-building to inform the improvement of our programs, especially for individuals facing barriers to accessing our programs for economic security. We seek to support research and demonstrations that clearly connect with this goal. A fundamental step in our review is assuring that each project responds to issues facing the OASDI and/or SSI programs, with priority towards contemporaneous challenges. In addition to supporting our FYs 2022-2026 Learning Agenda and our annual Evaluation Plans required under the Evidence Act, many of our Section 1110 projects will help us achieve the goals of our Equity Action Plan 2023 Update in agreement with EO 13985.

Our review process includes obtaining the advice and recommendations of researchers with technical expertise, program managers, and agency executives. We also receive input on our research program from the SSAB. Internal reviews help ensure that funded activities reflect our strategic goals and objectives and respond to legislative requirements. Many of our research

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activities are directed toward providing policymakers and the public with the analytical and data resources they need to assess our current programs and the implications of reform proposals.

Our budget request reflects our support of the ongoing goals to provide opportunities for individuals with disabilities to maximize their self-sufficiency through work and to increase the American public’s basic financial management skills. For example, through the Retaining Employment and Talent After Injury/Illness Network or RETAIN project, we are collaborating with the Department of Labor to test interventions that will improve the ability of individuals to remain in the labor force when they acquire an illness or injury.

We are also working with HHS’s Administration for Children and Families to test early intervention and return-to-work services for individuals who may be potential future applicants for SSDI or SSI.

Finally, in support of our commitment to supporting individuals with disabilities, we participate in cross-agency working groups, as appropriate. We are supportive of exploring ways to leverage our data and research portfolio to buttress these efforts.

Quality

Our extramural program provides access to analysts at top research institutions from around the country to produce the best evidence in support of our program. We use a competitive, merit- based, peer-reviewed procurement process to ensure that our extramural research program selects the best qualified individuals and techniques to produce high quality results. We award research projects conducted by private-sector organizations through competitive contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements. Our extramural program features internationally recognized scholars including many that have received significant recognition for their research contributions (e.g., the John Bates Clark Medal).

We use Technical Expert Panels to review projects while they are in progress to provide feedback and suggestions to the agency. These panels include internal experts in relevant disciplines, such as statistics, economics, and survey design. They help ensure that our sponsored research projects are methodologically sound and consistent with professional standards. The research projects we sponsor are often discussed in formal seminars or workshops, as well as published in top peer-reviewed scientific journals. 1 In accordance with the

1 Our extramural partners often publish supported research in scholarly journals. Recent examples include, but are not limited to: Engelhardt, Gary V., Jonathan Gruber, and Anil Kumar (2022). “Early Social Security Claiming and Old-age Poverty: Evidence from the Introduction of the Social Security Early Eligibility Age.” Journal of Human Resource, https://ideas.repec.org/a/uwp/jhriss/v57y2022i4p1079-1106.html; Hou, Wenliang, and Sanzenbacher, Geoffrey T. (2021). “Measuring Racial/Ethnic Retirement Wealth Inequality;” The Journal of Retirement, https://doi.org/10.3905/jor.2020.1.079; Hudomiet, Péter, Michael D. Hurd, and Susann Rohwedder (2021). “Forecasting Mortality Inequalities in the U.S. based on Trends in Midlife Health.” Journal of Health Economics, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2021.102540; Li, Yang (2022). “Pension Plan Types and Social Security Knowledge: New Survey Evidence.” Journal of Aging & Social Policy, https://doi.org/10.1080/08959420.2022.2132805;

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Office of Scientific and Technology Policy’s memo, all our scientific research and data conducted or funded after December 31, 2025 will be made publicly available to the greatest extent possible. See our Plan for Increasing Public Access To the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research for more information on our public access plans.

By December 31, 2024, we plan to publish specific policies and requirements to make our research free and accessible to the public consistent with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy memorandum requirements for a Plan for Increasing Public Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research. This plan will be effective for all extramural research awarded after December 31, 2025. 1

Performance

We carry out our extramural research and evaluation projects primarily through contracts, jointly funded cooperative agreements, and grants that identify specific deliverables and timetables. We have sent a strong message to contractors that they must complete projects on time and within budget. Contracting officers, contracting officer’s representatives, analysts, and senior executives monitor the progress of all research contracts and agreements. These agreements are also subject to audits by OIG.

Consistent with our encouragement to support evidence-based evaluations, we produce reports and data files for each research and evaluation project in an effort to determine whether existing or proposed programs work as designed. Where appropriate, we make these reports publicly available or announce their availability in the Social Security Bulletin and online. Via the RDRC, we disseminate output at annual meetings, online, and through a variety of publications, workshops, and conferences. Our research projects are widely cited in both peer-reviewed publications and the press. For example, the Expenditures of the Aged Chartbook was referenced in the February 2, 2023 Bloomberg article, “Health, Housing Hit Budgets of Older Americans Even Before Covid,” and the research paper, “Immigrants’ Economic Assimilation: Evidence from Longitudinal Earnings Records,” was cited in the journal, American Sociological Review.

Knapp, David, and Jinkook Lee (2021). “Institutional Influences on Retirement, Health, and Well-being.” Journal of Pension Economics & Finance, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474747221000408. 08-2022-OSTP-Public-Access-Memo.pdf (whitehouse.gov)

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Limitation on Administrative Expenses

CONTENTS APPROPRIATION LANGUAGE/BACKGROUND ... 89 Authorizing Legislation ... 89 Appropriation Language ... 90 Language Analysis ... 93 Significant Items in Appropriations Committee Reports ... 97 Improper Payments ... 106 Pilot Programs ... 109 Consultative Exams ... 113 Appropriation History ... 116 SSA-Related Legislation From April 2023 to March 2024 ... 121 GENERAL STATEMENT/BUDGETARY RESOURCES/PERFORMANCE ... 122 Limitation On Administrative Expenses Overview ... 122 Key Priorities ... 123 Size and Scope of Our Programs ... 125 Funding Request ... 126 All Purpose Table ... 128 SSI State Supplementation/Impact of States Dropping Out ... 130 Budget Authority and Outlays ... 132 Amounts Available for Obligation/Analysis of Changes ... 135 Summary of Change in Administrative Budget Authority ... 137 Summary of Change in Administrative Obligations from FY 2024 to FY 2025 ... 138 Budgetary Resources by Object ... 140 Estimated Distribution of Agency Costs ... 141 Workload Processing and Cost Distribution Across the Organization ... 144 Performance Targets ... 146 Program Integrity ... 148 Fiscal Year 2023 Disability Decision Data ... 153 Priority Goals ... 154 Customer Experience ... 155 Advancing Equity, including Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in the Workforce, and Conducting Outreach to People Potentially Facing Barriers ... 158 Information Technology ... 169 SSA Organizational Chart ... 193

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Major Building Renovations and Repair Costs ... 194 Social Security Advisory Board ... 201

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TABLES

Table 3.1—Authorizing Legislation ... 89

Table 3.2—Appropriation Language Analysis ... 93

Table 3.3—Significant Items in Appropriations Committee Report ... 97

Table 3.4—FY 2023 Consultative Examination Counts and Cost Data ... 113

Table 3.5—Appropriation History Table ... 116

Table 3.6—Benefit Outlays ... 125

Table 3.7—Beneficiaries ... 125

Table 3.8—Budgetary Request ... 126

Table 3.9—All Purpose Table (APT) ... 128

Table 3.10—State Supplement Payments ... 130

Table 3.11—SSI User Fee Collections ... 130

Table 3.12—Estimated SSA User Fee Collections by State ... 131

Table 3.13—Budget Authority and Outlays ... 132

Table 3.14—Amounts Available for Obligation ... 135

Table 3.15—Summary of Change in Administrative Budget Authority

from FY 2024 to FY 2025 ... 137

Table 3.16—Summary of Change in Administrative Obligations

from FY 2024 to FY 2025 ... 138

Table 3.17—Budgetary Resources by Object ... 140

Table 3.18—FY 2023 - Estimated Distribution of Agency Costs ... 141

Table 3.19—FY 2024 - Estimated Distribution of Agency Costs ... 142

Table 3.20—FY 2025 - Estimated Distribution of Agency Costs ... 143

Table 3.21—Key Performance Targets ... 146

Table 3.22a—Program Integrity Workloads and Funding by Source – 10-Year ... 149

Table 3.22b—Program Integrity Workloads and Funding by Source ... 150

Table 3.23—Fiscal Year 2023 Disability Decision Data ... 153

Table 3.24—Total Information Technology Systems (ITS) Budget Authority ... 169

Table 3.25—Modernization Cost Avoidance and Efficiencies ... 170

Table 3.26—Appendix A: FY 2025 Agency IT Portfolio Summary ... 186

Table 3.27—FY 2025 Agency IT Portfolio Summary ... 190

Table 3.28—Appendix B: Total Agency Cybersecurity Spend FY 2025

President's Budget ... 191

Table 3.29—Total Agency Cybersecurity Spend (Non-IT Cost) ... 192

Table 3.30—Total Agency Cyber Human Capital Spend ... 192

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Table 3.31—Total Agency Cybersecurity Spend ... 192

Table 3.32—FY 2023 Physical Infrastructure Costs by Component ... 196

Table 3.33—FY 2024 Estimated Physical Infrastructure Costs by Component ... 197

Table 3.34—FY 2025 Estimated Physical Infrastructure Costs by Component ... 198

Table 3.35—FY 2023 Physical Infrastructure Costs by Region ... 199

Table 3.36—FY 2024 Estimated Physical Infrastructure Costs by Region ... 199

Table 3.37—FY 2025 Estimated Physical Infrastructure Costs by Region ... 200

Table 3.38—Obligations by Object Class and Staffing ... 202

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

APPROPRIATION LANGUAGE/BACKGROUND

AUTHORIZING LEGISLATION

The LAE account is authorized by section 201(g) of the Social Security Act. The authorization language makes available for expenditure, out of any or all of the Trust Funds, such amounts as Congress deems appropriate for administering Title II, Title VIII, Title XVI, and Title XVIII of the Social Security Act for which we are responsible and Title XVIII of the Act for which the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services is responsible.

Table 3.1—Authorizing Legislation (Dollars in thousands)

	2023AmountAuthorized	2023Enacted^{1,2}$	2024AmountAuthorized	2024Estimate^{3,4}$	2025AmountAuthorized	2025Estimate^{5,6}$
Title II，Section201(g)(1)of theSocialSecurityAct	Indefinite	$14,126,978	Indefinite	$14,193,978	Indefinite	$15,401,924

the SSPA. 3 A full-year appropriation was not enacted at the time the FY 2025 President’s Budget was prepared. The FY 2024 figures assume funding at the annualized funding level provided by a full-year Continuing Resolution (CR) for regular LAE. The FY 2025 President’s Budget assumes the Fiscal Responsibility Act (P.L. 118-5) level for the program integrity cap adjustment in FY 2024. The SSA Congressional Justification assumes a $19.1 million transfer from the LAE account to the OIG for costs associated with jointly operated CDI unit costs in FY 2024, the same level as the 2024 Budget. See the Program Integrity exhibit in the LAE section for more information. Further, the FY 2024 CR funding level includes $55,000,000 to address the disability hearings backlog, which is included in regular LAE.

4 The total also includes $140,000,000 for SSI State Supplement user fees and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of

LAE account to the OIG for the costs associated with jointly operated CDI units.

2 The total also includes $140,000,000 for SSI State Supplement user fees and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the SSPA. 3 A full-year appropriation was not enacted at the time the FY 2025 President’s Budget was prepared. The FY 2024 figures assume funding at the

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

APPROPRIATION LANGUAGE

For necessary expenses, including the hire and purchase of passenger motor vehicles and charging or fueling infrastructure for zero emission passenger vehicles, and not to exceed $20,000 for official reception and representation expenses, not more than $15,230,924,000 may be expended, as authorized by section 201(g)(1) of the Social Security Act, from any one or all of the trust funds referred to in such section: Provided, That not less than $3,150,000 shall be for the Social Security Advisory Board: Provided further, That $50,000,000 shall remain available until expended for benefits modernization: Provided further, That $2,000,000 shall remain available through September 30, 2026, for the purchase and hire of zero emission passenger motor vehicles and supporting charging or fueling infrastructure: Provided further, That, of the amounts made available in the previous proviso, $700,000 shall be transferred to the "Social Security Administration—Office of the Inspector General", for the purchase and hire of zero emission passenger motor vehicles and supporting charging or fueling infrastructure: Provided further, That such transfer authority is in addition to any other transfer authority provided by law: Provided further, That unobligated balances of funds provided under this paragraph at the end of fiscal year 2025 not needed for fiscal year 2025 shall remain available until expended to invest in the Social Security Administration information technology and telecommunications hardware and software infrastructure, including related equipment and non-payroll administrative expenses associated solely with this information technology and telecommunications infrastructure, except unobligated balances of funds described in the first proviso of this paragraph at the end of fiscal year 2025 not needed for fiscal year 2025 shall remain available until expended to invest in the Social Security Advisory Board information technology: Provided further, That the Commissioner of Social Security shall notify the

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate prior to making unobligated balances available under the authority in the previous proviso: Provided further, That reimbursement to the trust funds under this heading for expenditures for official time for employees of the Social Security Administration pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 7131, and for facilities or support services for labor organizations pursuant to policies, regulations, or procedures referred to in section 7135(b) of such title shall be made by the Secretary of the Treasury, with interest, from amounts in the general fund not otherwise appropriated, as soon as possible after such expenditures are made. From funds provided under the first paragraph, $1,903,000,000, to remain available through March 31, 2026, is for the costs associated with continuing disability reviews under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act, including work-related continuing disability reviews to determine whether earnings derived from services demonstrate an individual's ability to engage in substantial gainful activity, for the cost associated with conducting redeterminations of eligibility under title XVI of the Social Security Act, for the cost of co-operative disability investigation units, and for the cost associated with the prosecution of fraud in the programs and operations of the Social Security Administration by Special Assistant United States Attorneys: Provided, That, of such amount, $273,000,000 is provided to meet the terms of section 251(b)(2)(B)(ii)(III) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended, and $1,630,000,000 is additional new budget authority specified for purposes of section 251(b)(2)(B) of such Act: Provided further, That, of the additional new budget authority described in the preceding proviso, $19,600,000 may be transferred to the "Social Security Administration—Office of Inspector General", for the cost of jointly operated co-operative disability investigation units: Provided further, That such transfer authority is in addition to any

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

other transfer authority provided by law: Provided further, That the Commissioner shall provide to the Congress (at the conclusion of the fiscal year) a report on the obligation and expenditure of these funds, similar to the reports that were required by section 103(d)(2) of Public Law 104– 121 for fiscal years 1996 through 2002: Provided further, That none of the funds described in this paragraph shall be available for transfer or reprogramming except as specified in this paragraph. In addition, $170,000,000, to be derived from administration fees in excess of $5.00 per supplementary payment collected pursuant to section 1616(d) of the Social Security Act or section 212(b)(3) of Public Law 93–66, which shall remain available until expended: Provided, That to the extent that the amounts collected pursuant to such sections in fiscal year 2025 exceed $170,000,000, the amounts shall be available in fiscal year 2026 only to the extent provided in advance in appropriations Acts. In addition, up to $1,000,000 to be derived from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the Social Security Protection Act, which shall remain available until expended.

Note. —A full-year 2024 appropriation for this account was not enacted at the time the Budget was prepared; therefore, the Budget assumes this account is operating under the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2024 and Other Extensions Act (Division A of Public Law 118– 15, as amended). The amounts included for 2024 reflect the annualized level provided by the continuing resolution.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

LANGUAGE ANALYSIS

The Limitation on Administrative Expenses1 (LAE) appropriation language provides us with $15.402 billion to administer the Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI), Disability Insurance (DI), and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs, and to support the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in administering their programs. The LAE account receives funding from the OASI, DI, and Medicare trust funds for their shares of administrative expenses, from the General Fund of the Treasury for the SSI program’s share of administrative expenses, and through applicable user fees. The language provides the limitation on the amounts that may be expended from these separate sources for our administrative expenses.

We have a responsibility to enhance our technology to better meet the needs of our customers, and our request allows us to carryover unobligated balances for non-payroll automation and telecommunications investment costs in future fiscal years. Our request also includes $50,000,000 to remain available until expended to modernize our benefits system. This funding will allow us to accelerate our business process and technology modernization to enable more seamless, intuitive, and secure service for both claimants and current beneficiaries.

We have a responsibility to ensure eligible individuals receive the benefits to which they are entitled, and to safeguard the integrity of benefit programs to better serve recipients. The appropriations language requests $1,903,000,000 in dedicated program integrity funding, including $273,000,000 in base funding and a $1,630,000,000 cap adjustment, consistent with the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2023 (P.L. 118-5). The Budget also includes a $19,600,000 transfer from the allocation adjustment to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the costs associated with jointly operated cooperative disability investigations (CDI) units.

In addition to the appropriated amounts, we are requesting to spend up to $170,000,000 in SSI State Supplement user fees and up to $1,000,000 in non-attorney representative fees.

Table 3.2—Appropriation Language Analysis

Language Provision Explanation

“For necessary expenses, including the hire In support of the President’s goal of and purchase of passenger motor vehicles transitioning to a fully Zero Emission and charging or fueling infrastructure for Vehicle (ZEV) Federal fleet, the request zero emission passenger vehicles…” includes $2,000,000 for zero emission vehicle (ZEV-battery electric, plug-in “Provided further, That $2,000,000 shall

1 A full-year 2024 appropriation for this account was not enacted at the time the Budget was prepared; therefore, the Budget assumes this account is operating under the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2024 and Other Extensions Act (Division A of Public Law 118–15, as amended). The amounts included for 2024 reflect the annualized level provided by the continuing resolution, with the exception of the cap adjustment amount. The FY 2025 President’s Budget assumes the Fiscal Responsibility Act (P.L. 118-5) level for the program integrity cap adjustment in FY

The SSA Congressional Justification assumes a $19.1 million transfer from the LAE account to the OIG for costs associated with jointly operated CDI unit costs in FY 2024, the same level as the 2024 Budget. See the Program Integrity exhibit in the LAE section for more information.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Language Provision	Explanation
remain available through September 30,2026,for the purchase and hire of zero emission passenger motor vehicles and supporting charging or fueling infrastructure...”Provided further,That,of the amounts made available in the previous proviso,$700,000 shall be transferred to the"Social Security Administration-Office of the Inspector General",for the purchase and hire of zero emission passenger motor vehicles and supporting charging or fueling infrastructure:Provided further,That such transfer authority is in addition to any other transfer authority provided by law:"	electric hybrid,and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles) acquisitions and deploying necessary vehicle charging and refueling infrastructure.These funds are available through September 30,2026,of which$700,000 is for the OIG. These acquisitions are a significant step towards eliminating tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases from our fleet and aligning fleet operations with the goal of achieving a fully ZEV federal fleet.ZEV acquisitions may include vehicles for both agency-owned and GSA-leased segments of our vehicle fleet,including incremental costs of leased vehicles and lease payments to GSA for conversion of agency-owned vehicles to GSA's leased fleet where appropriate.
"Provided,That not less than $3,150,000 shall be for the Social Security Advisory Board..."...unobligated balances of funds described in the first proviso of this paragraph at the end of fiscal year 2025 not needed for fiscal year 2025 shall remain available until expended to invest in the Social Security Advisory Board information technology..."	The language allows the Social Security Advisory Board to carryover unobligated balances for non-payroll automation and telecommunications investment costs in future fiscal years.
"Provided further,That $50,000,000 shall remain available until expended for benefits modernization..."	The request includes $50,000,000 for dedicated,no-year funding to modernize our benefits system.
"Provided further,That unobligated balances of funds provided under this paragraph at the end of fiscal year 2025 not needed for fiscal year 2025 shall remain available until expended to invest in the Social Security Administration information technology and telecommunications hardware and software infrastructure,including related equipment and non-payroll administrative expenses associated solely with this information technology and telecommunications infrastructure..."	The language allows us to carryover unobligated balances for non-payroll automation and telecommunications investment costs in future fiscal years.
“Provided further, That the Commissioner of Social Security shall notify the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate prior to making unobligated balances available under the authority in the previous proviso...”

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Language Provision	Explanation
That, of the additional new budget authority described in the preceding proviso,$19,600,000 may be transferred to the Social Security Administration—Office of Inspector General”,for the cost of jointly operated co-operative disability investigation units:Provided further,That such transfer authority is in addition to any other transfer authority provided by law:Provided further,That the Commissioner shall provide to the Congress(at the conclusion of the fiscal year)a report on the obligation and expenditure of these funds,similar to the reports that were required by section 103(d)(2)of Public Law104-121 for fiscal years1996 through2002:Provided further,That none of the funds described in this paragraph shall be available for transfer or reprogramming except as specified in this paragraph.”
“In addition,$170,000,000,to be derived from administration fees in excess of$5.00 per supplementary payment collected pursuant to section 1616(d)of the Social Security Act or section 212(b)(3)of Public Law93-66,which shall remain available until expended:Provided,That to the extent that the amounts collected pursuant to such sections in fiscal year2025 exceed$170,000,000,the amounts shall be available in fiscal year2026 only to the extent provided in advance in appropriations Acts.”	The language makes available up to$170,000,000 collected from States for administration of their supplementary payments to the SSI program.This assumes the fee will increase from$14.78per checkin FY2024 to$15.22in FY2025 according to increases established by statute.We receive the amount collected above$5.00from each fee.
“In addition,up to$1,000,000to be derived from fees collected pursuant to section303(c)of the Social Security Protection Act,which shall remain available until expended.”	The language provides for the use of up to$1,000,000 derived from fees charged to non-attorneys who apply for certification to represent claimants.

SIGNIFICANT ITEMS IN APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE REPORTS

The table below includes the significant items in the FY 2024 Explanatory Materials for H.R. 5894 and Senate Report, S. Rept. 118-84, for S. 2624.

Table 3.3—Significant Items in Appropriations Committee Report

FY 2024 Explanatory Materials for H.R. 5894

Committee Report Item	Action
Telework	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
The Committee is concerned that 99 percent of SSA's 26,000 employees in the field offices are under maximum telework status, while average processing time for claims, hearings, and phone wait times, have not improved. In addition, SSA has received over $2 billion in additional administrative funding from Congress over the last two years to address these issues. The Committee directs SSA to submit to the Committees within 90 days of enactment of this Act a report on the telework status of its entire workforce, detailing the performance metrics used to assess the performance of teleworking employees and their adherence to those metrics, such report shall be made available online on the agency's website.	We will provide the report by the requested due date.
Electronic Consent Based Social Security Number Verification(eCBSV) Service	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
The Committee encourages SSA to restructure eCBSV user fees in a manner that does not discourage permitted entities from utilizing the system and in a manner that does not seek to recover costs before such time as required by law.	We acknowledge the Committee's recommendation.
Report on LAE Expenditures	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
The Committee continues to request that the data referenced under this heading in House Report 114-699 be included in future congressional justifications. In addition, the Committee requests the fiscal year 2025	Please refer to Table 3.18, Table 3.19,andTable 3.20for the historical table of costs andFY 2025 requests for personnel and benefitsby major SSA component.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Committee Report Item	Action
congressional justification include a historical table of costs and fiscal year 2025 requests for personnel and benefits, by major SSA component to include Operations (field offices, teleservice centers, processing centers, and regional offices); Office of Hearings Operations; Systems; Office of Analytics, Review, and Oversight; and Headquarters.	For Information Technology costs broken out by hardware/software technology and upgrade/maintenance costs, please see Appendix A of the Information Technology exhibit included in the LAE section of this Congressional Justification(CJ). For Physical infrastructure costs by region and office function, please see Tables 3.32 through 3.37. For Overall costs for personnel, time and dollars for OASI, DI, SSI, and other SSA missions, please see Table 3.13. For Program Integrity work broken out by OASI, DI and SSI as well as types of spending, please see Table 3.22b. For Disability Determination Services State costs and Federal staff costs, please see Table 3.17.
Information Technology(IT)	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
The Committee is concerned that SSA's antiquated IT service management system is adversely impacting agency staff's ability to deliver the value,service,and efficiency that the public expects and deserves.The Committee recognizes that SSA began modernizing its IT Service Management tools in fiscal year 2021 and expects SSA to continue working on IT solutions to improve customer service,ensure high availability and service continuity,optimize operational efficiency,and maximize enterprise productivity.The Committee directs SSA to publish online within 180 days of enactment of this Act a detailed report on how the agency has allocated IT funding over the past 10 years and the agency's plans to modernize its various IT systems.	Please refer to our Information Technology exhibit in the LAE section of this CJ for information on our plans to modernize our various IT systems.
We will provide the information on how we have allocated IT funding over the past 10 years by the requested due date.
Administrative Law Judge Allowance Rates	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
The Committee believes it is vital that Administrative Law Judges(ALJs) maintain public confidence in the fairness of the process through which Social Security benefit applications are determined.The Committee expects that the agency's reviews of the ALJ adherence to agency policies and procedures	We will provide the report by the requested due date.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Committee Report Item	Action
will uphold these essential conditions. The Committee directs SSA to submit a report to the Committees within 90 days of enactment of this Act detailing SSA's plans to monitor ALJs with low allowance rates.
Disability Backlogs	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
The Committee directs SSA to continue to submit to the Committee quarterly reports on disability hearings backlogs until SSA has eliminated the hearings backlog and achieved its monthly average processing time goal.	We will provide monthly reports and the quarterly briefings as requested.
Outreach	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
The Committee directs SSA to provide to the committees of jurisdiction within 120 days of enactment of this Act a report on the outlays (fiscal years 2020-2022 actual, 2023/24 projected) associated with SSA's outreach efforts to increase SSA's initial disability applications by 15 percent (25 percent in underserved communities), including how SSA is evaluating the efficacy of the outreach efforts, the outreach cost per additional application, the total administrative cost of the additional applications resulting from the outreach efforts, and the approval rate of applications filed as a result of the outreach efforts. Additionally, the Committee directs the agency to make such report publicly available on its website.	Please refer to our Advancing Equity, including Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Workforce, and Outreach to People Facing Barriers exhibit in the LAE section of this CJ for information on outreach efforts.
We will provide the report by the requested due date.
Occupational Information System(OIS)Project	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
The Committee directs SSA to provide to the committees of jurisdiction within 180 days of enactment of this Act a report on the outlays (fiscal years 2012-2023) associated with SSA's Occupational Information System(OIS)Project, including the agency's justification for replacing the Dictionary of Occupational Titles with the OIS,the status of the development of the Vocational Information Tool,and a detailed timeline of the agency's plans to operationalize OIS.Additionally,the	Please refer to our annual report to Congress on OIS as well as the Research and Demonstration exhibit in the SSI Program section of this CJ for most of this information.Full completion of these activities,including operationalizing OIS,is a multi-year effort,and we will develop specific timelines as we move forward.

Occupational Information System (OIS) Project

Actions Taken or To Be Taken

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Committee Report Item	Action
Committee directs SSA to make such information publicly available on its website.	We do not anticipate fully implementing the OIS until we have thoroughly reviewed the new occupational data; we have identified the necessary policy, process, and systems updates to implement the OIS; and we have adequately addressed intergovernmental and public feedback on our approach through the regulatory process.
Again, we want to emphasize that SSA's current decision-making process remains sound. Even though the new OIS data presents an opportunity to update the disability adjudication process, our existing regulatory and policy framework continues to ensure evidence-based disability decision-making.
Cybersecurity Risks from Commercial Information Technology	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
The Committee notes the Department of Defense in consultation with other Federal agencies will conduct an assessment of risks posed using commercially available information technology, particularly relating to computer and printers from countries of concern. The Committee looks forward to receiving this analysis and supports efforts to ensure any recommendations are disseminated to all relevant Federal agencies for implementation.	We acknowledge the Committee's statement.
Hiring and Retention	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
The Committee directs SSA submit to the Committee within 90 days of enactment of this Act a report on hiring, training, and retention over the past decade by job description that includes the cost per hire, the breakeven point of how long a new hire has to remain in their role to recoup the SSA's investment in recruitment and training, and the actual retention rates of new hires by fiscal year.	We will provide the report by the requested due date.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Income Support and Maintenance(ISM)	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
The Committee directs SSA to complete an assessment and submit to the committees of jurisdiction a report within 120 days of enactment of this Act on the effects that omitting food from the ISM calculation would have on supplemental State program financing and administration. Additionally, the Committee directs the agency to make such information publicly available on its website.	We provided some cost estimates in our NPRM; we acknowledge the Committee's request for additional data although do not have the information available.
Limitation on Administrative Expense	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
Within the total for LAE, the Committee provides not less than $4,000,000,000 for field offices and not less than $1,500,000,000 for Information Technology(IT). These amounts represent the anticipated spending levels for field offices and IT respectively in fiscal year 2023.The Committee strongly supports the needs of seniors and the front-line service provided by local field offices,and funding for field offices is prioritized over the administrative Federal offices.In addition,SSA should prioritize improvements in information technology to ensure the safety and reliability of its data and systems.

Committee Report Item	Action
Cooperative Disability Investigations(CDI)	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
The Committee directs SSA to provide an update in its fiscal year 2025 CJ on CDI units, including updates on the program's projected	Please refer to the Detecting and Preventing Social Security Disability Fraud Through

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Committee Report Item	Action
savings to SSA's disability programs, total recovery amounts, and projected savings to other Federal and State programs. Such updates shall also include suggestions regarding other ways Federal and State agencies may partner on anti-fraud initiatives with respect to Social Security programs.	Investigations section of the CJ for the Office of the Inspector General.
IT Modernization Procurement Policies	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
According to SSA's OIG report titled Agile Software Development at the Social Security Administration, SSA implemented some appropriate control and practices to manage its Agile software development projects, but is not using Agile consistently across all of its software development projects.The OIG's analysis identified instances in which SSA did not follow key Agile development best practices related to delivery of planned work; appropriate development of system requirements, capabilities and features; size and composition of Agile development teams; definition of team policies and other basic practices; lessons learned; human-centered design practices; testing and peer reviews.The Committee encourages SSA to implement OIG's recommendations and requests a briefing within 90 days of enactment on its progress in doing so.	We will provide a briefing as requested.
Disability Backlogs	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
The committee recognizes the pandemic created significant challenges for SSA,which has contributed to a significant increase in processing times for initial disability claims.The Committee is deeply concerned that staffing challenges will make it difficult for SSA to address growing backlogs but expects SSA will,to the greatest extent possible,prioritize funding to reduce the initial disability claims backlog.The Committee directs SSA to continue to provide monthly reports to the Committee on key agency performance metrics and to provide quarterly briefings to the Committees on its progress	We will provide monthly reports and the quarterly briefings as requested.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Committee Report Item	Action
toward reducing the initial disability claims and hearings backlogs, as well as addressing other service delivery challenges.
Expanding Outreach to People with Disabilities and Experiencing Homelessness	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
The Committee strongly encourages SSA to expand outreach to potential beneficiaries, prioritizing underserved communities and individuals most likely to need support, including those experiencing homelessness.The Committee encourages SSA to leverage its existing Federal and State relationships to identify individuals who may be eligible for SSI and SSDI programs. The Committee directs SSA to include information in its fiscal year 2025 CJ on such efforts.	Please refer to our Advancing Equity,including Diversity,Equity,Inclusion,and Accessibility in the Workforce,and Outreach to People Facing Barriers exhibit in the LAE section of this CJ for information on outreachas well as our Equity Action Plan and Equity Action Plan 2023 Update for more information on support for those experiencing homelessness.
Express Appointments	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
The Committee commends SSA for the creation of innovative service delivery improvements implemented during the pandemic.Given SSA's stated plans to expand the number of visitors that are served at field offices since the pandemic,the Committee directs SSA to provide an update in the 2025CJ detailing the agency's plans for expansion of Express Services,including the expected timeline of such expansion,mechanisms for providing such services,and planned national availability and capacity.Such an update shall also include any substantial progress made or plans to implement other significant service delivery challenges in field offices.	Please refer to our Information Technology section of this CJ for this information.
Supplemental Security Income Application Simplification	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
The complexity of the SSI program and application process can make it difficult for individuals to apply for benefits.This is an even bigger challenge given the individuals relying on SSI,including those experiencing homelessness,diagnosed with a terminal illness,and disabled veterans.It is also one ofSSA's most resource intensive and time-	We will provide the report by the requested due date.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Committee Report Item	Action
consuming workloads that contributes to SSA's overall service delivery challenges and funding needs. The Committee strongly encourages SSA to prioritize simplifying the SSI application and making it available online.As many components of the SSI application are required by statute, simplification may require legislative changes. Therefore, within 120 days of enactment, SSA shall submit a report to the Committees on Appropriations and Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Appropriations and Finance of the Senate regarding the agency's efforts to simplify the SSI application and program, including a list of proposed legislative changes aimed at simplifying the SSI application for claimants.
Reducing Submission of Physical Documentation	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
Pursuant to Executive Order 14058, Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government, SSA is directed to identify“potential opportunities for policy reforms that can support modernized customer experiences while ensuring original or physical documentation requirements remain where there is a statutory or strong policy rationale.”SSA was also directed to“develop a mobile mobile-accessible, online process so that any individual applying for or receiving services from the Social Security Administration can upload forms, documentation, evidence, or correspondence associated with their transaction without the need for service-specific tools or traveling to a field office.”The Committee directs SSA to submit a report to the House and Senate Committee on Appropriations, the House Committee on Ways and Means, and the Senate Committee on Finance within 180 days of enactment on the list of proposed policy reforms to improve customer experience, as well as a project timeline on implementing the online portal	Our 2023 Customer Experience (CX) Action Plan provides a summary of our FY 2023 progress and planned actions for FY 2024.More information on CX progress and accomplishments can be found on Performance.gov.
We will provide the report by the requested due date.

Committee Report Item	Action
allowing individuals submitting documents electronically.
Staffing Plan	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
The Committee notes the importance of ensuring SSA has the necessary workforce to operate efficiently and provide high-quality service to program beneficiaries. The Committee requests SSA, within 90 days of enactment of this act and quarterly thereafter, provide a staffing report detailing FTEs and new hires by component. These reports shall include the total number of new hires, departed employees, net change in FTEs, and funds obligated and expended on new hires, broken down by programmatic area. These reports should also include a written hiring plan detailing SSA's strategy to enhance its recruitment and retention, its implementation of the strategy, and recommended administrative and legislative actions to enhance the agency's recruitment and retention.	We will provide the report by the requested due date.
Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) and Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security(PABSS)	Actions Taken or To Be Taken
The Committee recommendation includes $23,000,000 for WIPA and $10,000,000 for PABSS,the same as the comparable fiscal year 2023 levels,respectively.These programs provide valuable services to help Social Security disability beneficiaries return to work.The Committee notes that delayed suitability determinations have in some cases significantly affected the ability of PABSS grantees to carry out their mission to protect the rights and best interests of individuals with disabilities.	We acknowledge the Committee's statement.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

IMPROPER PAYMENTS

We take seriously our responsibilities to ensure eligible individuals receive the benefits to which they are entitled, and to safeguard the integrity of our benefit programs. Our internal quality reviews, which a third-party auditor validates, indicate that our fiscal year (FY) 2022 Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) benefit payments were 99.49 percent free of overpayment and 99.86 percent free of underpayment. 1 For the same year, 91.98 percent of all Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments were free of overpayment and 98.82 percent were free of underpayment. 2 FY 2023 data are not yet available. While our payment accuracy rates are high, even small error rates add up to substantial improper payment amounts given the magnitude of the benefits we pay each year. For instance, in FY 2022, we issued about $1.3 trillion in benefit payments, and our projected combined overpayments and underpayments totaled $8.3 billion for OASDI and $5.3 billion for SSI.

We are improving service to our beneficiaries and recipients. Our commitment is to improve the integrity of our programs by reducing overpayments and underpayments through efforts such as streamlining our policies and procedures, automating our business processes, and leveraging data through exchanges with Federal, State, and private partners. We perform quality reviews, conduct employee training, and promote the use of online wage reporting applications. Online wage reporting applications make it easier for people to report their wages which may affect their payment amount. We assembled an executive-led Overpayment Review Team to conduct a holistic assessment of how our administrative procedures influence our overpayment processes for customers and are evaluating next steps that complement our ongoing stewardship work in 2024 and 2025.

Overpayments can occur for multiple reasons, and each person’s situation must be handled on a case-by-case basis. SSA is required by law to adjust benefits or recover debts when people receive payments to which they were not entitled.

It is critical that individuals understand overpayment notices and how to request a waiver. In FY 2023, we streamlined the Request for Waiver of Overpayment Recovery form (Form SSA-

to reduce the burden on the requestor. We let people know to call us if they think they are not at fault for an overpayment of $1,000 or less, as we may be able to process the request quickly over the phone. In FY 2024, we are identifying, evaluating, and simplifying our overpayment notices and other correspondence. Our initial focus will be on notices that can be quickly updated using one of our automated systems. We will also use a variety of resources to communicate to the public and advocates on improper payment matters, including reminders about reporting responsibilities and waiver and appeal rights. Wages are a major cause of payment errors. To help facilitate efficient self-reporting of wages, we built several reporting channels. Individuals can report wage information via the myWageReport online application, automated SSI Telephone Wage Reporting, or the SSAMobile Wage Reporting application. Individuals can sign up to receive a text message or 1 We derive accuracy rates for OASDI based on a monthly sample of beneficiaries who reside in the U.S and outside of the 50 States or U.S. territories. We derive accuracy rates using data collected from the review of a national sample of SSI cases.

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email reminders to report their prior month’s wages. In FY 2023, we posted a video on the use of these reporting mechanisms on YouTube, Facebook, and Social Security TV in field office reception areas. We implemented multi-factor authentication for users of the SSAMobile Wage Reporting application.

The Payroll Information Exchange (PIE) will improve customer service and combat improper payments. By receiving payroll information directly from payroll data providers and using that data to timely adjust benefits, PIE will help prevent overpayments for beneficiaries and recipients who provide authorization and whose employer reports wages through PIE. PIE will help our customers by reducing the responsibility to report wage information when we are receiving it through the exchange. It will also help our technicians by eliminating work and time spent obtaining and verifying wage data.

In FY 2023, we conducted pre-implementation development to create wage-reporting notices specific to PIE, updated existing authorization receipt language, and created special alerts for cases that require manual review by a technician. On February 15, 2024, we published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to implement the exchange and automate PIE data. We will perform ongoing assessments while working toward full implementation.

In-Kind Support and Maintenance (ISM) changes contribute to both overpayments and underpayments in the SSI program. ISM is food, shelter, or both provided by someone living inside or outside an SSI applicant’s or recipient’s household; it is never cash. Under the law, ISM is counted as income when we determine eligibility for SSI, unless an exclusion applies. In FY 2024, we are pursuing the following regulatory changes to simplify the ISM policies:

Omitting Food from ISM: The proposed rule would remove food as a source of ISM, so that food assistance received from others does not impact claimants’ benefit eligibility and amounts. We also proposed to add conforming language to our definition of income, excluding food from the ISM calculation.
Expanding the Definition of a Public Assistance Household: The proposed rule would expand the definition of a public assistance household to include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as an additional means-tested public income maintenance program. We also requested public comment on expanding the definition to include households in which any other (as opposed to every) member receives public assistance. When other household members receive assistance, we assume that they need their income to support their own needs and do not subject the SSI claimant to inside ISM or deeming.
Expanding the Rental Subsidy Policy: The proposed rule would expand nationwide the rental subsidy exception in effect in seven States, exempting claimants from ISM in the form of room or rent if the amount they pay in rent equals or exceeds the presumed maximum value or current market rental value, whichever is less. One of our agency priority goals is to improve equity in the SSI program by increasing underpayment processing of our oldest and highest priority cases, including those disproportionately impacted by poverty. By September 30, 2025, we plan to complete 98

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percent of SSI underpayments that have been identified as priority cases or pending for a year or more at the beginning of FY 2024.

We implemented UIPath TM Robotics Software in FY 2021 to create our own automated programs or bots. With minimal human interaction, these bots perform routine analysis and actions to reduce manual data entry and human error. In FY 2023, approximately 2,635 users utilized bots an average of 26,500 times per week. We are exploring expansion of bot use, prioritizing those that will have the biggest impact on reducing improper payments.

We also have been making debt recovery improvements for our customers. Our online remittance processing gives individuals multiple options for repaying debts. In FY 2023, we processed 464,000 remittances and collected nearly $94 million through our Pay.gov remittance channel, slightly more than was collected in FY 2022. In FY 2023, our lockbox service processed approximately 216,000 remittances, worth over $54 million, and our Online Bill Pay option processed over 41,000 remittances—over twice as many as in FY 2022—and collected over $4 million. Combined with our previously implemented Social Security Electronic Remittance System, these remittance channels now process 65 percent of our remittances—an increase of 5 percent over FY 2022.

Please refer to the Overview, the Program Integrity exhibit, our IT exhibit, our Annual Performance Report, our Agency Financial Report, and paymentaccuracy.gov for more information on our efforts to reduce improper payments.

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PILOT PROGRAMS

Pilot programs provide an opportunity to evaluate the effects of potential process changes and measure overall effectiveness.

COMPLETED PILOTS

Electronic Enumeration Holding File (EEHF)

SSA policy requires that field offices and Social Security Card Centers (SSCC) establish a holding file for Social Security Number (SSN) applications when documents are pending verification with the issuing agency (e.g., Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or State Bureaus of Vital Statistics). Traditionally, these holding files consist of technician-certified paper copies of the applicant’s evidence. The EEHF provides an electronic option for holding documents that require retention after verification.

In January 2023, we evaluated the EEHF initiative in two field offices for six weeks. Based on this testing, we found:

Management reported the business process was clear and easy to follow;
The electronic files are more organized and take less time to retrieve; and
The electronic files help to solve storage space issues. Overall, using EEHF increased efficiency and saved managers and technicians time. In April 2023, we released the EEHF option nationwide.

Desktop Scanner Initiative

Prompted by the large number of enumeration applications received from non-U.S. citizens in certain offices in the Atlanta and Dallas regions, we explored ways to improve efficiency in the front-end interview process. In conjunction with the EEHF, we piloted using desktop scanners at front-end interviewing stations in field offices to reduce interview time.

In January 2023, we piloted this project for 6 weeks with 10 scanners in one office. The office used these scanners to digitize and save documents for enumeration applications, post- entitlement work, and claims applications.

During the pilot, our technicians reported time savings for enumeration interviews and claim or post-entitlement actions requiring claimants to provide evidence. Field office management noted that the desktop scanners are faster to operate and provide superior quality images when compared to multi-function devices, which are prevalent in most offices.

With the success of the pilot, in March 2023, we released additional scanners to high-volume offices in the Atlanta and Dallas regions and select offices in other regions. We now have 825 scanners in use across all 10 regions.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Scanning Documents with iPhone for Online Social Security Number Application Process

(oSSNAP) Applications

In fiscal year (FY) 2023, we piloted an evidentiary document scanning initiative in four offices to reduce wait times for individuals requesting enumeration services through the web-based oSSNAP application. The oSSNAP application allows individuals who meet certain criteria to begin an application for an original or a replacement SSN card online. After submitting the online portion, applicants provide required evidence to the local Social Security field office or SSCC.

During the pilot, we issued 21 iPhones to non-bargaining unit members of management in select offices. Management used the iPhones to capture an image of the evidentiary documents for replacement card applications initiated in oSSNAP. Management then certified the documents and uploaded them for technician review and processing through the Social Security Number Application Process.

We found that using iPhones to scan evidentiary documents for oSSNAP applications did not result in a substantial reduction in wait times. During the test, usage was low and there was a drastic decrease in usage in most offices after the evaluation period ended. The process was cumbersome and required a significant time investment from management. In addition, we incurred a cost to maintain service for the phones and the return on investment was relatively low when compared to usage. We decided to discontinue the pilot and did not implement the iPhone initiative.

ACTIVE PILOTS

Ticket to Work (TTW) Notice Optimization

The TTW and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 established the TTW program to increase options for Disability Insurance (DI) beneficiaries and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients who wish to obtain employment services. We provide DI beneficiaries and SSI recipients with a “Good News” notice about how to obtain employment services from a vocational rehabilitation (VR) agency or an Employment Network of their choice. Goals of the TTW program include increasing the number of beneficiaries and recipients that work at the substantial gainful activity level and no longer rely on DI and SSI payments, expanding the availability of services for beneficiaries, reducing dependency on DI benefits and SSI payments, and obtaining benefit reductions that are greater than the cost we pay for services.

Participation rates are a key factor in the program’s success. Though the program has served close to 1.2 million beneficiaries and recipients since 2000, participation in the program has been relatively low in relation to the total number of beneficiaries and recipients we serve. In FY 2020, as a result of low participation in the TTW program, we created the TTW Notice Optimization pilot through an inter-agency agreement with the General Services Administration (GSA) to test if changing the notices we send to DI beneficiaries and SSI recipients, and sending them at different intervals, would enhance participation in the TTW program and ensure DI beneficiaries and SSI recipients better understand the program and its process. The new notices provided simpler, plain-language information about the TTW program, including the process and

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

potential benefits. In FY 2020, we extended the time for mailing the new notices from 9 to 18 months due to the high unemployment rate and the economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We measured outcomes at 9 months post-mailing for each individual that received a revised notice as well as each member of the control group.

Evaluation Plan/Timeline FY 2020:

FY 2020: • We worked with GSA to finalize the notice prototypes to send upon award of DI or SSI

• We worked with GSA to finalize the notice prototypes to send upon award of DI or SSI and after 1 and 2 years of receiving benefits. We also worked with GSA to develop the evaluation design for the pilot. We wrote the Good News notices – that individuals receive when awarded disability benefits – to comply with plain language guidelines and improve participation in the TTW program. We also registered the study with the American Economic Association randomized study trial registry.

• We modified the system needed to randomize notice mailings.

• We began mailing notices in September 2020.

FY 2021: • We continued testing prototype notices and conducting data analyses.

• We continued testing prototype notices and conducting data analyses.

FY 2022: • We worked with GSA to conduct the final analyses of the new mailings.

• We worked with GSA to conduct the final analyses of the new mailings.

FY 2023: • GSA provided us with a draft report of their preliminary results, which we reviewed.

• GSA provided us with a draft report of their preliminary results, which we reviewed.

Video Service Delivery (VSD) Expansion, DHS Pilot Expansion

• GSA will provide a final report of their results in the third quarter of FY 2024, which we will review. We will publish the information on our Disability Research webpage.

In partnership with DHS’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), we plan to conduct a pilot to use our existing VSD Polycom units during interviews to process replacement SSN card applications for non-U.S. citizens regardless of whether they require a change to their record (e.g., name change, correction). We will also utilize these units to process E-Verify SSA

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Tentative Non-confirmation cases for both U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens. The objective of this pilot is to provide an application method for non-U.S. citizens to obtain enumeration services that do not require visiting a local field office.

We will work with our partners in USCIS to implement and evaluate VSD expansion. We conducted a fraud risk assessment to evaluate the specifications and capabilities of VSD technology, and we found no additional risks for using VSD for non-U.S. citizens. We are working with USCIS to update the VSD for Non-U.S. Citizen SSN Replacement Cards agreement. To proceed, SSA and USCIS must arrive at an agreement concerning how we examine DHS issued documents.

The implementation date of the pilot is dependent upon reaching an agreement with USCIS; however, we anticipate release of the test within 90 days of the agreement.

Measure of Success/Metrics Success of the pilot will be determined by usage rates of VSD by the non-U.S. citizen population for SSN replacement card purposes. We anticipate conducting an evaluation of the pilot 6 months after implementation wherein we will determine the pilot’s efficiency and effectiveness by:

Reviewing weekly totals of SSN replacement cards issued to non-U.S. citizens based on outcomes from appointments using VSD;
Reviewing the total number of SSN replacement cards issued to non-U.S. citizens based on outcomes from appointments using VSD;
Conducting a survey of local office management staff at both at a mid-point and an endpoint survey; and
Conducting a survey with VSD customers regarding their viewpoints on the VSD interview process (OMB NO. 0960-0818).

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

CONSULTATIVE EXAMS

In some cases, a claimant does not provide adequate evidence about their impairment(s) to determine whether they are disabled or blind. If we are unable to obtain adequate evidence from the claimant’s medical source(s), we may request to purchase a physical or mental examination or test from a medical provider as evidence for the claim. We call these consultative examinations, or CEs.

Since the beginning of FY 2022, the State Disability Determination Services (DDSs) have been focused on increasing the number of active CE providers to replace the CE providers lost in FYs 2020 and 2021. The recruitment efforts of the DDSs led to over a thousand additional CE providers in FY 2022, and around 650 additional CE providers in FY 2023. The higher number of active providers in the network allows us to schedule CEs for all cases that need them and improve overall processing times. Although CE wait times can vary for claimants, in FY 2023, the average time between schedule date and the CE appointment date for cases processed in DCPS2 was 31.8 days—an improvement of over two days from FY 2022.

Table 3.4—FY 2023 Consultative Examination Counts and Cost Data1

	Annual Number of Cases Completed with at Least One CE2	CE Rate3	CE Costs4	CE Cost per Cause
National Total(DDS+Federal)	1,175,248	35.50%	$355,846,315	$319,000
ALL DDS	1,175,070	36.10%	$355,857,178	$319,000
Boston Region	40,675	29.10%	$11,131,309	$219,000
CT	10,842	33.40%	$2,700,679	$219,000
ME	5,513	31.00%	$1,432,734	$219,000
MA	14,467	24.60%	$4,228,338	$219,000
NH	4,042	34.50%	$1,334,062	$219,000
RI	3,484	27.60%	$737,775	$219,000
VT	2,327	37.30%	$697,721	$219,000

2 Our systems track the number of cases with at least one paid CE, not the total number of CEs ordered and completed for any given case. 3 CE rate is the number of completed cases for which at least one CE is ordered and paid compared to the total

3 CE rate is the number of completed cases for which at least one CE is ordered and paid compared to the total number of completed cases. This rate does not reflect the total volume of CEs ordered and paid. Our systems do not include the level of detail to identify if CEs were conducted by the treating medical provider. 4 CE costs represent costs for all CEs, including if there were more than one CE per case.

4 CE costs represent costs for all CEs, including if there were more than one CE per case. 5 CE cost per case represents total CE costs divided by the number of cases with at least one CE.

5 CE cost per case represents total CE costs divided by the number of cases with at least one CE.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

	Annual Number of Cases Completed with at Least One CE2	CE Rate3	CE Costs4	CE Costs per Case5
New York Region	135,335	47.50%	$39,939,020	$295.11
NJ	30,418	38.70%	$8,360,403	$274.85
NY	92,907	49.50%	$28,559,798	$307.40
PR	12,010	65.70%	$3,072,551	$255.83
Philadelphia Region	116,230	32.60%	$33,515,617	$288.36
DE	2,715	27.60%	$1,057,754	$389.60
DC	3,358	27.80%	$1,531,429	$456.05
MD	15,827	39.10%	$7,272,870	$459.52
PA	64,753	37.10%	$15,227,658	$235.17
VA	17,353	21.80%	$4,836,785	$278.73
WV	12,224	46.40%	$3,589,121	$293.61
Atlanta Region	286,239	38.70%	$87,184,756	$304.59
AL	30,503	41.90%	$10,389,655	$340.61
FL	71,297	36.00%	$21,702,014	$304.39
GA	38,101	41.80%	$11,869,408	$311.52
KY	33,494	41.00%	$9,090,394	$271.40
MS	17,176	42.30%	$4,519,229	$263.11
NC	40,300	36.80%	$12,220,424	$303.24
SC	17,427	30.90%	$4,652,073	$266.95
TN	37,941	42.20%	$12,741,559

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

APPROPRIATION HISTORY

The table below includes the amount requested by the President, passed by the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, and ultimately appropriated for the LAE account, including any rescissions and supplemental appropriations, for the last 10 years. The annual appropriation includes amounts authorized from SSI State Supplement user fees and non-attorney representative user fees.

Table 3.5—Appropriation History Table

Fiscal Year	Budget Estimate to Congress	House Committee Passed	Senate Committee Passed	Enacted Appropriation
2015	$12,024,000,000^{1}$	- - - 2	- - - 3	$11,805,945,000^{4}$
2016	$12,513,000,000^{5}$	$11,817,945,000^{6}$	$11,620,945,000^{7}$	$12,161,945,000^{8}$
2017	$13,067,000,000^{9}$	$11,898,945,000^{10}$	$12,481,945,000^{11}$	$12,481,945,000^{12}$
2018	$12,457,000,000^{13}$	$12,392,945,000^{14}$	$11,992,945,000^{15}$	$12,872,945,000^{16}$
2019	$12,393,000,000^{17}$	$12,557,045,000^{18}$	$12,951,945,000^{19}$	$12,876,945,000^{20}$
2020	$12,773,000,000^{21}$	$13,071,945,000^{22}$	- - - 23	$12,870,945,000^{24}$
CARES Act 25 Final				$338,000,000
				$13,208,945,000
2021	$13,351,473,000^{26}$	$12,970,945,000^{27}$	- - - 28	$12,930,945,000^{29}$
Supplemental 30 Final				$38,000,000
				$12,968,945,000
2022	$14,188,896,000^{31}$	$14,066,945,000^{32}$	- - - 33	$13,341,945,000^{34}$
2023	$14,773,300,000^{35}$	$14,441,945,000^{36}$	- - - 37	$14,126,978,000^{38}$
2024	$15,489,200,000^{39}$	$13,953,978,000^{40}$	$14,418,978,000^{41}$	- - - 42
2025	$15,401,924,000^{43}$

5 Total included $1,439,000,000 in dedicated funding designated for SSI redeterminations and CDRs – $273,000,000 in base funding and $1,166,000,000 in funds outside the discretionary caps as authorized by the BCA of 2011. Included up to $136,000,000 from user fees paid by States for Federal administration of SSI State Supplement payments and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the Social Security Protection Act (P.L. 108-203). 6 H.R. 3020.

2 The House Committee on Appropriations did not report a bill. 3 The Senate Committee on Appropriations did not report a bill.

6 H.R. 3020.

7 S.1695.

8 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113). Total included $1,426,000,000 in funding designated for SSI redeterminations and CDRs. Included up to $124,000,000 from user fees paid by States for Federal administration of SSI State Supplement payments and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the Social Security Protection Act (P.L. 108-203).

9 The FY 2017 request included $1,819,000,000 in dedicated program integrity funding for, including the costs associated with SSI redeterminations, full medical CDRs, work CDRs, cooperative disability investigation (CDI) units, and the prosecution of fraud by Special Assistant United States Attorneys (SAUSAs), comprised of $273,000,000 in base funding and $1,546,000,000 in funds outside the discretionary caps as authorized by the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) of 2015 (P.L. 114-74). Additionally, the LAE account carved out funding to support the fully loaded costs of performing 1.1 million CDRs and approximately 2.8 million SSI redeterminations, $126,000,000 for SSI State Supplement user fees, and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the Social Security Protection Act (P.L. 108-203).

10 H.R. 5926.

11 S. 3040.

12Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (P.L. 115-31). Total included $90,000,000 in available funding through September 30, 2018, for activities to address the hearings backlog within the Office of Hearings Operations (formerly the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review). Included $1,819,000,000 in dedicated program integrity funding, including the costs associated with SSI redeterminations, full medical CDRs, work CDRs, CDI units, and the prosecution of fraud by SAUSAs, comprised of $273,000,000 in base funding and $1,546,000,000 in funds outside the discretionary caps as authorized by the BBA of 2015 (P.L.114-74) to remain available until March 31, 2018. Included $123,000,000 for SSI State Supplement user fees and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the Social Security Protection Act (P.L. 108-203).

The FY 2018 request included $1,735,000,000 in dedicated program integrity funding, including the costs

13 The FY 2018 request included $1,735,000,000 in dedicated program integrity funding, including the costs associated with SSI redeterminations, full medical CDRs, work CDRs, CDI units, and the prosecution of fraud by SAUSAs, comprised of $273,000,000 in base funding and $1,462,000,000 in funds outside the discretionary caps as authorized by the BBA of 2015 (P.L.114-74). Included up to $118,000,000 for SSI State Supplement user fees, and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the Social Security Protection Act (P.L. 108-203).

14 H.R.3358.

15 S. 1771. 16 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141). Total included $280,000,000 to remain available until

17 The FY 2019 request included $1,683,000,000 in dedicated program integrity funding, including the costs associated with SSI redeterminations, full medical CDRs, work CDRs, CDI units, and the prosecution of fraud by SAUSAs, comprised of $273,000,000 in base funding and $1,410,000,000 in funds outside the discretionary caps as authorized by the BBA of 2015 (P.L.114-74) to remain available until March 31, 2020. Beginning in FY 2019, the Budget proposed that we may transfer up to $10,000,000 of program integrity funds from the LAE account to the OIG for the costs associated with jointly operated CDI units. Included up to $134,000,000 for SSI State Supplement user fees, and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the Social Security Protection Act (P.L. 108-203). 18 H.R. 6470.

18 H.R. 6470.

20 Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019 and

19 S. 3158. Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019 and

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019 (P.L. 115-245). Total included $45,000,000 to remain available until expended for information technology modernization, including related hardware and software infrastructure and equipment, and for administrative expenses directly associated with information technology modernization. Total included $100,000,000 in available funding through September 30, 2020, for activities to address the hearings backlog within the Office of Hearings Operations. Included $1,683,000,000 in dedicated program integrity funding, including the costs associated with SSI redeterminations, full medical CDRs, work CDRs, CDI units, and the prosecution of fraud by SAUSAs, comprised of $273,000,000 in base funding and $1,410,000,000 in funds outside the discretionary caps as authorized by the BBA of 2015 (P.L.114-74) to remain available for 18 months through March 31, 2020. Public Law 115-245 allowed us to transfer up to $10,000,000 of program integrity funds from the LAE account to the OIG for the costs associated with jointly operated CDI units in FY

Included $134,000,000 for SSI State Supplement user fees and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the Social Security Protection Act (P.L. 108-203). 21 The FY 2020 Budget proposed that the total LAE budget authority request of $12,773,000,000 be offset by fees collected for replacement Social Security cards (estimated at $270,000,000). The total included $1,582,000,000 in dedicated program integrity funding, including the costs associated with SSI redeterminations, full medical CDRs, work CDRs, CDI units, and the prosecution of fraud by SAUSAs, comprised of $273,000,000 in base funding and $1,309,000,000 in funds outside the discretionary caps as authorized by the BBA of 2015 (P.L.114-
to remain available until March 31, 2021. In FY 2020, the Budget proposed to transfer up to $10,000,000 of program integrity cap adjustment funds in the LAE account to the OIG for the costs associated with jointly operated CDI units. Included up to $130,000,000 for SSI State Supplement user fees, and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the Social Security Protection Act (P.L. 108-203). 22

H.R. 2740. 23 The Senate Committee on Appropriations did not report a bill. The Committee posted a draft bill which provided the FY 2020 President’s Budget request of $12,773,000,000. 24 Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-94). The total included $45,000,000 to remain available until expended for IT modernization, including related hardware and software infrastructure and equipment, and for administrative expenses directly associated with IT modernization. The total included $100,000,000 in available funding through September 30, 2021, for activities to address the hearings backlog within the Office of Hearings Operations. The total also included $1,582,000,000 in dedicated program integrity funding, including the costs associated with SSI redeterminations, full medical CDRs, work CDRs, CDI units, and the prosecution of fraud by SAUSAs, comprised of $273,000,000 in base funding and $1,309,000,000 in funds outside the discretionary caps as authorized by the BBA of 2015 (P.L.114-74) to remain available for 18 months through March 31, 2021. P.L. 116-94 allowed us to transfer up to $10,000,000 of program integrity funds from the LAE account to the OIG for the costs associated with jointly operated CDI units in FY 2020. The total also included $130,000,000 for SSI State Supplement user fees and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the SSPA. 25 The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136) provided $300,000,000 in funding, available through September 30, 2021, to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus, including paying the salaries and benefits of all employees affected as a result of office closures, telework, phone and communication services for employees, overtime costs, supplies, and for resources necessary for processing disability and retirement workloads and backlogs. It also provided $38,000,000 for administrative costs related to assisting the Department of Treasury/Internal Revenue Service in coordinating a public awareness campaign and administering economic impact payments (EIPs) to qualifying individuals. 26 The FY 2021 Budget proposed that the total requested LAE budget authority of $13,351,473,000 be offset by fees collected for replacement Social Security cards (estimated at $270,000,000). The total included $1,575,000,000 in dedicated program integrity funding, including the costs associated with SSI redeterminations, full medical CDRs, work CDRs, CDI units, and the prosecution of fraud by SAUSAs, comprised of $273,000,000 in base funding and $1,302,000,000 in funds outside the discretionary caps, as authorized by the BBA of 2015 (P.L.114-74) to remain available until March 31, 2022. The Budget proposed allowing us to transfer up to $11,200,000 of program integrity funds from the LAE account to the OIG for the costs associated with jointly operated CDI units in FY 2021. The total included up to $135,000,000 for SSI State Supplement user fees, and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the SSPA.

H.R.7614. The Senate Committee on Appropriations did not report a bill. The Committee posted a draft bill which

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

included $12,868,945,000 for LAE. 29 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260). The total included $45,000,000 to remain available until expended for IT modernization, including related hardware and software infrastructure and equipment, and for administrative expenses directly associated with IT modernization. The total included $50,000,000 in available funding through September 30, 2022, for activities to address the hearings backlog within the Office of Hearings Operations. The total also included $1,575,000,000 in dedicated program integrity funding, including the costs associated with SSI redeterminations, full medical CDRs, work CDRs, CDI units, and the prosecution of fraud by SAUSAs, comprised of $273,000,000 in base funding and $1,302,000,000 in funds outside the discretionary caps as authorized by the BBA of 2015 (P.L.114-74) to remain available for 18 months through March 31, 2022. P.L. 116-260 allowed for the transfer of up to $11,200,000 of program integrity funds from the LAE account to the OIG for the costs associated with jointly operated CDI units. The total also included $135,000,000 for SSI State Supplement user fees and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the SSPA. 30 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260, Section 272, Division N) provided $38,000,000 in funding, available through September 30, 2021, for administrative costs related to assisting the Department of Treasury/Internal Revenue Service in coordinating a public awareness campaign and administering a second round of EIPs first authorized under the CARES Act. 31 The FY 2022 Budget proposed $1,708,000,000 in dedicated program integrity funding, including a $1,435,000,000 allocation adjustment, to remain available until March 31, 2023. Dedicated program integrity funding allowed us to conduct CDRs and SSI redeterminations to confirm that participants remain eligible to receive benefits, and it supported anti-fraud cooperative disability investigation units and special attorneys for fraud prosecutions. The Budget proposed transferring up to $12,100,000 of program integrity funds from the LAE account to the OIG for the costs associated with jointly operated CDI units. The total included up to $138,000,000 for SSI State Supplement user fees, and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the SSPA. 32

H.R. 4502. 33 The Senate Committee on Appropriations did not report a bill. The Committee posted a draft bill which included $13,967,945,000 for LAE. 34 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (P.L. 117-103). The total included $55,000,000 in available funding through September 30, 2023, for activities to address the hearings backlog within the Office of Hearings Operations. The total also included $1,708,000,000 in dedicated program integrity funding, including the costs associated with SSI redeterminations, full medical CDRs, work CDRs, CDI units, and the prosecution of fraud by SAUSAs, comprised of $273,000,000 in base funding and $1,435,000,000 in funds outside the discretionary caps as authorized by the BBA of 2015 (P.L.114-74) to remain available for 18 months through March 31, 2023.

P.L. 117-103 allowed us the ability to transfer up to $12,100,000 of program integrity funds from the LAE account to the OIG for the costs associated with jointly operated CDI units. The total also included $138,000,000 for SSI State Supplement user fees and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the SSPA. 35 The FY 2023 Budget proposed $1,799,000,000 in dedicated program integrity funding, including a $1,511,000,000 allocation adjustment, to remain available until March 31, 2024. Dedicated program integrity funding allowed us to conduct CDRs and SSI redeterminations to confirm that participants remain eligible to receive benefits, and it supported anti-fraud cooperative disability investigation units and special attorneys for fraud prosecutions. The Budget proposed transferring up to $15,100,000 of program integrity funds from the LAE account to the OIG for the costs associated with jointly operated CDI units. The total included up to $140,000,000 for SSI State Supplement user fees, and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the SSPA. 36

H.R. 8295. 37 The Senate Committee on Appropriations did not report a bill. The Committee posted a draft bill which included $14,244,014,000 for LAE. 38 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328). The total includes $55,000,000 in available funding through September 30, 2024, for activities to address the disability hearings backlog within the Office of Hearings Operations. The total also includes $1,784,000,000 in dedicated program integrity funding, including the costs associated with SSI redeterminations, full medical CDRs, work CDRs, CDI units, and the prosecution

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

of fraud by SAUSAs, comprised of $273,000,000 in base funding and a $1,511,000,000 allocation adjustment to remain available for 18 months through March 31, 2024. P.L. 117-328 provides a transfer of up to $15,100,000 of program integrity funds from the LAE account to the OIG for the costs associated with jointly operated CDI units. The total also includes $140,000,000 for SSI State Supplement user fees and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the SSPA. 39 The FY 2024 Budget includes $50,000,000 in no-year funding in the LAE account to modernize our benefits system. The FY 2024 Budget also includes $2,000,000 for the purchase and hire of zero emission passenger motor vehicles and supporting charging or fueling infrastructure available through September 30, 2025, of which, $700,000 is for the OIG for the purchase and hire of zero emission passenger motor vehicles and supporting charging or fueling infrastructure. The FY 2024 Budget proposed $1,870,000,000 in dedicated program integrity funding, including $287,000,000 in base program integrity funding and a $1,583,000,000 allocation adjustment, to remain available until March 31, 2025. Dedicated program integrity funding allows us to conduct CDRs and SSI redeterminations to confirm that participants remain eligible to receive benefits, and it supports anti-fraud CDI units and SAUSAs for fraud prosecutions. The Budget proposed transferring $19,100,000 of program integrity funds from the LAE account to the OIG for the costs associated with jointly operated CDI units. The total included up to $150,000,000 for SSI State Supplement user fees, and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the SSPA. 40

H.R. 5894. The House bill was passed at the subcommittee level and did not go to the full committee. 41

S. 2624 42 A full-year appropriation for FY 2024 was not enacted at the time the FY 2025 President’s Budget was prepared. Our regular LAE funding level in FY 2024 assumes level funding of the annual appropriations included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328.) The FY 2025 President’s Budget assumes the Fiscal Responsibility Act (P.L. 118-5) level for the program integrity cap adjustment in FY

The SSA Congressional Justification assumes a $19,100,000 transfer from the LAE account to the OIG for costs associated with jointly operated CDI unit costs in FY 2024, the same as the 2024 Budget. See the Program Integrity exhibit in the LAE section for more information. Further, the FY 2024 CR funding level includes $55,000,000 to address the disability hearings backlog, which is included in regular LAE. Lastly, the FY 2024 CR funding level also includes up to $140,000,000 for SSI State Supplement user fees and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the SSPA. 43 The FY 2025 Budget includes $50,000,000 in no-year funding in the LAE account to modernize our benefits system. The FY 2025 Budget also includes $2,000,000 for the purchase and hire of zero emission vehicles and supporting charging or fueling infrastructure available through September 30, 2026, of which $700,000 is for the OIG for the purchase and hire of zero emission passenger motor vehicles and supporting charging or fueling infrastructure. The FY 2025 Budget proposes $1,903,000,000 in dedicated program integrity funding, including $273,000,000 in base program integrity funding and a $1,630,000,000 cap adjustment, to remain available until March 31, 2026. Dedicated program integrity funding allows us to conduct CDRs and SSI redeterminations to confirm that participants remain eligible to receive benefits, and it supports anti-fraud CDI units and SAUSAs for fraud prosecutions. The Budget proposes transferring $19,600,000 of program integrity funds from the LAE account to the OIG for the costs associated with jointly operated CDI units. The total includes up to $170,000,000 for SSI State Supplement user fees, and up to $1,000,000 from fees collected pursuant to section 303(c) of the SSPA.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

SSA-RELATED LEGISLATION FROM APRIL 2023 TO MARCH 2024

FY 2024

Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act, 2024 (P.L. 118-22, enacted

November 16, 2023)

The law provides continuing FY 2024 appropriations for four FY 2023 appropriations acts through January 19, 2024. For most other federal agencies and programs, including SSA, the law provides funding through February 2, 2024.
The law also extends several expiring programs and authorities, including programs authorized by the 2018 farm bill and several public health programs.

FY 2023

Continuing Appropriations Act, 2024 and Other Extensions Act (P.L. 118-15, enacted

September 30, 2023)

The law provided continuing FY 2024 appropriations to federal agencies through November 17, 2023, and provided emergency funding for disaster relief.
The law also extended several expiring programs and authorities.

Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act of 2023 (P.L. 118-9, enacted July 25,

2023)

The law requires the notice of a proposed rule by a federal agency to include the internet address of a summary of the rule. The summary of the rule must be 100 words or fewer, written in plain language, and posted on regulations.gov.

Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (P.L. 118-5, enacted June 3, 2023)

The law increases the federal debt limit, establishes new discretionary spending limits, rescinds unobligated funds, and expands work requirements for federal programs.
Specifically, the law establishes new discretionary spending limits that are permitted under current law to accommodate additional appropriations for SSA’s Program Integrity work.
The law also modifies other requirements related to the federal budget process.

Relating to a National Emergency Declared by the President on March 13, 2020 (P.L. 118-3,

enacted April 10, 2023)

The law terminates the national emergency concerning COVID-19 declared by the President on March 13, 2020.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

GENERAL STATEMENT/BUDGETARY RESOURCES/PERFORMANCE

LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES OVERVIEW

The LAE account funds our operating expenses to administer our programs: the OASI and DI programs, the SSI program, certain health insurance and Medicare prescription drug functions, and the Special Benefits for Certain World War II Veterans program. The LAE account provides the funds we need to perform our core responsibilities, including processing benefit applications, conducting hearings and appeals, ensuring we distribute benefits properly, and maintaining the integrity of the trust funds. With these funds, we deliver service to millions of Americans online at www.socialsecurity.gov, on the telephone, and through our field offices.

Please see the Budget Overview for more information.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

KEY PRIORITIES

We formulated our FY 2025 President’s Budget request to strengthen and improve our services, rebuild and support our workforce, and deliver accessible, high-quality, customer-centered services to all we serve. Our highest customer service priorities include improving National 800 Number customer wait times, reducing the average processing time for disability determinations, and improving payment accuracy and processes to improve the customer experience for both overpayments and underpayments.

Our request includes over $2.8 billion for the State disability determination services (DDS), an increase of about $180 million from our FY 2024 estimated level. This amount restores staff to FY 2023 levels and includes the necessary pay increases to improve workforce recruitment and retention so that we can process more disability claims and reduce the time claimants wait for a decision. Our request also includes increases of nearly $700 million for Federal payroll costs to restore staffing to FY 2023 levels and increase overtime, over $200 million to modernize our information technology services, and $50 million for program integrity. Funding these investments will improve our frontline operations by strengthening our workforce, allowing us to reduce backlogs and wait times, enhance customer service, expand program access, modernize our information technology, and position SSA to provide the level of service our customers expect and deserve going into the future.

As reflected in our Budget Overview, the President’s Budget request addresses the following key areas:

Optimizing the experience of SSA customers, including: o Identifying and addressing barriers to accessing our services by:
Eliminating service disparities for people with disabilities; and
Increasing SSI program outreach to underserved communities. o Expanding our digital services by:
Expanding online self-scheduling options to the public;
Expanding video service options for hearings, interviews for replacement cards, and post-entitlement actions;
Increasing the number of services and forms available on our secure digital platforms; and
Continuing the rollout of a mobile-accessible, online process to upload forms, evidence, documentation, or correspondence and electronically sign documents. o Building a customer-focused organization by:
Reducing the initial disability claims backlog;
Eliminating the disability hearings backlog;
Improving National 800 Number service;
Strengthening service in our field offices;
Addressing processing center backlogs; and
Modernizing our information technology.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

• Building an inclusive, engaged, and empowered workforce, including: o Promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in hiring and

o Promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in hiring and advancement by: • Expanding manager recruitment capabilities by utilizing Office of

• Expanding manager recruitment capabilities by utilizing Office of Personnel Management special hiring authorities such as direct hiring authority for approved mission-critical vacancies and increasing internship opportunities; and • Leveraging partnerships with universities and institutions that specifically

• Leveraging partnerships with universities and institutions that specifically work with underserved communities. Supporting employees’ chosen career paths by:

o Supporting employees’ chosen career paths by: • Investing in training and development opportunities to develop new

• Investing in training and development opportunities to develop new leaders, enhance employee engagement, increase productivity, and improve retention; and • Implementing an updated agency-level Improve Workplace Morale plan.

• Implementing an updated agency-level Improve Workplace Morale plan. Ensuring stewardship of our programs, including:

• Ensuring stewardship of our programs, including: o Improving the accuracy and administration of our programs by:

o Improving the accuracy and administration of our programs by: • Supporting our cost-effective program integrity work;

• Supporting our cost-effective program integrity work; • Enhancing our payment accuracy efforts (see our Improper Payments

• Enhancing our payment accuracy efforts (see our Improper Payments exhibit); • Enhancing our fraud prevention and detection activities;

• Enhancing our fraud prevention and detection activities; • Addressing the climate crisis;

• Addressing the climate crisis; • Leverage artificial intelligence to improve operations; and

• Leverage artificial intelligence to improve operations; and • Investing in cybersecurity to safeguard our data.

• Investing in cybersecurity to safeguard our data. Identifying and eliminating potential barriers and bolstering open competition for

o Identifying and eliminating potential barriers and bolstering open competition for contracts and grants by developing best practices to: • Encourage participation by Historically Black Colleges and Universities

• Encourage participation by Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Institutions Serving Students of Color; and • Secure contracts with qualified Historically Underutilized Business Zone,

• Expanding strategic relationships with Federal, State, and private partners. Looking towards the future by exploring other Administration initiatives that would:

• Simplifying our policies and procedures, especially in the complex SSI program. • Enhancing our disability determination and hearings and appeals case

o Improving organizational performance and policy implementation by:

o Provide national, comprehensive paid family and medical leave.

o Protect the benefits that Americans have earned; and o Provide national, comprehensive paid family and medical leave.

SIZE AND SCOPE OF OUR PROGRAMS

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, efficiency, and stewardship.

Between the three major programs we administer—OASI, DI, and SSI—benefit payment outlays totaled over $1.4 trillion in FY 2023; under current law, we expect benefit payment outlays to be approximately $1.5 trillion in FY 2024 and $1.6 trillion in FY 2025. This includes the SSI State supplementary payments that we administer on behalf of some States. Our administrative expenses1 of $15.4 billion are about one percent of total benefit payment outlays and continue to be a small fraction of overall program spending, demonstrating our cost-conscious approach to managing resources. Table 3.6—Benefit Outlays2

Table 3.6—Benefit Outlays2 (Dollars in billions)

	FY2023Actuals	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate
Old-Age and Survivors Insurance	$1,192.1	$1,291.3	$1,375.7
Disability Insurance	$149.4	$153.5	$160.6
Supplemental Security Income^{3,4}$	$63.2	$60.4	$66.6
Total Outlays^{5}$	$1,404.7	$1,505.1	$1,602.9

We expect the total number of beneficiaries and recipients of the three major programs we administer to increase from 73.8 million in FY 2023 to 74.8 million in FY 2024 and 76.1 million in FY 2025. We expect OASI beneficiaries to increase in FY 2024 and FY 2025, while we expect DI beneficiaries and SSI recipients to slightly decrease in FY 2024 and FY 2025.

Table 3.7—Beneficiaries2 (Average in payment status, in millions)

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate
Old-Age and Survivors Insurance	57.5	58.9	60.2
Disability Insurance	8.8	8.5	8.4
Supplemental Security Income^{6}$	7.5	7.4	7.4
Total Beneficiaries^{7}$	73.8	74.8	76.1

4 There were 12 monthly benefit payments in FY2023, and there will be 11 in FY 2024 and 12 in FY 2025. 5 Benefit payment totals include less than $500,000 for the Special Benefits for Certain World War II Veterans

5 Benefit payment totals include less than $500,000 for the Special Benefits for Certain World War II Veterans program in FYs 2023, 2024, and 2025, which is not broken out separately. 6 SSI recipients include about 13,000 in FY 2 4 023, 135,000 in FY 2024, and 137,000 in FY 2025 who only receive a

6 SSI recipients include about 13,000 in FY 2 4 023, 135,000 in FY 2024, and 137,000 in FY 2025 who only receive a State supplementary payment. 7 Beneficiary totals include approximately 2. 5 million concurrent recipients who receive SSI as well as OASI or DI.

7 Beneficiary totals include approximately 2. 5 million concurrent recipients who receive SSI as well as OASI or DI.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

FUNDING REQUEST

Our FY 2025 LAE budget request of $15.402 billion allows us to focus on our agency priorities of strengthening our services, modernizing our information technology services and systems for the future, streamlining our policies, improving the customer experience and equity across all programs, preventing and resolving improper payments, investing in our workforce, and ensuring stewardship of our programs.

Table 3.8—Budgetary Request1 (Dollars in Millions)

	FY2023 Enacted	FY2024 Estimate2	FY2025 Request
Budget Authority, One-Year(Dollars in Millions)
Limitation on Administrative Expenses(LAE)3,4	$14,127	$14,194	$15,402
(Dedicated Program Integrity, Base and Allocation/Cap Adjustment, included in LAE5)	($1,784)	($1,851)	($1,903)
Research and Demonstrations6,7	$86	$86	$91
Office of the Inspector General(OIG)8	$115	$115	$121
Total,Budget Authority	$14,328	$14,395	$15,614
Workyears(WY)
Full-Time Equivalents9	58,485	57,490	59,211
Overtime	2,782	1,800	2,167
Lump Sum Leave	150	242	242
Total SSA Workyears10	61,417	59,532	61,620
Disability Determination Services(DDS)	13,554	13,364	13,555
Total SSA/DDS Workyears	74,971	72,896	75,175
OIG	501	517	532
Total SSA/DDS/OIG Workyears11	75,472	73,413	75,707

1 Numbers may not add due to rounding. 2 Our regular LAE funding level in FY 2024 assumes level funding of the annual appropriations included in P.L.

2 Our regular LAE funding level in FY 2024 assumes level funding of the annual appropriations included in P.L. 117-328. The FY 2025 President’s Budget assumes the Fiscal Responsibility Act (P.L. 118-5) level for the program integrity cap adjustment in FY 2024. 3 LAE funding includes $140 million in FY 2023, $140 million in FY 2024, and $170 million in FY 2025 for SSI

hearings backlog. 5 P.L. 117-328 – Consolidated Appropriations Act provided FY 2023 PI funding availability for 18 months (through March 31, 2024). The FY 2025 President’s Budget assumes appropriations language for FY 2025 will provide for similar 18-month authority to obligate PI funds. 6 These amounts include $7 million in base research funding classified as mandatory.

3 LAE funding includes $140 million in FY 2023, $140 million in FY 2024, and $170 million in FY 2025 for SSI user fees. LAE funding also includes $1 million in Social Security Protection Act (SSPA) user fees.

4 P.L. 117-328 – Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, provided $55 million in dedicated funding to address the

user fees. LAE funding also includes $1 million in Social Security Protection Act (SSPA) user fees.

4 P.L. 117-328 – Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, provided $55 million in dedicated funding to address the hearings backlog. 5 P.L. 117-328 – Consolidated Appropriations Act provided FY 2023 PI funding availability for 18 months (through

8 P.L. 117-328 allowedSSA to transfer $15.1 million in FY 2023 from the LAE account to the OIG for the costs associated with jointly operated CDI units. The SSA Congressional Justification assumes a $19.1 million transfer in FY 2024, the same level as in the FY 2024 President’s Budget andrequests a $19.6 million transfer for

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

FY 2025. See the Program Integrity exhibit in the LAE section for more information. 9 Full-time equivalents include those funded by the CDI unit PI transfer from the LAE account to the OIG. 10 A workyear (WY) is a measure of time spent doing work or being paid for some element of time (e.g., leave). It is the equivalent of one person working for one year (2,080 hours) and may consist of regular hours, overtime, or lump sum leave, which is payment for unused annual leave upon leaving the agency. WYs include time spent in full-time or part-time employment. Full-time equivalents and overtime WYs include those funded from dedicated funding to reduce the hearings backlog, dedicated funding for IT modernization, and dedicated funding for PI. 11 FY 2023 workyears are final numbers and will not match the preliminary estimates included in the Budget Appendix.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Table 3.9—All Purpose Table (APT) (in thousands)

	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025
Consolidated Appropriations Act1,2	Estimate3	President's Budget4	FY 2025+/-FY 2024
Payments to Social Security Trust Funds
Pension Reform	6,000	6,000	6,000	-
Unnegotiated Checks	5,000	5,000	9,000	4,000
Total PTF	$11,000	$11,000	$15,000	$4,000
Supplemental Security Income
Federal Benefits Payment	59,230,213	59,477,435	63,108,000	3,630,565
Beneficiary Services	124,000	124,000	144,000	20,000
Research & Demonstration5,6	86,000	86,000	91,000	5,000
Administration7	4,769,125	4,521,903	4,912,635	390,732
Subtotal SSI Program Level	64,209,338	64,209,338	68,255,635	4,046,297
Advance from PY	(15,600,000)	(15,800,000)	(21,700,000)	(5,900,000)
Subtotal Current Year SSI	$48,609,338	$48,409,338	$46,555,635	($1,853,703)
New Advance SSI	$15,800,000	$21,700,000	$22,100,000	$400,000
Limitation on Administrative Expenses
Regular LAE
OASDI Trust Funds	5,793,240	5,754,902	6,082,379	394,477
HU/SMI Trust Funds	3,072,618	3,425,792	3,888,986	463,194
Social Security Advisory Board	2,700	2,700	3,150	450
SSI	3,333,420

1 P.L. 117-328 – Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, provided $55,000,000 in dedicated funding to address the hearings backlog. It is included in regular LAE.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

2 The Federal Benefits Payment, regular LAE, and the program integrity program splits included in this APT are slightly different than the amounts reported in the FY 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act report language because of actual spending by program. However, subtotal SSI program and total LAE included in this APT and the report language are the same. 3 Our regular LAE funding level in FY 2024 assumes a full-year continuing resolution, at an annualized rate equal to the enacted FY 2023 appropriations. The FY 2025 President’s Budget assumes the Fiscal Responsibility Act (P.L. 118-5) level for the program integrity cap adjustment in FY 2024. New Advance SSI ($21,700,000,000) reflects the current estimate to ensure sufficient and timely FY 2025 first quarter benefit payments in the event of a delayed appropriations. The FY 2024 CR funding level also includes $55,000,000 to address the disability hearings backlog, which is included in regular LAE. LAE program funding splits have been updated to reflect current information and will not match the FY 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act level. 4 The FY 2025 President’s Budget includes $50,000,000 in no-year funding in the LAE account to modernize our benefits system. The FY 2025 Budget also includes $2,000,000 for the purchase and hire of zero emission vehicles and supporting charging or fueling infrastructure available through September 30, 2026, of which $700,000 is for the OIG for the purchase and hire of zero emission passenger motor vehicles and supporting charging or fueling infrastructure. 5 These amounts include $7,000,000 in base research funding classified as mandatory. 6 FY 2023 Congress appropriated 3-year authority for research and demonstration projects, and we request the same authority for FY 2024 and FY 2025. 7 Total SSI Administration reflects the sum of SSI regular LAE and SSI Program Integrity included in the LAE section. 8

P.L 117-328 – Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, provided 18-month (through March 31, 2024) authority for program integrity funding. The FY 2025 President’s Budget assumes similar 18-month authority to obligate PI funds. 9

P.L. 117-328 allows SSA to transfer $15,100,000 in FY 2023 from the LAE account to the OIG for the costs associated with jointly operated CDI units. The SSA Congressional Justification assumes a $19,100,000 transfer in FY 2024, the same level as in the FY 2024 President’s Budget, and requests a $19,6000,000 transfer for FY 2025. 10 Includes $2,000,000 annually in the OIG topline, to remain available until expended for information technology modernization, including related hardware and software infrastructure and equipment, and for administrative expenses directly associated with information technology modernization.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

SSI STATE SUPPLEMENTATION/IMPACT OF STATES DROPPING OUT

The SSI program was designed to provide a nationwide uniform floor of cash assistance to individuals who are aged, blind, and disabled, with limited income and resources. In recognizing that there were variations in living costs across the Nation, Congress added section 1618 to the Social Security Act to encourage States to supplement the Federal payment. This ensured that SSI recipients received the full benefit of each cost-of-living adjustment. States may administer their own State supplement programs or have us administer the programs on their behalf. States electing to have us administer their programs reimburse us monthly in advance for these benefit payments, and we make eligibility determinations and payments on behalf of the States.

Table 3.10—State Supplement Payments (Dollars in millions)

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate
Federally Administered State Supplement Payments	$3,123	$3,140	$3,475
Offsetting Collections	$3,118	$3,383	$3,481

Participating States pay us user fees to administer their programs, based on a schedule established by the Social Security Act. The user fee was $14.35 per SSI check payment in FY 2023 and is $14.78 in FY 2024. We estimate that the user fee will increase to $15.22 per payment in FY 2025. The Department of Treasury receives the first $5.00 of each fee and we retain the amount over $5.00. This user fee is discretionary budget authority that supplements our LAE account.

1, 2 Table 3.11—SSI User Fee Collections (Dollars in millions)

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate	FY2024toFY2025Change
SSA User Fee Collections	$152	$147	$170	+$23
Treasury User Fee Collections	$81	$75	$82	+$7
Total User Fee Collections	$233	$222	$252	+$30

1 The enacted user fee authority for FY 2023 was $140,000,000 and for FY 2024 is the annualized continuing resolution amount of $140,000,000. Any fees collected in excess of the appropriated amount may be used to cover a shortfall in collections for future years. 2 FY 2023 had 12 payments, FY 2024 has 11 payments, and FY 2025 has 12 payments.

2 FY 2023 had 12 payments, FY 2024 has 11 payments, and FY 2025 has 12 payments.

Impact of States Dropping Out of State Supplementation Program

Currently, we help administer the State supplementation for 20 States and the District of Columbia. However, participation in the State supplementation program is voluntary. States can opt out of the program but must provide notice to us at least 90 days in advance before dropping out. The result of States dropping out of the program is a loss of LAE authority in the current and possibly following fiscal year when it is too late to adjust our request. When a State drops out of the program, we use LAE to make up the difference in authority. We adjust our estimates for the budget year and the outyears, when possible, to accommodate any changes. California and New Jersey are the two States with the highest collections for whom we administer State supplementation. If either State opted to administer their own State supplementation, our estimate would dramatically decrease.

Table 3.12—Estimated SSA User Fee Collections by State (Dollars in thousands)

State	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate
Arkansas	$\cdot$	$\cdot$	$\cdot$
California	$128,250	$123,621	$143,330
Delaware	$58	$55	$63
DC	$117	$112	$127
Georgia	$1	$1	$1
Hawaii	$251	$241	$273
Iowa	$111	$106	$121
Kansas	$\cdot$	$\cdot$	$\cdot$
Louisiana	$\cdot$	$\cdot$	$\cdot$
Maryland	$\cdot$	$\cdot$	$\cdot$
Michigan	$1,196	$1,147	$1,302
Mississippi	$1	$1	$1
Montana	$72	$69	$78
Nevada	$1,798	$1,723	$1,956
New Jersey	$18,064	$17,983	$20,413
Ohio	$\cdot$	$\cdot$	$\cdot$
Pennsylvania	$502	$481	$546
Rhode Island	$38	$36	$41
South Dakota	$\cdot$	$\cdot$	$\cdot$
Tennessee	$1	$1	$1
Vermont	$1,604	$1,538	$1,746
Total	$152,064	$147,000	$170,000

Less than $500

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

BUDGET AUTHORITY AND OUTLAYS

The Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) account, our basic administrative account, is an annual appropriation and is financed from the Social Security and Medicare trust funds, the General Fund, and applicable user fees. This account provides resources to administer the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs, as well as certain aspects of the Medicare program. We calculate the administrative costs attributable to each program using our Government Accountability Office approved Cost Analysis System (CAS).

In addition to our base operating expenses, we occasionally receive one-time appropriations. In FY 2009, we received additional funds from the General Fund of the Treasury, provided by the Recovery Act and the Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA). We also received $98 million funded incrementally from FY 2015 to FY 2018, of which $27 million is available until expended, for costs associated with the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) provisions. In FY 2020 and FY 2021, we received a total of $376 million to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus pandemic. In FY 2022, we received $16 million for the Postal Service Reform Act (PSRA) to assist the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the United States Postal Service (USPS) with outreach, program eligibility and inquiries, and administering a special Medicare enrollment period for Postal Service employees, Postal Service annuitants and their family members.

We received a total of $23.3 million, split between $15 million in FY 2023 and $8 million in

FY 2024, in Technology Modernization Funds (TMF) to accelerate our Multifactor Authentication project to further improve our information security posture and reduce risks from compromised credentials.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and SSA Cost Sharing Agreement Workgroup

Section 201(g) of the Social Security Act provides that SSA determine the share of administrative expenses that should have been borne by the appropriate trust funds for the administration of their respective programs and the General Fund for administration of the SSI

administration of their respective programs and the General Fund for administration of the SSI program. SSA and CMS continue to work together to evaluate the cost-sharing agreement that determines the portion of administrative expenses borne by the SSA and Medicare trust funds

determines the portion of administrative expenses borne by the SSA and Medicare trust funds and the General Fund.

and the General Fund.

Table 3.13—Budget Authority and Outlays1 (Dollars in thousands)

	FY2023Actual2,3,4	FY2024Estimate3,5	FY2025Estimate6,7
Budget Authority
OASI and DI Trust Funds	$6,141,535^{8}$	$6,102,583^{9}$	$6,426,153^{10}$
HI and SMI Trust Funds	$3,072,618	$3,425,792	$3,888,986

(Dollars in thousands)

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

	FY2023Actual2,3,4	FY2024Estimate3,5	FY2025Estimate6,7
SSA Advisory Board	$2,700	$2,700	$3,150
SSI Administrative Expenses	$4,769,125	$4,521,903	$4,912,635^{10}$
SSI State Supplement User Fees	$140,000	$140,000	$170,000
Non-Attorney Representative User Fees	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000
Technology Modernization Funds(TMF)	$15,300	$8,000	$0
Total Budget Authority	$14,142,278	$14,201,978	$15,401,924
Administrative Outlays
OASI and DI Trust Funds	$5,968,000^{11}$	$6,167,000^{12}$	$6,450,000^{13}$
HI and SMI Trust Funds	$3,232,000	$3,499,000	$3,902,000
SSI Administrative Expenses	$4,485,000	$4,621,000	$4,928,000
SSI State Supplement User Fees	$140,000	$140,000	$170,000
Non-Attorney Representative User Fees	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000
CARES Act	$200	$0	$0
MIPPA-LIS	$0^{14}$	$0	$0
Postal Service Recovery Act(PSRA)	$1,000	$6,000	$9,000
Technology Modernization Fund(TMF)	$1,000	$22,000	$0
Total Administrative Outlays^{15}$	$13,828,200	$14,456,000	$15,460,000

1 Totals may not add due to rounding. 2 In FY 2023, our administrative outlays were about 1 percent of the benefit payments we made.

2 In FY 2023, our administrative outlays were about 1 percent of the benefit payments we made. 3 Congress appropriated $55,000,000 in FY 2023 (available until September 30, 2024) to address the disability

3 Congress appropriated $55,000,000 in FY 2023 (available until September 30, 2024) to address the disability hearings backlog within OHO. The FY 2024 CR funding level also includes $55 million to address the disability hearings backlog within OHO.

4 The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136) provided $300,000,000 in

4 The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136) provided $300,000,000 in funding, available through September 30, 2021, to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus pandemic. It also provided $38,000,000 for administrative costs related to assisting the Department of Treasury/Internal Revenue Service in coordinating a public awareness campaign and administering economic impact payments (EIP) to most individuals. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, provided an additional $38,000,000 in funding, available through September 30, 2021, for administrative costs related to assisting the Department of Treasury/Internal Revenue Service.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

5 In FY 2024, our administrative outlays are about 1 percent of the benefit payments we plan to pay. 6 In FY 2025, our administrative outlays are about 1 percent of the benefit payments we plan to pay. 7 The FY 2025 Budget includes $50,000,000 in no-year funding to modernize our benefits system. It also includes $2,000,000 for the purchase and hire of zero emission passenger motor vehicles and supporting charging or fueling infrastructure available through September 30, 2026, of which $700,000 is for the OIG for the purchase and hire of zero emission passenger motor vehicles and supporting charging or fueling infrastructure. 8 The total includes $3,386,775 in OASI and $2,754,760 in DI budget authority. 9 The total includes $3,639,048 in OASI and $2,463,535 in DI budget authority. 10 The total includes $3,807,826 in OASI and $2,618,327 in DI budget authority. 11 The total includes $3,544,000 in OASI and $2,424,000 in DI outlays. 12 The total includes $3,678,000 in OASI and $2,489,000 in DI outlays. 13 The total includes $3,823,000 in OASI and $2,627,000 in DI outlays. 14 A total of $28,000 was outlaid in MIPPA-LIS. 15 Outlays are from the LAE account. Due to variations in timing in the reporting of outlays, these outlays will not match those included in the Budget Appendix. Outlay totals include outlays made from budget authority enacted in prior years.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

AMOUNTS AVAILABLE FOR OBLIGATION/ANALYSIS OF CHANGES

1,2 Table 3.14—Amounts Available for Obligation (Dollars in thousands)

	FY20233Actual	FY20244Estimate	FY20255Estimate	FY2024toFY2025Change
Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE)
Unobligated Balance and Transfers,start-of-year6	$373,961	$375,854	$306,376	-$69,478
Unrealized Non-Attorney User Fees	-$873	$0	$0	$0
Unrealized SSI User Fees	$0	$0	$0	$0
LAE Appropriation	$14,126,978	$14,193,978	$15,401,924	$1,207,946
Subtotal LAE Resources	$14,500,066	$14,569,833	$15,708,300	$1,138,468
Total Obligations,LAE	$14,110,772	$14,463,456	$15,602,224	$1,138,768
Unobligated Balance,lapsing	$105,501	$0	$0	$0
Unobligated Balance,end-of-year(LAE Carryover)	$283,793	$106,376	$106,076	-$300
Medicare Savings Plan(MSP)
Unobligated Balances,start-of-year	$14,903	$14,903	$14,903	$0
Obligations,MSP	$0	$0	$0	$0
Unobligated Balances,end-of-year	$14,903	$14,903	$14,903	$0
Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act(MIPPA)-Low Income Subsidy(LIS)
Unobligated Balances,start-of-year	$11,313	$11,285	$11,285	$0
Obligations,MIPPA-LIS	$28	$0	$0	$0
Unobligated Balances,end-of-year	$11,285	$11,285	$11,285	$0
State Children's Health Insurance Program(SCHIP)
Unobligated Balances,start-of-year	$1,920

2 Table does not include reimbursables, and Technology Modernization Fund. 3 FY 2023 unobligated balances, end-of-year, include approximately $106,000,000 of Program Integrity 18-month

1 Totals may not add due to rounding. 2 Table does not include reimbursables, and Technology Modernization Fund.

3 FY 2023 unobligated balances, end-of-year, include approximately $106,000,000 of Program Integrity 18-month carry-out, $16,000,000 of Dedicated Hearings FY 2023/2024 multi-year carry-out, and $295,000,000 carryover/transferred from prior-year accounts. 4 FY 2024 unobligated balance, start-of-year, includes approximately $106,000,000 of Program Integrity 18-month

4 FY 2024 unobligated balance, start-of-year, includes approximately $106,000,000 of Program Integrity 18-month funds and $270,000,000 transferred from prior-year accounts. 5 FY 2025 unobligated balance, start-of-year, includes approximately $106,000,000 of Program Integrity 18-month

5 FY 2025 unobligated balance, start-of-year, includes approximately $106,000,000 of Program Integrity 18-month carried into FY 2024 and $200,000,000 transferred from prior-year accounts. 6 Includes multi-year carryover funds and recoveries for IT Systems, IT Modernization, Program Integrity,

6 Includes multi-year carryover funds and recoveries for IT Systems, IT Modernization, Program Integrity, Dedicated Hearings, ARRA, and Altmeyer dedicated funding.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

	FY20233Actual	FY20244Estimate	FY20255Estimate	FY2024toFY2025Change
Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act(MACRA)
Unobligated Balances,start-of-year	$25982	$25982	$25982	$0
Obligations,MIPPA-MACRA	$0	$0	$0	$0
Unobligated Balances,end-of-year	$25982	$25982	$25982	$0
Postal Service Reform Act of 2022(PSRA)
PSRA Appropriation	$16000	$0	$0	$0
Unobligated Balances,start-of-year	$0	$14891	$8505	-$6386
Obligations,PSRA	$1109	$6386	$0	-$6386
Unobligated Balances,end-of-year	$14891	$8505	$8505	$0
GRAND TOTAL,OBLIGATIONS	$14111931	$14469843	$15602224	$1132381

SUMMARY OF CHANGE IN ADMINISTRATIVE BUDGET AUTHORITY

Table 3.15—Summary of Change in Administrative Budget Authority from FY 2024 to FY 2025 FY 2024 FY 2025 Change

MAJOR CATEGORIES-This section(not included in totals and subtotals below)attempts to crosswalk the major spending categories shown below(dollars in thousands)
Ⅰ. Pavroll Expenses $^{1}$	$8,037,940	$8,735,426	$697,486
Built-In Increase		$481,805	$481,805
Program Increase		$215,681	$215,681
Ⅱ. Non-Pavroll Expenses $^{2}$	$2,292,000	$2,366,000	$74,000
Built-In Increase		$64,330	$64,330
Program Increase		$9,670	$9,670
Ⅲ. Disability Determination Services	$2,630,938	$2,809,000	$178,062
Built-In Increase		$102,875	$102,875
Program Increase		$75,187	$75,187
Ⅳ. Information Technology Systems	$1,214,000	$1,471,898	$257,898
Built-In Increase		$0	$0
Program Increase		$207,898	$207,898
Benefit System Modernization (no-year funding)		$50,000	$50,000
Ⅴ. OIG Reimbursable Transfer	$19,100	$19,600	$500
Total,Budget Authority	$14,193,978	$15,401,924	$1,207,946

1 FY 2024 payroll includes $55 million of OHO dedicated funding. 2 Includes funding for Social Security Statements.

2 Includes funding for Social Security Statements.

SUMMARY OF CHANGE IN ADMINISTRATIVE OBLIGATIONS FROM FY 2024 TO FY 2025

Table 3.16—Summary of Change in Administrative Obligations from FY 2024 to FY 2025 Summary of Changes

1,2 (Dollars in thousands)

	FY 2024	FY 2025		Change
Obligations(thousands)	FederalWYs	Obligations(thousands)	FederalWYs	Obligations(thousands)
BUILT-IN INCREASES-Built-inincreases are year-over-year cost increases that are outside agency control,such asacross-the-board Federal pay raises,changesin employee health benefit premiums,and theprice of postage.These increases are not aresult of changes in overall agency resourcesor agency program or policy changes.Mostagency operational costs are captured in thiscategory as payroll costs.
A1.Payroll Expenses	$8,054,462		$8,504,745		$450,283
Increases due to periodic stepincreases,health benefits,and careerladder promotions			$157,014		$157,014
Three-month effect of Federalpayincrease effective January 2024-5.2%			$107,645		$107,645
Nine-month effect of Federalpayincrease effective January 2025-2.0%			$106,724		$106,724
Additional Paid Day			$28,900		$28,900
Awards			$50,000		$50,000
A2.Non-Payroll Costs-Mandatorygrowth in non-payroll costs,includingcosts of security,guard services,postage,rent,lease renewals,etc.	$1,508,836		$1,569,882		$61,046
A3.State DisabilityDeterminationServices-Mandatory growth in stateDDS costs,including pay raises andthe costs of obtaining medicalevidence	$2,630,938		$2,733,813		$102,875
A4.Mailed Social Security Statements	$7,829		$11,113		$3,284

1 Totals may not add due to rounding. 2 Figures include Program Integrity

2 Figures include Program Integrity

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

PROGRAM INCREASES

	FY 2024		FY 2025		Change
Obligations(thousands)	FederalWYs	Obligations(thousands)	FederalWYs	Obligations(thousands)
Subtotal, Built-In Increases	$12,202,065		$12,819,553		$617,488
PROGRAM CHANGES-Program changesare year-over-year cost increases or decreasesnot captured in the section above.These resultfrom changes in agency priorities,policydecisions,or dedicated funding.
PROGRAM INCREASES
B1.Pavroll Increase-Net IncreaseinSSAWYs		1,713	$215,981	1,713	$215,981
B2.Federal Intern Program(NetIncrease)		375	$15,000	375	$15,000
B3.Net Increase in DisabilityDetermination Services			$75,187		$75,187
B4.Non-Payroll Costs	$775,335		$785,005		$9,670
B5.Information Technology(IT)-BaseFunding(excludes reimburseables)	$1,214,000		$1,421,898		$207,898
B6.Benefit System Modernization			$50,000		$50,000
B7.OIG Reimbursable Transfer forCDI Payroll(PI)	$19,100		$19,600		$500
Subtotal, Program Increases	$2,008,435	2,088	$2,582,671	2,088	$574,236

Subtotal,Gross Increases	$14,210,500	2,088	$15,402,224	2,088	$1,191,724
PROGRAM DECREASES
D1.IT Obligations Funded from Prior-Year Unobligated Balances	$250,000		$200,000		-$50,000

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

BUDGETARY RESOURCES BY OBJECT

Table 3.17—Budgetary Resources by Object 1, 2,3 (Dollars in thousands)

	FY 2024	FY 2025	Change
Personnel Compensation
Permanent positions	$5,526,438	$5,929,674	$403,236
Positions other than permanent	$87,635	$93,049	$5,414
Other personnel compensation	$195,272	$295,758	$100,486
Special personal service payments	$2,000	$2,000	-
Subtotal, personnel compensation	$5,811,344	$6,320,481	$509,137
Personnel Benefits	$2,265,603	$2,431,845	$166,242
Benefits for former personnel	$3,000	$3,000	-
Travel and transportation of persons	$6,728	$6,440	($288)
Transportation of things	$6,950	$6,654	($296)
Rent, communications, and utilities
Rental payments to GSA	$743,104	$739,509	($3,595)
Rental payments to others	$205	$221	$16
Communications, utilities, misc.	$498,416	$525,216	$26,800
Printing and reproduction	$25,291	$24,210	($1,081)
Other contractual services (DDS, guards, etc.)	$4,561,599	$4,942,198	$380,599
Supplies and materials	$20,043	$19,187	($856)
Equipment	$393,464	$454,723	$61,259
Land and structures	$40,361	$38,811	($1,550)
Grants, subsidies, and contributions	$39,122	$37,450	($1,672)
Insurance claims and indemnities	$54,613	$52,279	($2,334)
Financial Transfers	-

1 Totals are shown in thousands, do not include reimbursables, and may not add due to rounding. 2 The obligations include the base LAE appropriation, MIPPA, LIS, SCHIP, MACRA, Postage Reform, the Altmeyer Renovation, dedicated funding to address the hearings backlog, and for IT Modernization. Total budgetary resources in the table reflect FY 2024 and FY 2025 projections of spending by object class. Resources are not managed at the object class level and SSA has the flexibility within the LAE account to modify projected spending during the budget execution process.

3 These figures do not include Technology Modernization Fund funding.

ESTIMATED DISTRIBUTION OF AGENCY COSTS

The Estimated Distribution of Agency Costs exhibit displays SSA’s workyears and costs by major component group.

The President’s Budget funding level allows us to increase workyears by nearly 2,300 (about 2,100 SSA and 200 DDS) from FY 2024 to FY 2025. A full freeze in FY 2024 will bring our staffing to a new 25-year low, but with the FY 2025 President’s Budget funding level, we will rapidly restore staffing by targeted hiring in the Field Offices, the Teleservice Centers, Hearings Operations, and the DDSs. The President’s Budget funding level supports over 60,000 employees on-duty in SSA and over 13,000 in our DDSs, which will bring the Agency back above the end-of-year FY 2023 levels.

Table 3.18—FY 2023 - Estimated Distribution of Agency Costs1 (Dollars in thousands)

Component	FTEs	Lump Sum	Overtime	Workyears	Payroll	Benefits	Other Objects	Total
Field Offices	27,673	66	1,263	29,002	$2,434,881	$934,315	$518,718	$3,887,914
Teleservice Centers	4,078	8	58	4,144	$263,486	$101,522	$22,304	$387,313
Regional Offices2,3	1,221	5	21	1,247	$154,635	$55,111	$324,166	$533,911
Subtotal,RC Field	32,972	79	1,342	34,393	$2,853,003	$1,090,948	$865,187	$4,809,138
Program Service Centers and Office of Central Operations3	9,348	24	1,028	10,400	$809,487	$307,646	$114,204	$1,231,337
Subtotal,Operations	42,320	103	2,370	44,793	$3,662,490	$1,398,595	$979,391	$6,040,476
Office of Hearings Operations	7,465	24	296	7,785	$831,949	$316,196	$258,126	$1,406,271
Office of Chief Information Officer	3,285	9	29	3,323	$423,394	$160,911	$66,596	$650,901
Office of Analytics, Review,and Oversight	1,869	4	56	1,929	$226,748	$86,176	$8,237	$321,160
Office of General Counsel	698	3	1	702	$102,555	$38,976	$87,172	$228,703
Headquarters3,4	2,848	7	30	2,885	$361,174	$137,239	$933,281

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Table 3.19—FY 2024 - Estimated Distribution of Agency Costs1 (Dollars in thousands)

Component	FTEs	Lump Sum	Overtime	Work years	Salaries/OT	Benefits	Other Objects	Total
Field Offices	26,865	92	763	27,720	$2,486,190	$989,277	$549,232	$4,024,699
Teleservice Centers	4,061	16	46	4,123	$277,256	$110,364	$23,242	$410,862
Regional Offices^{2}$	1,048	8	15	1,071	$143,791	$52,355	$337,711	$533,857
Subtotal, RC Field	31,974	116	824	32,914	$2,907,237	$1,151,996	$910,185	$4,969,418
Program Service Centers and Office of Central Operations	9,221	44	574	9,839	$818,525	$313,795	$142,225	$1,274,545
Subtotal, Operations	41,195	160	1,398	42,753	$3,725,762	$1,465,791	$1,052,410	$6,243,963
Office of Hearings Operations	7,379	35	300	7,714	$881,495	$327,401	$253,889	$1,462,785
Office of Chief Information Officer	3,319	18	22	3,359	$460,094	$171,638	$63,585	$695,317
Office of Analytics, Review, and Oversight	1,835	10	62	1,907	$237,540	$90,910	$8,279	$336,729
Office of General Counsel	682	3	1	686	$106,884	$39,665	$55,546	$202,095
Headquarters^{4}$	3,080	16	17	3,113	$402,569	$170,198

Table 3.20—FY 2025 - Estimated Distribution of Agency Costs1 (Dollars in thousands)

Component	FTEs	Lump Sum	Overtime	Work years	Salaries/OT	Benefits	Other Objects	Total
Field Offices	27,617	92	900	28,609	$2,679,888	$1,064,383	$550,897	$4,295,168
Teleservice Centers	4,602	16	82	4,700	$333,798	$132,745	$23,688	$490,231
Regional Offices2	1,054	8	26	1,088	$157,136	$52,915	$344,276	$554,327
Subtotal, RC Field	33,273	116	1,008	34,397	$3,170,822	$1,250,043	$918,861	$5,339,726
Program Service Centers and Office of Central Operations	9,270	44	729	10,043	$890,168	$326,864	$145,964	$1,362,996
Subtotal, Operations	42,543	160	1,737	44,440	$4,060,990	$1,576,907	$1,064,825	$6,702,722
Office of Hearings Operations	7,557	35	300	7,892	$946,212	$351,689	$271,359	$1,569,260
Office of Chief Information Officer	3,338	18	30	3,386	$494,247	$178,559	$76,152	$748,958
Office of Analytics, Review, and Oversight	1,888	10	62	1,960	$259,521	$96,823	$8,556	$364,900
Office of General Counsel	709	3	1	713	$117,083	$43,455	$48,805	$209,343
Headquarters4	3,176	16	37	3,229	$445,428	$184,412	$896,303

1 Includes Reimbursable workyear (192 workyears in FY 2023, 225 FTEs in FY 2024, and 250 FTEs in FY 2025).

FY 2023 includes NSC, dedicated funding for OHO, IT Modernization, Postage Reform and Altmeyer. FY 2024 includes dedicated funding for OHO, Construction, Postage Reform, and Altmeyer. 2 Includes Field Office Guard Services in the Other Objects lines.

2 Includes Field Office Guard Services in the Other Objects lines. 3 Effective April 2023, we realigned the HR specialists from the Regions, Office of Hearings Operations, and Office

Includes Field Office Guard Services in the Other Objects lines. 3 Effective April 2023, we realigned the HR specialists from the Regions, Office of Hearings Operations, and Office of Central Operations (OCO) to our Office of Human Resources. As a result, approximately 400 FTPs (~300 from Regional Offices, and ~50 from OCO) transferred from Operations to Headquarters and 50 from OHO to Headquarters. 4 Includes multiple items which cover expenditures for the entire agency. Examples include: Return to Work

4 Includes multiple items which cover expenditures for the entire agency. Examples include: Return to Work Incentives, Department of Interior Payroll IAA for the Agency, GSA Delegations, Data Exchanges, Sustainability and Reinvestigations, Facilities and Maintenance, Employee Health Services, and Headquarters Guard Services. 5 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328) allows SSA to transfer $15.1 million in FY 2023 from

5 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328) allows SSA to transfer $15.1 million in FY 2023 from the LAE account to the OIG for the costs associated with jointly operated CDI units. This funding is not included in the FY 2023 total LAE. 6 The FY 2025 President’s Budget assumes the Fiscal Responsibility Act (P.L. 118-5) level for the program integrity

6 The FY 2025 President’s Budget assumes the Fiscal Responsibility Act (P.L. 118-5) level for the program integrity cap adjustment in FY 2024. The Budget also assumes a $19.1 million transfer from the LAE account to the OIG for costs associated with jointly operated CDI unit costs in FY 2024, the same level as in the FY 2024 President’s Budget. See the Program Integrity exhibit in the LAE section for more information.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

WORKLOAD PROCESSING AND COST DISTRIBUTION ACROSS

THE ORGANIZATION

To provide additional transparency into how we spend resources, we are providing an example of how we process disability claims, one of our key workloads. This example demonstrates the movement of claims through multiple organizational components which handle various tasks required to complete the claim. Each claim usually incurs costs in multiple components, which are supported by our agency-wide costs (e.g., overhead costs such as rent, guard services, information technology systems). These agency level costs are applied after we assign direct component-level costs to a particular workload using generally accepted cost accounting principles of allocation.

This example follows a disability claim1 filed in a field office. However, applicants can also file a claim online and the remainder of the process is the same as in this example. Our field office staff ensures proper documentation and evaluates non-medical eligibility factors. The claim then goes to the State disability determination services (DDS) for a medical determination. If the DDS issues a favorable determination, the claim then goes back to the field office for processing. In some cases where there are complex issues, such as payment offsets due to workers’ compensation or other benefits, or systems limitations that require manual processing, the processing center (PC) will effectuate the claim. Among other types of quality reviews, our Office of Quality Review may also conduct a pre-effectuation review (PER) of the DDS determination. We conduct these PERs to meet statutory requirements of the Act, which requires SSA to review at least 50 percent of favorable initial and reconsideration determinations on a pre-effectuation basis.

If the DDS issues an unfavorable determination, the applicant typically has 60 days to file for a reconsideration of their claim. During a reconsideration, a different DDS disability examiner (DE) than the DE who made the initial medical determination conducts a thorough reexamination of all evidence on the record. If the DDS denies the reconsideration, the applicant may file a request for a hearing by an administrative law judge (ALJ). The applicant or representative can file the hearing request online, by fax, mail, or in a field office. The case is then sent to a hearing office to schedule and hold the hearing by an ALJ, either virtually, by telephone, or in-person. If the ALJ issues a favorable decision, the claim will then go to the PC to calculate offsets, pay attorney fees, and initiate benefit payments. If the ALJ denies the claim, the applicant can file an appeal online, by fax, mail, or in a field office to the Appeals Council for a review and decision. Finally, if the Appeals Council denies the claim, the applicant may appeal to the Federal Courts.

When allocating operating costs to agency level workloads, we assign the costs for these completed direct work activities to the workload that they support. Agencywide costs such as human resources, information technology, and policy guidance indirectly support the work we do, so we also apply a portion of these costs to each workload proportionally, based on the direct costs of doing the work.

The chart on the next page provides an organizational view of our disability waterfall to further illustrate this example of how work moves across components.

Note that for certain applicants, SSA field offices will initiate the application for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), as well as process applications for Medicaid or Medicare.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

PERFORMANCE TARGETS

The President’s FY 2025 request will allow us to achieve the following key performance targets:

Table 3.21—Key Performance Targets

Workload and Outcome Measures	FY 2023 Actual	FY 2024 Estimate	FY 2025 President's Budget
Retirement and Survivor Claims (includes Medicare)
Retirement and Survivor Claims Completed (thousands)	6,693	6,654	6,735
Disability Claims
Initial Disability Claims Receipts (thousands)	2,185	2,254	2,211
Initial Disability Claims Completed (thousands)	1,974	2,205	2,390
Initial Disability Claims Pending (thousands)	1,128	1,166	987
Average Processing Time for Initial Disability Claims (days)	218	230	215
Disability Reconsiderations
Disability Reconsiderations Receipts (thousands)	546	618	669
Disability Reconsiderations Completed (thousands)	483	578	684
Disability Reconsiderations Pending (thousands)	290	325	310
Average Processing Time for Disability Reconsiderations (days)	213	225	215
Hearings
Hearings Receipts (thousands)	356	395	475
Hearings Completed (thousands)	378	435	425
Hearings Pending (thousands)	322	282	332
Annual Average Processing Time for Hearings Decisions (days)1	450	345	270
National 800 Number
National 800 Number Calls Handled (millions)2	30	31	32
Average Speed of Answer (ASA)(minutes)3	36	32	12
Agent Busy Rate(percent)	8%	2%	1%
Program Integrity

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Our budget is fully integrated with our Annual Performance Plan and Report (APR), which is included as the last tab in this Justification of Estimates for Appropriations Committees, and online at our website. The budget estimates are linked to the key performance measures above and support all of the more detailed measures outlined in the APR.

1 Average processing time for hearings is an annual figure. In FY 2024, we are continuing in-person hearings and to prioritize individuals who have waited the longest for a hearing. Our projection for the end of year monthly (September) processing time for hearings is 270 days for FYs 2024 and 2025. 2 National 800 Number call volumes include those handled by automation. For FYs 2024 and 2025, we project about 4 million automated calls handled in each year. 3 The 12-minute target in FY 2025 is an aspirational goal, which we will continue to evaluate as we gain experience with NGTP and monitor the impact of the hiring freeze in FY 2024 on the number of agents we have available to answer the phones. 3 The Social Security Statements Issued measure includes paper Statements only. It does not include electronic Statements issued. In FY 2023, my Social Security users accessed their Social Security Statements 32.6 million times. Consistent with FY 2023, in FYs 2024 and 2025, we will send paper Statements to people aged 60 and older who are not receiving Social Security benefits and who are not registered for a my Social Security account, at a cost of approximately $8 million and $11 million, respectively. It would cost approximately $151 million more in FY 2025 to send statements to individuals aged 25 and older. 4 DDS Production per Workyear (PPWY) for FY 2023 includes cases completed via Federal assistance. However, the FYs 2024 and 2025 DDS PPWY figures displayed on this table exclude cases completed via Federal assistance. For comparison purposes, the FYs 2024 and 2025 DDS PPWY including the estimated number of cases completed via Federal assistance would be 272 and 291, respectively. 5 We do not have a budgeted workload measure for “Additional Operations Workyears Needed to Process Incoming Work (Workyear Shortfall)” in the actual year.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

PROGRAM INTEGRITY

The FY 2025 President’s Budget demonstrates how we balance stewardship and frontline service. We take our responsibilities seriously to ensure eligible individuals receive the benefits to which they are entitled, and to safeguard the integrity of benefit programs to better serve recipients and beneficiaries.

We utilize dedicated program integrity (PI) funding to promote responsible spending of Social Security funds and ensure that we are providing the correct benefit amounts only to those who qualify. We conduct continuing disability reviews (CDRs) to ensure that beneficiaries who still qualify to receive benefits under the OASDI and SSI programs continue to receive them. For those receiving SSI, we also perform non-medical redeterminations (RZs) to determine whether recipients continue to meet the program’s income and resource limits. PI funding also supports Cooperative Disability Investigation (CDI) units and the prosecution of fraud by Special Assistant United States Attorneys (SAUSAs).

The President’s Budget assumes the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2023 (P.L. 118-5) levels for the program integrity cap adjustments in FYs 2024 and 2025. The FY 2025 President’s Budget includes $1.903 billion in dedicated funding for PI activities, including a $1.630 billion cap adjustment, $119 million above the FY 2023 enacted level. The Budget also assumes $1.851 billion in dedicated funding for PI activities in FY 2024, including a $1.578 billion cap adjustment.

From the cap adjustment funding, we make an annual transfer to the OIG for costs associated with jointly-operated CDI Unit costs. For 2024, please note that the President’s Budget Appendix assumes the CR level for this transfer ($15.1 million), whereas the congressional justification assumes the 2024 Budget level ($19.1 million) to better reflect estimated costs within the FRA-level cap adjustment.

Dedicated PI funds are a subset of our total LAE funding and are available for 18 months from the start of the fiscal year in which it is appropriated. The President’s Budget continues to assume 18-month availability for PI funding and, consistent with prior years, restricts us from using any non-PI LAE funding on PI activities.

Our FY 2025 discretionary request assumes continued funding of these activities for each year of the 10-year budget window.

Access to the discretionary funding requested in FY 2025, as well as fully-funded base and adjustment amounts in FY 2026 through FY 2034, would produce $82 billion in gross Federal savings ($60 billion from adjustments), with additional savings beyond the 10-year window. Net savings resulting from approximately $19 billion in adjustments alone would produce approximately $41billion over 10 years, with additional savings after the 10-year period.

CDRs conducted in FY 2025 will yield an estimated return on investment (ROI) of about $9 on average in net Federal program savings over 10 years per $1 budgeted for dedicated program integrity funding, including OASDI, SSI, Medicare, and Medicaid program effects. Similarly,

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the ROI for non-medical redeterminations conducted in FY 2025 will be about $3 on average of net Federal program savings over 10 years per $1 budgeted for dedicated PI funding, including SSI and Medicaid program effects. Table 3.22a provides additional information. Regaining currency in our medical CDR workload is important, although our most immediate focus in FY 2025 is to timely serve the public who have claims pending with us. We achieved full medical CDR currency in FY 2018; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic we were unable to remain current beginning in FY 2020. The funding included in the FY 2025 President’s Budget will enable us to regain currency on CDRs in FY 2026 and remain current throughout the Budget window.

In FY 2023, we completed 550,197 full medical CDRs and 2,515,721 RZs. We plan to complete 575,000 full medical CDRs in both FY 2024 and FY 2025, making progress toward CDR currency. We also plan to complete 2.489 million RZs in FY 2024 and 2.482 million RZs in FY 2025.

Please refer to the Budget Process chapter in the Analytical Perspectives for more details on the Budget’s approach to adjustments and our activities.

Table 3.22a—Program Integrity Workloads and Funding by Source – 10-Year (Dollars in millions)

	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	2033	2034	Total
Discretionary BA(non-add)	1,630	1,749	1,777	1,747	1,851	1,930	1,956	1,993	2,052	2,104	18,789
Discretionary Outlay Costs1	1,630	1,746	1,776	1,748	1,848	1,928	1,955	1,992	2,051	2,102	18,776
Mandatory Savings2	-15	-2,216	-3,678	-5,023	-5,450	-6,734	-7,711	-8,635	-9,964	-10.375	-59,801
Net Effect	1,615	-470	-1,902	-3,275	-3,602	-4,806	-5,756	-6,643	-7,913	-8,273	-41,025

1 The discretionary costs are equal to the outlays associated with the budget authority levels proposed for adjustments. The costs for 2025 through 2034 reflect the costs to complete the anticipated dedicated program integrity workloads for SSA. 2 The mandatory savings from adjustment funding are included in the policy projections for Social Security,

2 The mandatory savings from adjustment funding are included in the policy projections for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. SSA’s Office of the Chief Actuary and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Office of the Actuary estimates the savings.

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Table 3.22b—Program Integrity Workloads and Funding by Source1 (Dollars in millions)

	FY2023Actuals	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Estimate
Volumes
Full Medical CDRs Completed	550,197	575,000	575,000
SSI Non-Medical RZs Completed	2,515,721	2,489,000	2,482,000
Funding^{2,3}$
Unobligated Balance, start-of-year	$101	$106	$106
Dedicated Program Integrity Funding	$1,784	$1,851	$1,903
Subtotal PI Resources	$1,885	$1,957	$2,009
Less Unobligated Balance, end-of-year	-$106	-$106	-$106
Total PI Obligations^{4}$	$1,778	$1,851	$1,903
Old Age and Survivors Insurance(OASI)	$149	-	-
Disability Insurance(DI)	$212	$348	$344
Supplemental Security Income(SSI)	$1,235	$1,503	$1,559
Medicare Part A,Hospital Insurance(HI)	$76	-	-
Medicare Part B,Supplementary Medical Insurance(SMI)	$93	-	-
Medicare Part D,Drug Coverage	$13	-	-
Total PI Obligations^{5}$	$1,778	$1,851	$1,903

1 Totals may not add due to rounding.

2 Dedicated program integrity funds have 18-month availability. The Budget assumes funding to complete planned

2 Dedicated program integrity funds have 18-month availability. The Budget assumes funding to complete planned program integrity workloads in FY 2025, including through base funding and a cap adjustment. 3 Includes annual transfers from LAE to the SSA’s Inspector General (OIG) for the cost of jointly operated anti-

3 Includes annual transfers from LAE to the SSA’s Inspector General (OIG) for the cost of jointly operated antifraud CDI units, including a $15,100,000 transfer in FY 2023, a $19,100,000 transfer in FY 2024, and a $19,600,000 transfer in FY 2025.

4 Totals include the combined costs of CDRs, SSI RZs, CDI units, and the SAUSAs.

4 Totals include the combined costs of CDRs, SSI RZs, CDI units, and the SAUSAs. 5 We project workload costs for DI and SSI spending but not for OASI, HI, SMI, or Medicare Part D. We report

5 We project workload costs for DI and SSI spending but not for OASI, HI, SMI, or Medicare Part D. We report these costs with the actuals.

Budgeting and Managing Program Integrity Workloads

While we take many steps to ensure we analyze and budget for the costs of our CDR and SSI RZ workloads, we do not know actual costs until after the end of the fiscal year. The 18-month authority allows us the flexibility to obligate our dedicated program integrity funding responsibly. The individual unit costs and the volume of work processed for CDRs and RZs are the primary drivers that determine the actual total program integrity costs. Fluctuations in our PI unit costs occur throughout the year due to a variety of factors, such as:

• hiring and training, which can impact productivity in the work units where PI work is

• hiring and training, which can impact productivity in the work units where PI work is done;

• information technology investments (e.g. timing of development and acquisitions);

• information technology investments (e.g. timing of development and acquisitions); • policy changes;

• policy changes;

• business process changes;

• business process changes; • timing of work completion (e.g. work can start in a prior fiscal year and clear in the

• timing of work completion (e.g. work can start in a prior fiscal year and clear in the next); and, • the types of cases processed in a year (e.g. processing a greater number of more time-

• the types of cases processed in a year (e.g. processing a greater number of more timeconsuming types of CDRs in a year can increase unit costs in that year).

In addition to these items that add costs to the PI workloads, it can be difficult for the agency to closely control the volume of PI work that is completed. PI work occurs across the country in every field office, processing center, and State DDS. Some PI work must be done on-demand when we become aware of an issue with a claimant’s situation and cannot be planned.

Therefore, it is difficult to predict exact workload processing targets in advance.

We track PI spending and analyze and review cyclical trends in PI costs throughout the fiscal year. However, it takes time to calculate and analyze the actual cost of completing PI work, which challenges our ability to forecast spending and reconcile costs timely. Therefore, we must make a conservative estimate of total expected costs at the end of the year to stay within the total available program integrity funding.

We calculate the unit costs for PI workloads using data from our Cost Analysis System. This system allocates our administrative costs to all of our workloads, including CDRs and RZs.

Changes in other agency workloads, as well as in other large agency cost categories such as information technology (IT), can impact the overall total unit costs for PI workloads, which can make it difficult to predict end-of-year costs for CDRs and RZs throughout the year.

Our PI unit costs can be broken down by direct payroll, direct other objects, information technology systems (ITS), and agency shared costs that include both payroll and other objects.

Our direct payroll includes costs of our employees in the front-line workload processing components like our field offices, program service centers, and State DDSs. Other objects costs can be broken down to just direct other objects costs of our front-line workload processing components. ITS costs include all non-payroll costs associated with our IT investments. Lastly, agency shared costs include all other component costs, like headquarters components as well as a portion of rent, postage, and guards.

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While we strive to hit all performance targets, we closely monitor and adjust our workload processing plans for PI workloads based on our real experience. We also continue to consider the effects of the cost factors described above in our ongoing analysis to pace this workload and to inform our spending decisions.

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FISCAL YEAR 2023 DISABILITY DECISION DATA

Table 3.23—Fiscal Year 2023 Disability Decision Data*

Workload volumes for initial claims, reconsiderations, and hearings do not align with performance reported in our key performance table because the data definition captures broader activity. 1 From March 2020 through June 2022, SSA deferred cases for claimants unresponsive to contact attempts until reentry from pandemic posture, resulting in dismissals comprising a smaller percentage of total dispositions for FY 2020-2022. The percentage of cases dismissed increased in FY 2023 primarily due to the adjudication of claims where contact could not be established. 2 Only Federal Court data includes appeals of Continuing Disability Reviews (CDRs). Data Sources:

Initial and Reconsideration Data: SSA State Agency Operations Report
Administrative Law Judge and Appeals Council Review data: SSA Office of Hearing Operations (OHO) and SSA Office of Analytics, Review, and Oversight (OARO)
Federal Court data: SSA Office of General Counsel (OGC) Includes Title II, Title XVI, and concurrent initial disability determinations and appeals decisions issued in FY 2023, regardless of the year in which the initial claim was filed, and regardless of whether the claimant ever received benefits (in a small number of cases with a favorable disability decision, benefits are subsequently denied

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because the claimant does not meet other eligibility requirements). Does not include claims where an eligibility determination was reached without a determination of disability. If a determination or appeals decision was made on Title II and Title XVI claims for the same person, the results are treated as one concurrent decision.

NOTE: Due to rounding, data may not always total 100%. Prepared by: SSA, Office of Decision Support and Strategic Information (ODSSI) Date Prepared: January 29, 2024

PRIORITY GOALS

To ensure our accountability to the public we serve, and as required by the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010, our Agency Priority Goals (APG) help us achieve our overarching strategic goals and objectives set forth in our FYs 2022–2026 Agency Strategic Plan.

Our FYs 2024–2025 APGs are:

Improve Initial Disability Claims. Improve the customer experience by reducing the wait time for an initial disability claim decision.

By September 30, 2025, achieve an average processing time for initial disability claims of 215 days. 1
By September 30, 2025, decide 92 percent of pending initial disability claims that begin the fiscal year 180 days old or older.

Improve the National 800 Number Service. Improve the customer experience by reducing the wait time2 to answer the phone on the National 800 Number.

By September 30, 2025, achieve an average speed of answer of 12 minutes, 3

including implementation of estimated wait time and call back options. 1

Improve Equity in the Supplemental Security Income Program. Improve equity in the SSI program by increasing underpayment processing of our oldest and highest priority cases, including those disproportionately impacted by poverty.

By September 30, 2025, complete 98 percent of SSI underpayments that have been identified as priority cases or pending for a year or more at the beginning of fiscal year 2024. We have specific performance indicators and milestones to monitor our progress, and our goals reflect our Enterprise Risk Management actions. Additionally, through our quarterly internal review process, our executives have candid discussions regarding progress, any challenges we must overcome, and strategies supporting APG goal achievement. These priority goals remain an agency focus, and we are working to address performance challenges that may impact our ability to meet our targets.

Please see the FYs 2023–2025 Annual Performance Report and www.performance.gov for more information on our APGs.

1 This target is also a budgeted workload measure. 2 Wait time is measured by the average speed of answer (ASA), which is measured from the time the call enters the queue until the call is answered by an agent. It does not include time spent in self-service. SSA will continue to evaluate this aspirational goal as the agency gains experience with a new phone system and monitors the impact of a current FY 2024 hiring freeze on the number of phone agents.

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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers Federal financial safety net programs that serve more than 72 million people. As a high impact service provider, we interact with our customers at multiple points in their lives: from birth, to entering the workforce, to facing a disability or loss of a family member, to enrolling in Medicare, and when reaching retirement age. We are committed to improving the customer experience (CX) by:

Ensuring accountability for CX activities and programs;
Maintaining our integrated, real-time customer feedback program;
Conducting human-centered design research, involving our customers in the design and improvement of program delivery;
Making services accessible; and
Fulfilling our commitment to Executive Order (EO) 14058 The fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget request supports our planned activities, as noted below, to make focused improvements to the designated priority services we identified in our FY 2023 action plan. Those services are: obtaining adult disability benefits, applying for a replacement Social Security number card, and filing for Social Security retirement benefits. It also supports our efforts to integrate CX practices throughout the agency and our role in the cross-agency life experience projects led by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

CX Focused Improvements

In accordance with EO 14058, Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government, we are designing and delivering services that focus on the experiences of the people we serve through our three designated priority services:

Improving ssa.gov to provide a more customer-centric, convenient, user-friendly, and secure self-service online application environment for our retirement applicants. Since its launch in December 2022, there have been regular updates to improve the appearance and functionality of ssa.gov for all SSA customers. One of the five major areas of focus for content redesign has been the retirement section. Recent data from research with retirement applicants revealed a statistically significant increase in the number of online retirement claims filed, from 46 percent in FY 2020 to 63 percent in FY 2022. To support continued increases in online filings and to improve the customer experience, we want to make it easier and more efficient for our customers to apply for retirement benefits online. To that end, we plan to launch redesigned content for both the survivor and auxiliary benefits sections of ssa.gov and make additional revisions to the previously redesigned retirement content section. These changes include updating and expanding the retirement eligibility screener. The changes also include improvements to the appearance and functionality of the website, making site navigation easier, and improving content to help users understand retirement types and determine eligibility.

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Informing agency-wide CX improvement strategies based on identified pain points with obtaining adult disability benefits. From January 2023 to October 2023, an SSA workgroup, the Disability Journey Transformation Team, explored our adult disability application process. Using human-centered design, the team obtained extensive data from customer interviews and surveys, employee interviews and focus groups, and review of agency data sources. The team used the information to develop journey maps, identify key pain points encountered by our customers, and inform cross-component efforts within SSA to improve the CX experience. For example, the team’s research identified that applicants were unprepared for the level of detail needed for an initial claim interview. To address this issue, we are working collaboratively to implement processes beginning in FY 2024 and throughout FY 2025 for collecting alternative contact information for our customers; sending consistent and standardized text message and email appointment reminders; improving the content and design of the adult disability starter kit; and developing short, customer-tested video lessons to help navigate the application process.
Improving the capabilities of the Enterprise Scheduling System (ESS). ESS is an interactive online scheduling application for enumeration appointments for both original and replacement Social Security cards and for customers without a Social Security number. ESS is currently available in all 50 States, as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. By FY 2025, we plan to add a video option for enumeration appointments so that customers who need to meet with a representative can do so without going into an office or card center. In addition to focusing on improvements within our three designated priority services, we continue to work in support of our commitments on EO 14058 through actions such as:
eSignature and Upload Documents (formerly eSubmit) - The Office of Transformation’s (OT) eSignature and Upload Documents initiative provides a technician-initiated method for customers to electronically submit certain forms and evidence to SSA that do not require a signature, certification, or to be an original document. It also allows customers to electronically sign certain forms that do require signatures. In total, there are currently 48 first-party forms and 52 evidence types that can be completed using our mobile- friendly service, electronically signed if necessary, and submitted using Upload Documents. The goals for this initiative include national rollout of this service in all offices by March 2024. In FY 2025, we will increase the number of available forms on a continuous, rolling basis and expand upload documents to support mobile-friendly web forms, integrate with my Social Security, and support customer-initiated submissions and third-party forms.
Signature Removal-Under OT’s eSignature/Upload Documents initiative-In FYs 2024 and 2025, we will continue to evaluate SSA forms in batches of 10 to determine which

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forms, if any, can allow for elimination of a physical signature. Thus far, SSA has determined that 65 percent of forms reviewed (13 of 20) can allow for signature removal.

Building Internal Capacity

While not in direct support of EO commitments, our agency is engaged in several related initiatives that seek to improve the CX by making it easier for customers to receive our services. We plan to build internal capacity in FYs 2024 and 2025 to offer more support to these agencywide efforts, while continuing to focus on our priority designated services and other EO commitments. Through the addition of programmatic support in the areas identified in our FY 2024 CX Capacity Assessment, our Customer Experience Office (CXO) will expand its support of the Enterprise Contact Center (ECC) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Simplification.

• ECC - The ECC initiative enables SSA to manage multichannel customer interactions holistically by increasing customer and employee satisfaction across all digital communications channels: phone, web, video, text, and chat.

• SSI Simplification -This initiative intends to improve the application process for those applying for SSI. This effort includes streamlining the application process to ask fewer and easier-to-understand questions. Efforts are also underway to improve the design of the online application to give customers more immediate feedback on their potential eligibility for SSI benefits.

The budget supports integrating CX practices across our organization. We invested in developing a sustainable CXO with the right expertise to support our CX management disciplines as identified in the bulleted points below. This office is focused on gaining a deep understanding of our customers’ experiences with our current services, as well as further integrating human-centered design as we develop and implement service improvements.

side with Deputy Commissioners across the agency. Including CX within OT embeds customercentered principles into the most critical enterprise business and technology enhancements we are developing to serve the public and support our frontline employees. Moving forward, we

Our CXO coordinates agencywide CX management practices and standards, and it guides, educates, and helps us consistently prioritize the customer experience. Our CXO is part of the newly established OT, which reports directly to the Commissioner and works side by side with Deputy Commissioners across the agency. Including CX within OT embeds customer-

CX Management Disciplines:

• Customer research and understanding, • CX measurement,

• CX measurement, • Customer journey mapping,

• Customer-centric culture.

• Customer journey mapping, • Human-centered design, and

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plan to leverage the research findings from the Disability Journey Transformation Team’s work to develop SSA’s future state, a collection of solution concepts that can successfully address customer challenges. We will share this information agency-wide to engage various components in this effort and empower them as agents of CX improvement. We have already begun this effort by leveraging research to identify design principles for improving written communication with our customers.

Contributing to Life Experience Efforts

We are partners in OMB’s life experience projects, which are intended to streamline Federal Government service delivery at some of the most critical moments in people’s lives. We have been engaged in the Approaching retirement and Facing a financial shock life experiences. We plan to continue our involvement (to the degree that we are able within the context of our budget and agency priorities) by supporting two projects as part of the Approaching retirement life experience. The first project involves linking benefit programs for fixed-income individuals through enabling real time customer data sharing for low-income customers of both SSA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This effort reflects SSA’s EO commitment to integrate SSA data and processes with those of other Federal and State entities whenever possible. The second project pertains to efforts related to the Streamlining Medicare only Enrollment project, which is reflected in the HHS Budget. For additional information about specific projects relating to this effort, see performance.gov/cx/projects/.

For more information about our CX efforts, please see our FYs 2022–2026 Agency Strategic Plan, FYs 2023–2025 Annual Performance Plan and Report, and performance.gov.

ADVANCING EQUITY, INCLUDING DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND

ACCESSIBILITY (DEIA) IN THE WORKFORCE, AND CONDUCTING

OUTREACH TO PEOPLE POTENTIALLY FACING BARRIERS

We are committed to ensuring equity and accessibility by improving our customer experience and addressing administrative barriers to participation in our programs. We have developed and implemented targeted strategies to enable our customers to better access our programs and services by eliminating barriers to participation in our programs, reaching out to people who may be underserved, and improving service delivery.

This exhibit provides a summary of our accomplishments and ongoing efforts to advance equity, including DEIA in the workforce, in support of the President’s Management Agenda and Executive Orders (EO) 13985, 13988, 14031, 14035, 14041, 14091, and 13175; and highlights some of our outreach efforts to people who may be facing barriers to accessing our programs and services.

EO 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the

Federal Government, and EO 14091, Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for

Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government

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In accordance with EOs 13985 and 14091, we are coordinating a multi-year, agency-wide, and interagency effort to ensure equitable access to our programs and services by removing unnecessary administrative burdens, ensuring access to quality services and program benefits regardless of an individual’s ability to communicate in English, and increasing data collection to extend outreach and better serve people seeking our programs and services. Our efforts are focused on using a multi-faceted approach to simplify the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) application and processes; improve language access to better serve limited English proficiency (LEP) communities; address our timely processing of SSI underpayments and assess root causes for improper payments; increase awareness of survivors benefits to children and families, same- sex couples, and people disproportionately impacted by COVID-19; and increase opportunities for the voluntary collection of race and ethnicity data. Additionally, we commit to increase outreach and develop relationships with a diverse group of advocates, community organizations, and people with lived experience in navigating our programs, and underserved communities; to help us identify and address administrative barriers in accessing our services; and improve service delivery.

In support of EO 13985 and our commitment to equity, below are several examples of our FY 2023 accomplishments:

Sent a total of 3.5 million outreach mailers in FYs 2021, 2022, and 2023 to Social Security beneficiaries who may also be eligible for SSI. The mailer, released in English and Spanish, provided the national toll-free number to assist recipients in determining eligibility for SSI.
Provided online resources and conducted training for organizations and individuals who assist others in applying for SSI, providing more trusted resources within communities to help people access services since FY 2021.
Launched an online SSI Protective Filing (eSPF) tool in March 2022, that allows individuals, or someone assisting them, to schedule an appointment to apply for SSI, which sets the protective filing date and helps determine the date of entitlement for benefits. As of January 26, 2024, there have been over 1,069,000 transactions using eSPF, of which over 170,000 were third-party requests, resulting in over 435,000 SSI applications.
Participated in the Hispanic National Bar Association 2023 Annual Convention, in support of the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics. We provided information about careers, collected resumes, and shared resumes with SSA hiring managers.
Announced the Interventional Cooperative Agreement Plan (ICAP) on the agency’s grant announcements page. ICAP awards up to $3 million to grantees to perform research in various areas, particularly in the sciences. We offered two informational ICAP sessions on June 23, 2023 and June 28, 2023.

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Announced the Analyzing Relationships between Disability, Rehabilitation, and Work Small Grant Program, which offers approximately $450,000 worth of stipends to graduate students across the country. The program is administered through a grant management organization, which is tasked with distributing up to 25 stipends per year. We expect to award the new grant management organization in September 2024.
Updated policies to ensure more equitable disability determinations. For example, we ended the use of a race-based estimated glomerular filtration rate to measure kidney impairment, which was leading to the misdiagnosis of kidney impairment as less severe for many Black or African Americans. This change in policy conforms with scientific advancements and recommendations from the medical community and kidney patients.
Compiled and published research and statistics detailing the demographic makeup of SSA program populations in FY 2023. In addition, our Racial Equity Research, Statistics, and Data Resources webpage is now available to the public.
Established the Office of Native American Partnerships to build relationships with Tribal communities and strengthen our commitment to reducing barriers.
Published 13 blogs to raise awareness with underserved communities on SSA’s programs and policies.
Published and released 12 Dear Colleague Letters on topics to promote and raise awareness of SSA’s programs and services to underserved communities. SSA’s Dear Colleague Letters are distributed to more than 12,000 contacts.
Created four new webpages on SSA.gov and a YouTube video to raise awareness about SSA programs and services for people who are in underserved communities and for people who work with hard-to-reach audiences. o Social Security in Rural Communities| SSA o Advocates | Communications Corner | SSA o Information for People Helping Others | SSA o Outreach Materials for People Facing Barriers | SSA o Multi-Language | YouTube
Sponsored a series of outreach events with internal and external groups, working with over 1.2 million individuals in the Denver and Seattle Regions, which service some of the country’s most geographically remote areas. Notable initiatives include in-person services in three remote locations in Alaska and activities specifically focused on serving American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
Made Form SS-5 (Application for a Social Security Card) instructions available in 15 languages other than English and Spanish in local Social Security offices and Card

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Centers. The non-English instructions will help applicants with LEP complete the English-language form SS-5.

We implemented EO 14041 in a variety of ways, including the following examples:

Encouraged participation in SSA research grants by Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Institutions Serving Students of Color (ISSCs). The Retirement and Disability Research Consortium (RDRC) shared information on grant funding opportunities with over 35 HBCUs. RDRC will implement training programs for targeted outreach to HBCUs and ISSCs to ensure all grantees have the tools to collaborate across institutions and disciplines.
Participated in the 2023 National HBCU Week Conference in support of the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through HBCUs. We provided information about careers, internships, research and funding opportunities, and cooperative agreement opportunities.
Increased HBCU outreach and engagements to 56 of 103 HBCUs in FY 2023. To further advance equity, in FYs 2024 and 2025, we will:
Improve access to the SSI program for women, families, individuals from underserved communities, and other people potentially facing barriers. To meet our customers’ needs and advance equity, we are streamlining several regulations, simplifying the application process, and releasing digital tools for electronic form submission to improve an applicant’s ability to complete the application process and receive the full benefits for which they are entitled.
Improve equity in access to our programs for our customers who communicate primarily in languages other than English. We will increase the availability of translated materials and the number of languages in which those materials are offered, improving access to language interpretation services, and increasing culturally attuned outreach to Native American and Alaska Native, LEP, and migrant communities.
Reduce pending SSI underpayments to improve equity in the delivery of payments to our customers disproportionately affected by poverty. To improve equity in the delivery of payments to our 7.5 million customers, we will assess the root causes of improper payments, improve payment accuracy, and focus on reducing SSI underpayments as part of our SSI Equity Agency Priority Goal.
Increase awareness of Survivors Benefit eligibility for children, families, same-sex couples, and people disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Increased awareness of benefit and eligibility requirements for survivors benefits may increase economic security for children, families, and same-sex couples, as well as communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, including Black, Latino, and Native American and Alaska Native communities.

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Increase demographic data collection to further identify, monitor, and address service inequities. We will work with State partners to increase opportunities for the voluntary collection of race and ethnicity data through Enumeration at Birth and other Social Security number (SSN) card touchpoints, such as replacement applications. The increased data will help us determine whether different groups are underrepresented in our programs, provide insight into how different communities interact with our programs, and help us examine variability in program participation and benefit levels based on demographic makeup. SSA’s Equity Action Plan 2023 Update explains how we will measure our near and longer-term progress.

Improving Equity in the SSI Program

The complexity of the SSI program can pose challenges for some program applicants. Many of our customers may face barriers to conducting online business with us due to limited access to technology, housing insecurity, lack of credit history, difficulty understanding the procedures to establish online accounts, or reliance on third parties for assistance. We are revising our regulations and simplifying policies and business processes to make SSI easier and less burdensome for people, especially individuals facing barriers to access. As part of these efforts, in FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to continue development and release of an online SSI application that is accessible, equitable, transparent, and responsive for customers.

In FY 2023, we launched a new SSI “Basic Needs” campaign in support of our FYs 2022–2023 Agency Priority Goal (APG):

Improve equity in our SSI program through increased outreach and improved benefit delivery, including to communities of color and underserved communities.

By September 30, 2023:

Increase the number of all SSI applications by 15 percent, relative to the FY 2021 baseline, restoring rates closer to pre-pandemic levels.
Increase the number of SSI applications from underserved communities by 25 percent, relative to the FY 2021 baseline. In FY 2023, we received about 1.74 million SSI initial claims, which was about 1 percent short of our target. Our FY 2023 underserved applications target was about 128,000, and we exceeded it by receiving nearly 135,000 SSI initial claims from underserved communities.

Complexity in the SSI program can cause payment errors that may result in underpayments. We established a FYs 2024-2025 APG to:

Improve equity in the SSI program by increasing underpayment processing of our oldest and highest priority cases, including those disproportionately impacted by poverty.

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By September 30, 2025, complete 98 percent of SSI underpayments that have been identified as priority cases or pending for a year or more at the beginning of fiscal year 2024.

EO 13988, Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or

Sexual Orientation

We improved service delivery to advance gender equity in a variety of ways, including:

Provided customers the option to self-select their sex (male or female) on their SSN record. Individuals no longer need to provide medical or legal documentation of their sex designation to make changes.
Added an Inclusive Language Guide for our agency-wide internal and external publications. Inclusive language recognizes diversity, promotes respect, and fosters participation by all. This is particularly important for individuals who have been historically affected by inequality and persistent poverty, including but not limited to individuals in the Black or African American; Hispanic or Latino; Indigenous and Native American; Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander; Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer and Intersex+; and immigrant communities, as well as individuals with disabilities.
Implemented agency-wide Policy and Practices on Prohibiting Discrimination, Including Harassment, Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, or Gender Expression and provided training about the new policy and ways to foster an inclusive workplace culture.

EO 14035, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce, and the

President’s Management Agenda

A well-trained, dedicated workforce that reflects the diversity of our customers is essential to accomplishing our mission. Our DEIA vision is to enhance the richness of our workforce diversity and sustain an inclusive work environment where individual differences are valued, and employees are treated with dignity and respect.

We implemented four goals to promote a culture where DEIA principles are foundational norms:

Hire and promote the nation’s talent and build a diverse and representative workforce through an open and fair process consistent with merit systems principles;
Ensure that all employees have equal opportunities to advance in their careers and grow as leaders by mitigating any potential biases or barriers to professional development and promotions;

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Expand the availability of DEIA training to promote a respectful, safe, and inclusive workplace, and foster an increased understanding of implicit and unconscious bias; and
Improve accessibility to employees with disabilities; enhance data collection and analysis of reasonable accommodation (RA) requests to inform agency RA policies; and increase function, evaluation, and compliance of Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in Federal Government employment, and the Architectural Barriers Act Accessibility Standards (ABAAS). In support of these goals, we accomplished the following actions in FY 2023:
Completed a Barrier Analysis Findings Report in June 2023 to conduct analyses on groups by race, ethnicity, and sex for identifying barriers to equal employment opportunities. We used the information in the analysis to guide our recruitment and employee development efforts.
Expanded recruitment efforts by increasing engagement with colleges and universities, including 56 HBCUs, and over 200 law schools with diverse student populations.
Attended over a dozen college and career fairs throughout the country to promote Federal service and recruit individuals from historically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Increased our talent pool by advertising job openings on diverse talent platforms such as Handshake, PracticePro, Hootsuite, and the Department of Labor Workforce Recruiting Program database. Used inclusive language to strengthen recruitment efforts for underrepresented talent in Black or African American, Hispanic, or Latino, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander, and Native American communities.
Provided employees with opportunities to advance in their careers and grow as leaders by expanding our National and Regional Leadership Development Programs. These development programs included leadership development, job shadowing, and internal resume trainings and reached over 1,800 employees.
Delivered a four-part National Leadership Development Program (NLDP) Preparatory Series, preparing prospective applicants to the NLDP with learning interventions on virtual interviewing techniques, behavioral-based questions, leadership competencies, and writing convincing applications.
Hosted mentoring events, enabling over 5,000 employees to interact with agency leaders and gain valuable insights. Also, established 400 mentor and mentee pairs in our national mentoring program.

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Collaborated with eight special emphasis Advisory Councils (i.e., employee resource groups) to deliver agency-wide leadership and development training to over 2,000 employees.
Conducted diversity training for managers on recruitment activities and created a Smart Hiring Guide that instructs managers on DEIA principles, how to attract candidates, forming interview teams, and recommendations on conducting interviews and selecting candidates, which contributed to a 3,342 net hiring gain in FY 2023.
Developed the Veterans New Hire website to include benefits information and links for employees to obtain information about veterans’ benefits.
Added inclusive language to the SSA Careers website that promotes DEIA and highlights positions for which the agency is hiring, including links to the Office of Personnel Management development tools and videos, which explain the Federal hiring process, and provide insights on the various special hiring authorities available to interns, recent graduates, and targeted populations, such as veterans and people with disabilities.
Developed and implemented Adjudicator training to increase the ability to recognize and remove barriers to fair and equitable disability determination decision-making. Over 18,000 employees completed the training as of February 2024.
Conducted a three-session Disability Awareness Summit that provided training to over 90 RA coordinators and stakeholders on various disability and RA topics.
Updated the language in the Public-Facing Offices Technical Design Guide to further assist our internal facilities team and contractors in designing facilities that are fully ABAAS compliant.
Designed and installed all-inclusive restroom signage in SSA headquarters facilities, with plans to install more signage to regional office restrooms in FY 2024.
We will continue to advance DEIA goals in FYs 2024 and 2025.

EO 14031, Advancing Equity, Justice, and Opportunity for Asian Americans, Native

Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

Our commitment to advance equity, justice, and opportunities for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities included the following actions:

Promoted language access with a focus on AA and NHPI communities. We made linguistic updates to visitor intake kiosks to facilitate the check-in process. Employee volunteers from all regions with proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking multiple languages created and translated publications and materials in various languages, including Cambodian, Cantonese, Gujarati, Hindi, Hmong, Korean, Mandarin, Punjabi, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.

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Developed a LEP Policy for Federally Conducted Programs to ensure that persons with LEP and individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HOH) have equal access to our services. LEP persons are defined as individuals who do not speak English as their primary language, and who have a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand English. An individual who is D/HOH also may have limited proficiency in spoken or written English and may not be proficient in American Sign Language or any other recognized sign language. We will review and update this policy bi- annually.
Created a LEP Communications Hub for employees, and an internal SharePoint site and resource center containing LEP policy, procedures, guidelines, training, resource materials, data, and more for ease of reference when assisting our customers with LEP.
Increased and improved partnerships with the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to address Compact of Free Association (COFA) IF12194 (congress.gov) barriers. We increased collaboration to identify barriers and ultimately improve access to services for COFA citizens, and released updated resources for COFA to the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders Workgroup, including how to apply for a new or replacement SSN card, benefits, and services.
Established an essential presence at the Federal Emergency Management Agency Disaster Recovery Center in Lahaina, HI. We served approximately 400 community members and offered personalized attention to those affected by the Maui fires.
Hosted an outreach table at the Organization of Chinese American Community Outreach Fair, which was part of their national conference in Washington, DC.
Completed over 1,300 outreach activities ranging from electronically sharing our public information articles and materials to conducting in-person and virtual educational meetings and presentations. As a result, we effectively raised awareness and knowledge of our programs among the AA and NHPI communities.

EO 13175, Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-to-Nation Relationships

The January 26, 2021, Presidential Memorandum on Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-to-Nation Relationships requested a detailed plan of action for agencies to implement policies and directives of EO 13175. EOs 13985 and 14091 also include Indigenous and Native American persons in the definition of “underserved communities.”

Our Office of Native American Partnerships elevates and centralizes efforts to administer comprehensive programs and policies related to American Indians and Alaska Natives. The office enhances the agency’s relationship with Tribal communities, serves as the primary point of contact on Tribal affairs for all stakeholders, and develops and monitors compliance with annual Action Plans. The FY 2023 Tribal Consultation and Call to Action Plan (Action plan) builds

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

upon our accomplishments in 2022 and reaffirms our commitment to robust engagement regarding policies that have Tribal implications. Our FY 2023 Action plan provided action for the following initiatives in support of EO 13175:

• Improve service delivery and equitable access to our programs

• Strengthen Tribal consultation

• Increase outreach and educational efforts to Tribal Communities

• Promote hiring of Native Students and retention of new hires

• Conduct data collection and analysis

• Provide resources to the Office for Native American Partnerships

Our accomplishments for FY 2023 are provided in the 2023 Tribal Consultation and Coordination Plan Progress Report.

In FYs 2024 and 2025, we will further implement our six initiatives detailed in our FY 2024 Tribal Consultation and Call to Action Plan in the following ways:

• Engage with Tribal Leaders in their Tribal homelands to build partnerships with community organizations and increase awareness of our desire to identify barriers and build solutions together to improve access to our programs.

• Pilot a plan to provide claims support to increase access to SSI applications in rural hospitals in Alaska.

• Engage with Tribal Coordinators in Urban Indian Centers in underserved communities to learn of their training needs and to build partnerships.

• Develop new training products on policy and SSI exclusions to help increase understanding of the impact on SSI benefits for those who receive financial support through Tribal benefits, with a focus on Trust and Per Capita Act policies.

• Engage with Tribal Leaders to build partnerships and identify Tribal Government officials who provide social services and may benefit from national training.

• Conduct outreach to increase knowledge of the LEP policy that covers Indigenous and Native American persons in collaboration with the Education Subcommittee of the White House Council on Native American Affairs.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Develop strategies to translate targeted publications, market our interpreter services in Tribal communities, and implement new Tribal Outreach for Urban Indian Centers in LEP communities.
Promote hiring of bilingual Native employees to support the 10-year National Plan on Native Language Revitalization and future deliverables for the annual White House Tribal Summit. To do so, we plan to form new partnerships with Tribal Colleges, Universities, and local community colleges in their Tribal homelands. Additional information on many of these efforts is in the Equity Action Plan 2023 Update, DEIA Strategic Plan 2022-2023, AA and NHPI Action Plan, FY 2023 Tribal Consultation and Call to Action Plan, FY 2024 Tribal Consultation and Call to Action Plan, Annual Performance Report for FYs 2023–2025, and on Performance.gov.

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Introduction

Our information technology (IT) request for fiscal year (FY) 2025 demonstrates our commitment to improving service to the millions of people who expect timely and accurate assistance from us as a designated High Impact Service Provider. In support of Executive Order (EO) 14058, Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government, we are establishing simple and secure services using human-centered design to provide a more consistent, equitable, and accessible experience for our customers, while reducing the manual processes that are burdensome for our employees. Please see the Customer Experience Exhibit in the LAE section for additional information on our progress and plans for improving customer experience.

We are expanding our robust cybersecurity program to support EO 14028, Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum (M-22- 09), Moving the U.S. Government Toward Zero Trust Cybersecurity Principles. With funding we received from the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF), we are accelerating our Multifactor Authentication (MFA) project to improve our information security posture and reduce risks from compromised credentials. The funding allows us to expedite our plan to enable phishing-resistant MFA to additional systems on which our frontline personnel depend to provide essential services. In addition, we are strengthening our digital identity processes to comply with the Creating Advanced Streamlined Electronic Services for Constituents Act of 2019.

While we develop new IT capabilities, we must provide stable and secure access to our existing systems. We dedicate funding to the operations and maintenance expenses necessary to run our current systems, such as telecommunication costs, software maintenance, and refreshment of current infrastructure.

Table 3.24—Total Information Technology Systems (ITS) Budget Authority1

(Dollars in Millions)2	TAFS Code3	FY20234	FY2024	FY2025
ITS New Budget Authority	28248704	$1,424	$1,214	$1,422
Prior Year Transfer/Carryover	028X8704	$133	$250	$200
IT Reimbursables	28248704	$9	$9	$20
Recovery Act (National Support Center(NSC)	028X8704	$0	$0	$0
Benefits Modernization(Dedicated No-Year Funding)	028X8704	$0	$0	$50
Subtotal ITS		$1,566	$1,473	$1,692
Internal Labor(Payroll)	28248704	$673	$725	$767
Total		$2,239	$2,198	$2,459

1 Includes Benefit Modernization fundingand excludes TMF for MFA. 2 Note: Totals may not add due to rounding

2 Note: Totals may not add due to rounding 3 The Treasury Appropriation Fund Symbol (TAFS)

3 The Treasury Appropriation Fund Symbol (TAFS) combines the Treasury agency or department code, the Federal account symbol, and the period of availability of the resources in the account. 4 Includes $123,811 in Recovery Act Funding.

4 Includes $123,811 in Recovery Act Funding.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

FY 2023 Accomplishments

Through the end of FY 2023, modernization initiatives have resulted in cost efficiencies as follows:

Table 3.25-Modernization Cost Avoidance and Efficiencies(in millions)
Domain	FY2018-FY2022 Benefits	FY2023 Benefits (projected)	Cumulative Benefits (projected)
Benefits	$20.7	$0.5	$21.2
Communications	$17.2	$0	$17.2
Disability	$43.3	$26.9	$70.2
Earnings	$15.2	$0	$15.2
Enumeration	$212.1	$67.0	$279.1
Infrastructure	$0	$0.65	$0.65
Service Delivery	$24.7	$0.02	$24.7
Totals	$333.2	$95.0	$428.2

Below, we describe some of our notable achievements in FY 2023:

• Disability Case Processing System (DCPS2) usage extended to all 52 disability determination services (DDS) with no remaining processing exclusions. DCPS2 now supports initial and reconsideration disability case processing across all DDSs and Federal disability processing components. Out of 52 DDSs, 50 are using DCPS2 exclusively, and 48 have decommissioned their legacy systems. As of December 2023, DCPS2 has received 11.1 million claims and has processed 8.7 million claim determinations. We eliminated all remaining exclusion scenarios, and new cases are now being worked in DCPS2.

• Hearings and Appeals Case Processing System (HACPS) delivered efficient case management across the agency. In FY 2023, we mandated the use of HACPS in 100 percent of hearing offices and national hearing centers, and reduced reliance on legacy systems by adding receipt, workup, scheduling, fiscal, and case closure functionality. As a result, we receipted over 318,600 cases in HACPS, representing 89.5 percent of total case receipts, and processed nearly 78 percent of all cases within HACPS. In May 2023, we introduced centralized mail processing and scanned almost 1 million pages by September 2023. We focused on scheduling functionality enhancements, allowing us to schedule over 400,000 hearings in HACPS, representing 74 percent of total hearings scheduled. Moreover, we eliminated nine categories of dual processing actions in the Case Processing and Management System in FY 2023 to further eliminate manual processing.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

ESS has scheduled 695,295 enumeration appointments. Approximately 89 percent of these appointments were scheduled by the customer.

Technician Experience Dashboard (TED) expanded with new functionality. TED serves as our official enterprise product to support and enhance front-line employee systems using a Customer Relationship Management solution. We expanded the TED product to the Boston, Philadelphia, Dallas, and New York Regions, as well as all Workload Support Units across the country. We added the ability for customers to submit documents electronically to SSA and released Registration Customer Support (RCS) Account Maintenance and In Person Identity (ID) Proofing functionalities.
Visitor Experience Product (VEP) provides check-in services for all field office visitors. We expanded and improved the field office check-in process. We refined features and performance enhancements in the VEP in FY 2023 to include additional customer-facing ease-of-use improvements, migration to scalable cloud-based architecture, and improvements to back-end MI reporting. We began rolling out accessible kiosks with improved screen designs to speed up the check-in process. In addition, we released a new version of our User Experience Framework (UEF) design system, which aligns with the United States Web Design System (USWDS), in compliance with multiple EOs on customer experience. UEF 3.0 creates a consistent user experience across Federal websites, applications, and products SSA’s customers and employees use. UEF 3.0 creates a consistent user experience across Federal web sites and applications, and across products used by SSA’s customers and employees.
Office of Appellate Operations Case Processing System (OAOCPS) generated and sent over 67,000 letters to members of the public and their representatives. Sending from OAOCPS reduced task time by approximately 60 percent for approximately 10,000 of the letters, which would have required manual printing and mailing if sent from the legacy system.
Quality Review Case Processing System (QRCPS) has replaced the legacy Disability Case Adjudication and Review (DICARS) and Disability Quality Review (DQR) systems. As of September 2023, all 11 Office of Quality Review field sites now use QRCPS and have incorporated quality assurance procedures into continuing disability review (CDR) claims processing. Additionally, we have expanded and enhanced management information (MI) capabilities to support on-demand reporting.
Analytics and Disability Decision Support (ADDS)/ Intelligent Medical Analysis Generation (IMAGEN) expanded. ADDS/IMAGEN uses advanced machine learning and predictive analytics technologies to transform and analyze claimant medical evidence to increase the efficiency and accuracy of disability determinations. The system has been deployed to DDS offices in all 50 States plus Washington, DC, and over 130 Federal disability processing component offices which include Extended Service Teams (EST), Disability Processing Branches (DPB), and Disability Processing Units (DPU). The system recorded over 2,000 daily active users. To date, we have processed over 40 million evidence documents and reviewed over 650,000 claims with IMAGEN.

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CDR processes are easier for customers. In FY 2023, we released CDR product functionality to allow adult beneficiaries with no representative payee to complete their CDR Report fully online. New online CDR processes are shorter, more user friendly, and have over 90 percent approval based on usability studies and over 80 percent customer satisfaction based on Medallia feedback about the online form, call center, and agency processes. The online Continuing Disability Review Report (i454) generates a significant time savings for employees, reducing the need for claimant recontact by pre-populating medical information into the online form and incorporating online edits, resulting in the collection of more complete and accurate information.
Electronic Evidence Acquisition (EAA) has enhanced interoperability and is processing more electronic data. The EEA product added 20 heath information technology (HIT) partners encompassing 2,687 facilities in FY 2023. The volume of HIT medical evidence of record (MER) increased nearly 17.3 percent over FY 2022 figures to reach over 2.28 million. At the end of FY 2023, the total electronic MER volume was over 8.5 million, an increase of more than 580,000 over FY 2022. Disability determinations that leverage the HIT program allow for faster decisions. Cases that fully utilize HIT are processed 40 percent faster than those that receive medical evidence traditionally through mail or fax. Additionally, the EAA product has enhanced interoperability with a focus on the successful onboarding/connection of two major new healthcare networks and establishing technical connectivity with one major new network. We currently have 233 partner organizations representing 37,858 provider facilities. We registered an additional 8,746 ERE users in FY 2023, an increase of 12 percent.
The Hearing Recording and Transcription (HeaRT) team developed the HeaRT infrastructure, including development and validation environments in FY 2023. With broader rollout in FY 2024, HeaRT will eliminate the use of legacy Digital Recording and Processing (DRAP) hardware and software, resulting in costs savings and providing maximum flexibility for hearing participants. It will also produce an accurate automated transcription to eliminate the need for VHR note taking and assist with drafting decisions. HeaRT builds upon the Microsoft Video Indexer technology used since 2021 to create draft transcripts for cases appealed to the US District Courts. Preliminary estimates show that this process has cut internal transcription creation time by 50 percent, and achieves 97 percent accuracy for recordings created via Microsoft Teams.
21 st Century Work Measurement captured workload analytics more effectively. We effectively eliminated 99 percent of mainframe processing for work measurement by incorporating data into our Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW). We transitioned data feeds from the mainframe-based Work Experience Reporting System.

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collaboration among reviewers and publishers, publishing process, searching, and locating policies. We completed an evaluation of the POC and determined appropriate next steps for FY 2024.

Consolidated Claims Experience (CCE) improved Title II, Title XVI, and Title XVIII claims processing. We paused development of the CCE after deploying in August 2022 to address 146 of the 162 requests for fixes and enhancements. We resumed new development in FY 2024. In Q1 of FY 2024 we improved the Print and Signature page, decreasing the amount of time a technician would have to wait for a reprint.
Representative Payee System enhanced to make transactions more secure. In FY 2023, we successfully released functionality to support recurring 5-year criminal background checks that will enhance the criminal history received in the electronic Representative Payee System. The product now also ensures we are performing background checks at least once every 5 years for all non-exempt representative payees for Social Security beneficiaries. The new functionality meets legislative requirements for the Strengthening Protections for Social Security Beneficiaries Act of 2018. In addition, this investment successfully generated and mailed over 3.1 million advance designation notices for the annual advance designation run.
We strengthened the security of our applications. We secured TMF resources to accelerate MFA compliance for 315 applications. As of Q2 of FY 2024, 79 percent of those 315 applications are deployed with an approved application tier MFA solution in production. We are working toward full compliance across all platforms at the end of FY 2024, consistent with EO 14028 and OMB Memorandum M-22-09.
We continued retiring legacy applications. Since the beginning of our IT Modernization period in FY 2018, we have retired 166 legacy applications. Approximately 1,633 applications remain operational. st

Delivering Services Powered by 21 Century Technology and Prioritizing Cybersecurity

In FY 2024, we will modernize our IT to reduce the burden on the public, eliminate obsolete websites and online services, provide an improved customer experience, and implement initiatives such as Zero Trust Architecture. Many of our investments further our Many of our investments further our Equity Action Plan and Equity Action Plan 2023 Update, and support Executive Order (EO) 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through the Federal Government, and EO 14058, Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government.

In FY 2025, we will focus on modernizing our Benefits and Debt Management legacy systems.

Below we describe modernization initiatives underway in FY 2024, executed with a combination of FY 2023 funding and FY 2024 full-time equivalent resources. With anticipated funding levels in FY 2024 and FY 2025, we will maintain existing systems functionality and pursue modernization initiatives.

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Mission Delivery

Benefits Modernization - $78.7 million1

The Benefits program area includes several investments to better serve our customers, improve the employee experience, and modernize enterprise legacy programmatic applications.

We have improved evidence processes and increased processing center automation. However, critical work remains to modernize our benefits systems to improve our technicians' efficiency and our customers' claims process. Core legacy systems are aging, and retirement-related attrition reduces the number of subject matter experts familiar with operating and maintaining these systems, posing a significant ongoing risk to efficiency of operations.

We have established a Benefits Modernization Program Management Office (PMO) with a single responsible executive and have dedicated resources specifically to modernizing our benefits systems. Of the total $78.7 million requested for FY 2025, we are requesting $50 million in dedicated no-year funding to sustain the progress of Benefits Modernization.

To ensure we are meeting expectations of our technicians early in the development process, we have developed a Title II Retirement Prototype. With this approach, and upfront feedback directly from technicians, we expect to have production-ready, web-based, technician-facing, modernized Retirement (Title II) and Medicare (Title XIII) functionality at the end of FY 2024. This release will be foundational for the Benefits Modernization, reducing the number of screens embedded in the flow employees use to process a claim. It will use modernized services, have improved navigation allowing employees to jump to where they need to be in the claim, and provide more direct access to “more info” and to Policy information. This Modernization effort will reduce reliance on antiquated systems and improve the user experience.

Initiative Description

Benefits We will consolidate legacy mainframe systems and over 100 distinct Modernization, regional supplemental applications into a single universal benefits Consolidated processing experience that will adapt to future needs and automation Claims processes. Our CCE system will support the claims taking and post- Experience entitlement or post-eligibility process through the lifecycle of a claim for (CCE) benefits.

SSI Application In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to simplify our SSI application policy and Simplification procedure for adults, aged applicants, and children. In calendar year 2025, Project we plan to incorporate the simplified process into the mobile first online application.

Data Modernization - $6.2 million

This programmatic area includes investments in data collection, standardization, and rationalization. Efforts support the collection of MI and business intelligence (BI) data from

The $78.7 million in FY 2025 includes $50 million in dedicated no-year funding for Benefits Modernization.

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Limitation on Administrative Expenses

programmatic applications and legacy data stores, and assist in standardizing access to agency- wide data, reporting, and analytics to make data-driven decisions. Below, we have outlined the modernization initiatives planned in FY 2024. In FY 2025, we will maintain existing functionality.

Initiative Description

Person Information PI provides the ability to view and update Identity, Death, Citizenship, (PI) Contact, Marriage, and Accommodation information. The PI investment is positioned to be our Customer Record database. PI enhances the customer and technician experience by providing an enterprise-level authoritative data source for information related to our customers and eliminates redundancies and inconsistencies in collection and storage of customer data. In FY 2024, we will expand functionality of PI to handle unenumerated individuals and integrate PI with SSI Application Simplification and other programmatic applications to improve the technician and customer experience.

Enterprise Data The goal of the EDW is to consolidate and integrate enterprise-level Warehouse (EDW) data managed as a strategic business asset within a secure modern Business architecture that supports data-driven decision-making. Our FY 2024 Intelligence & Data goals include increasing the availability of MI and BI content in our Analytics production environment and integrating additional programmatic data Ecosystem sources.

Disability Modernization - $41.0 million

The investments in the disability programmatic area provide efficiencies and consistency and enhance quality in our processes. Users include employees, advocates, attorney representatives, and members of the public. Below, we have outlined the modernization initiatives planned in FY 2024. In FY 2025, we will maintain existing functionality.

Initiative Description

DCPS2 DCPS2 shifted its development focus in FY 2024 to new functionality Enhancements that builds on system efficiencies in DDS claim processing. FY 2024 activities will focus on IMAGEN integration, ERE and Health Information Technology (HIT) functionality, and additional efficiencies to reduce processing times.

Hearings and HACPS provides a modern, seamless national claims-processing system Appeals Case for the hearing offices to support timely, consistent, and quality case Processing processing. We will develop HACPS functionality to allow users to System (HACPS) process most hearing level cases from case receipt to case closure, without using legacy applications (Case Processing and Management System and Document Generation System). This functionality will create efficiencies by eliminating dual keying in legacy systems and HACPS. Our FY 2024 focus is on scheduling enhancements and enhanced MI reporting.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Initiative	Description
Analytics and Disability Decision Support(ADDS)-IMAGEN	The ADDS initiative leverages the specialized data analytics platform created by the IMAGEN project to help adjudicators make informed decisions.FY2024 initiatives include workload prioritization and management, expedited adjudication,and optimized customer service using machine-learning to predict development needs,suggest next case processing steps,and ensure effective routing and management of cases throughout the development and adjudicatory cycles.
Electronic Evidence Acquisition(EEA)	The EEA initiative enables the electronic submission of medical evidence required for disability determinations.FY2024 work will focus on improving interoperability with HIT partners,workload optimization and efficiency increases,and modernization of our ERE system to improve reliability and availability of secure electronic records submission.
Continuing Disability Review(CDR)Product	In FY2024,our CDR product will focus on replacing and retiring the legacy eWork system used for processing Work CDRs.Decommissioning eWork's obsolete,unsupported technologies is a necessary modernization step toward compliance with MFA initiatives.
Quality Review Case Processing System(QRCPS)	We will continue development of QRCPS with an end goal of replacing legacy DICARS and DQR systems.FY2024 goals include enhanced data collection and trend analysis in support of reducing overall case processing times.
Hearing Recordings and Transcriptions(HeaRT) via Microsoft Teams	We are migrating from the legacy DRAP system to a commercial cloud-based solution that will automate most of the recording and transcription processes.This transition will improve system reliability and reduce reliance on costly transcription services.In FY2024,the HeaRT product will eliminate reliance on a Verbatim Hearing Reporters to type log notes and improve the quality of available hearing recording documentation by generating accurate,consistent transcripts to assist hearing offices with drafting decisions.We plan a broader rollout for HeaRT in FYs2024,concluding in FY2025 with rollout to all hearing offices.

Below, we have outlined the modernization initiatives planned in FY 2024. In FY 2025, we will maintain existing functionality.

Initiative

Description

Enumeration Product

The Enumeration Product is expanding the functionality of online enumeration services and expediting Social Security card processing. We will identify and develop fully automated processes to complete Social Security Number card transactions for our customers and reduce foot traffic to our field offices. We are developing an application that will help expedite enumeration applications when an individual does need to visit a field office.In addition, we are making our enumeration products easier to use to save processing time.In FY 2024,we expect to explore a new Spanish language version of the Social Security Number Application Process(SSNAP),continue State rollout for automated processing of name-change and simple replacement card services,continue discovery for a re-write of our aging SSNAP program,and initiate an Enumeration MI solution to improve operational oversight.

Program Integrity - $18.2 million

This programmatic area includes investments to stay current and compliant with Treasury regulations and systems upgrades related to post payment activity, modernize and enhance our audit trail functions, and provide modern and efficient tools to support our anti-fraud program.

Below, we have outlined the modernization initiatives planned in FY 2024. In FY 2025, we will focus on investments to address overpayments, including IT investments to prevent overpayments before they occur.

Initiative

Description

Anti-Fraud Product

The Anti-Fraud product will replace the iSSNRC Public Facing Integrity Review process and migrate the iClaim process from the legacy Anti-Fraud Program Infrastructure to the new Advanced Modeling and Analytics Facility environment. This will make the iClaim fraud analysis process more efficient and seamless. We also intend to enhance the BI Reporting for Allegation Referral Intake System by developing new Fraud Analyst Reports.

Debt Management Product

In FY 2025, we will modernize systems to help address overpayments before they occur and modernize our debt management systems. We will also explore opportunities to advance modernization efforts in FY 2024.

Service Delivery Modernization - $25.8 million

The Service Delivery programmatic area focuses on expanding and streamlining self-service channels for our customers while also improving tools our technicians use to serve the public.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Initiative	Description
Technician Experience Dashboard	This investment proposal seeks to continue development and maintenance of Customer Engagement Tools, an official enterprise product, to redefine and modernize the technology and processes our staff use to manage customer service requests. The primary goal is to expand on a unified solution to all field offices in FY 2024 to improve the experience and increase efficiency of our customer service employees. In FY 2024, we will focus on refining customer service intake processes, optimizing data connections to related systems, and building workflows that allow technicians to initiate work in a single, comprehensive system, rather than task switching between multiple systems.
Online Experience	Planned functionality for FY 2024 includes the ability for customers to change address information for dually entitled individuals and non-beneficiaries, update mobile phone numbers, sign up for Direct Express, and provide voluntary tax withholding information. We will also move Upload Documents (formerly eSubmit) behind my Social Security and enhance the claims status tracker and earnings correction screener.
Visitor Experience Product(VEP)	More than 1,300 SSA field offices, card centers, and foreign service posts use VEP to manage appointment and non-appointment services.Managers use Visitor Intake Process-Rewrite(VIPr)to assign and monitor employee interview activities, input high risk incidents,and analyze MI.In FY 2024,we will modernize the kiosk software to allow scannable codes for efficient appointment management.We will also integrate VIPr software with ESS,TED,and the Customer Help Information Program(CHIP)to support technician functions.
21st Century PolicyNet(21CPN)	21CPN will replace our legacy policy management system,PolicyNet.We completed the POC for 21CPN in FY 2023.In FY 2024,we plan to address policy authoring,search,and publishing enhancements,and begin developing daily update functionality.
Upload Documents(formerlyeSubmit)	The goal of Upload Documents is to provide an alternative service delivery channel for both our customers and technicians for submitting forms and documents.Upload Documents will empower technicians working on a claim or post-entitlement action items to contact customers and request documents electronically.Our FY 2024 objectives include adding third-party forms to the inventory of forms available to technicians,integrating Upload Documents with themy Social Security portal, completing discovery for a customer self-service option,and adding web-forms to streamline the customer's submission process.This investment will convert current paper-laden work,including mail,to digital forms,reducing the time staff spend scanning and uploading documents.
Customer Help Information Program(CHIP) Enhancements

IT Infrastructure, IT Security, and IT Management

In FYs 2024-2025, we will prioritize funding to modernize our legacy systems and infrastructure and ensure funding to implement the requirements of EO 14028, Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity, and OMB M-22-09, Moving the U.S. Government Toward Zero Trust Cybersecurity Principles. These activities will support our transition to a digital organization that fulfills our mission through millions of customer interactions every year.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Please see Appendix A for detailed cost breakdown by investment for fiscal years 2023, 2024, and 2025.

Cybersecurity - $262.1 million

Cybersecurity is vital to protecting the personally identifiable information of everyone we serve. Maintaining the public’s trust in our ability to protect sensitive data housed in our systems requires advanced cybersecurity controls, constant assessment of the threat landscape, and continual improvements of our cybersecurity program. We use a risk-based approach to balance protection and productivity and focus on continuous improvement. Our Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) oversees and prioritizes our cybersecurity program funding. The Chief Information Officer (CIO) provides executive approval and prioritizes IT spending, balancing a customer-first approach with agency cybersecurity needs.

In alignment with EO 14028, Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity, and OMB guidance, our budget request includes funding necessary to implement the requirements and support additional Supply Chain Risk Management services. We will acquire software tool subscription services that will assist us in identifying:

Counterfeit components and high-risk suppliers;
Corporate ownership and corporate relationships;
If a company has been involved in commerce or trade violations; and
If a company has financial weakness, which could lead to the company being more receptive to vulnerabilities or subversion. In compliance with EO 13556, Controlled Classification Information, we implemented the Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) program. Employees must follow the CUI policy in Administrative Instructions Manual System Chapter 21 to apply markings to CUI when sending sensitive information to outside entities that are not part of the agency's process for administering claims, post-entitlements, enumerations, earnings, etc., and when disseminating, physically safeguarding, decontrolling, destroying, and transferring CUI.

Efforts in this area also help us to maintain our vigilance and protect against network intrusions and improper access of data by strengthening our defensive cyber capabilities, sharing cyber threat information with our Federal and industry partners, conducting enhanced penetration testing, and moving toward a Zero Trust Architecture that focuses on the secure flow of information from the network perimeter across the enterprise. These efforts will also improve our resilience and ability to recover IT and business operations, as well as build a robust ability to monitor and detect potential insider threats.

Please see Appendix B for more detailed cost breakdown of our Cybersecurity costs throughout the IT portfolio.

Initiative Description

Digital Identity Our Digital Identity product allows us to secure online, public-facing applications in alignment with Office of the Inspector General and Internal

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Initiative	Description
	Revenue Service audit findings or recommendations. We are developing both short-term and long-term authentication strategies by incorporating market innovation and data-driven, secure, and privacy-enhancing solutions to protect individuals and prevent fraud. We will establish services that offer the highest authentication security on the market, support an omni-channel service approach, reduce operational costs, and provide access for all individuals who wish to conduct online business with the agency.In FY 2024, we will reduce redundancy in our datastores to improve process efficiencies and work toward standardizing authentication processes for digital services to eliminate siloed work efforts and create uniformity.
Integrated Registration Services (IRES)	We operate several Business-to-Government and Government-to-Government services on a legacy application. These services are essential to a diverse range of partners including Federal, State, local, and Tribal government entities; claimants' legal representatives; medical and educational institutions; and employers. We intend to retire IRES and move existing business and government services to our modern identity framework, which will allow users to authenticate with Login.Gov and ID.me credentials.In FY 2024,we plan to complete migration to align with Zero Trust guidelines in OMB M-22-09 Moving the U.S. Government Toward Zero Trust Cybersecurity Principles,which requires MFA.
Multi Factor Authentication(MFA)和Encryption	We will implement MFA to secure high value assets at the application and system level per EO 14028 Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity.The TMF will support our efforts to accelerate MFA in FYs 2023 and 2024.We will prioritize internal systems for conversion to the enterprise MFA solutions and invest resources as part of our MFA Acceleration Plan.We will deploy MFA to the mainframe, our agency-issued mobile devices and services,and external-facing systems.We will implement data-in-transit encryption for all information systems in FY 2024.
Reengineered Comprehensive Integrity Review Project(R-CIRP)	We are modernizing our integrity review processes to utilize a more agile-friendly platform capable of applying predictive analysis in line with industry standards.All processes will be centralized into one application to retire legacy applications,reduce integrity review workloads for field office managers,and improve audit practices to identify anomalies for possible fraudulent activities.The integrity review process is a key component of our security governance and financial audit compliance.

The infrastructure initiatives provide the overall foundation on which we design, develop, and operate our IT. They also ensure the sustained operation of current IT and provide an environment to support the growth of our new system and technical infrastructure.

Infrastructure - $1,564.5 million

As customers use more online options to conduct business with us, we need to establish centralized management of electronically submitted forms, evidence, and other documentation.

In FYs 2024-2025, our Enterprise Middleware Electronic Submissions (EMES) initiative will

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

support the development of an enterprise technical solution for the request, receipt, transmission and routing of electronic evidence and forms, including an enterprise solution to digitize our inventory of public-facing forms. This work is critical for related Upload Documents and eSignature efforts in the near term, and promises to reduce reliance on multiple, siloed electronic evidence and forms management systems in the future. Additionally, in FY 2024, we will migrate content for Disability, Survivor, and Family benefits to the new content management system to make it easier to keep important customer-facing content up to date.

We continue to mature the underlying infrastructure that automates manual workflows and gives technicians more time to address complex customer needs. Our Robotic Process Automation (RPA) system allows for software "bots" to complete some workload tasks. In FY 2024, we intend to expand automations for components across the agency, introduce automations to further drive efficiency gains, and create bridges that allow critical systems to interact with one another. We will continue the migration of legacy SharePoint 2016 and 2019 sites to SharePoint Online or other appropriate open systems platforms to reduce oversight complexity.

Application This initiative supports enterprise-wide software for our IT operations, including the analysis, design, development, coding, testing, and release services for application development. These centralized services are critical for implementing new functionality, including public-facing applications that include: • User-centered development, testing, and standards, ensuring that

• User-centered development, testing, and standards, ensuring that applications comply with Section 508 and Enterprise Architecture standards;

• Enterprise services that allow business and data services to be

• Enterprise services that allow business and data services to be consumed from any valid infrastructure provider; • Modern development environment and architecture that provide a

• Modern development environment and architecture that provide a set of development tools with an agile and cloud-based testing environment; • Development, support, and enhancements to a modern cloud

• Development, support, and enhancements to a modern cloud database infrastructure; • Enterprise data administration conventions establishing data entities

• Enterprise data administration conventions establishing data entities and attributes that ensure data integrity; • Business process automation technology to allow employees to

Data Center and Cloud

• Business process automation technology to allow employees to focus on higher level workflows requiring analysis; and; • Testing improvements through collaboration with relevant

Our data centers maintain data repositories and acceptable service level availabilities for our services to the public. We meet increasing online public service demands and exceed our 99.8 percent operational service level targets. The data centers ensure the availability, changeability, stability, and security of our IT architecture.

• Testing improvements through collaboration with relevant stakeholders to determine best practices. • Compliance with draft implementation guidance on Advancing

• Compliance with draft implementation guidance on Advancing Governance, Innovation, and Risk Management for Agency Use of Artificial Intelligence. Our data centers maintain data repositories and acceptable service level

Initiative	Description
	Improvements to the data center fabric support our IT modernization. We employ a comprehensive data center infrastructure management program. We are replacing our IT Operations Management technologies and practices in a multi-year effort that is essential to effectively managing our IT capabilities in a hybrid cloud ecosystem.
We enhance our Business Resilience automation and practices to provide cloud-like, geo-dispersed resilience. Our role swap mainframe initiative uses a set of automation technologies and resilience practices that allow systems running on mainframe servers to be relocated to different data centers as business or environmental circumstances demand.
This investment also includes mainframes and servers. We will execute a mandatory mainframe storage refreshment.
End User	The End User standard investment provides us with the productivity software, laptops, and other computing equipment required to meet growing workload demands for our over 60,000 Federal and 14,000 DDS employees across the nation.
Network	The Network standard investment provides secure, easy-to-use, and fast electronic service via the internet through telephone services, wide area network, and video teleconferencing systems. This investment allows us to maintain current systems and to enhance and refresh telecommunications equipment. It also provides ongoing improvement of connectivity and bandwidth for data, voice, and video communications. The investment benefits the public as an effective, efficient, economical, and secure method of providing both digital and online services.
	In alignment with OMB M-19-16 Centralized Mission Support Capabilities for the Federal Government, we initiated the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) initiative. EIS is a multiple-contract vehicle designed by the General Services Administration (GSA) to allow Federal agencies to procure telecommunications and IT solutions (i.e., voice, video, data transport). We procure approximately $245 million worth of services annually from the GSA contracts.
Pursuant to OMB M-21-07 Completing the Transition to Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) and in alignment with EO 14208 Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity, we are committed to transitioning communications to IPv6. We are currently in the planning and requirements gathering phase of the development lifecycle and will dedicate both Federal and contractor resources to support the effort.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Initiative Description

Platform The Platform standard investment provides enterprise-wide platform capability that includes database, middleware, 2 mainframe database, and mainframe middleware. The Platform Center of Excellence will serve as our central point for the analysis and integration support of our expansion of common platforms. It will support platform strategy and roadmap; vendor analysis; governance; product management integration; product or project platform evaluation; portfolio management; resource enablement; enterprise architecture and Architecture Review Board sign off; and value monitoring of application platforms. Output The Output standard investment provides central print services.

IT Governance & Other Support - $200.9 million

This Programmatic Area drives product strategy and operations, facilitates accessibility and user/customer experience, and develops the framework and governance standards for Product and Project Management.

Initiative Description

Delivery This Technology Business Management (TBM) aligned standard investment provides management and resources to support our IT operations, including enterprise-wide product and project management resources to assist with agile development, and our Investment Management Tool for project management reporting. This investment drives product strategy and operations, facilitates accessibility and customer experience, and develops the framework and governance standards for Product and Project Management. IT Management The IT Management standard investment captures all costs associated with IT management and strategic planning (including CIO and other senior leadership full-time equivalent costs), enterprise architecture, capital planning, IT budget and finance, IT vendor management, general IT policy and reporting, and IT governance.

This investment is responsible for establishing and executing processes in direct support of CIO authority enhancements per the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA). We have leveraged the authorities afforded by FITARA to improve how we acquire, manage, and organize our IT investments. These processes employ sound risk management processes in alignment with the agency’s Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) principles, including identifying, measuring, monitoring, and controlling risks; transparent decision-making; effective communication; and prioritization of risk.

Middleware is software that connects software components or applications with our master file data. Middleware sits "in the middle" between application software that may be working on different operating systems.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Initiative Description

This investment includes the agency contributions to GSA in support of the Technology Transformation Services reimbursable program in FY 2025.

Support for Existing Agency Applications $255.3 million

We must maintain stable and secure access to existing applications to serve the public. Investments in this area ensure service without disruption and compliance with various laws and requirements.

Initiative Description

IT Investments It is critical that we maintain the applications employees use to serve the for Mission public and the services used by the public to conduct online transactions Delivery with us. Programmatic areas within this category include Benefits; Data and BI; Disability, Hearings, and Appeals; Earnings and Enumeration; Program Integrity; and Service Delivery. IT Investments Investments include ongoing maintenance and operations for our existing for Mission services and support systems within the administrative applications Support programmatic area. This includes investments that ensure compliance with Services applicable accounting principles and support development and maintenance of electronic personnel functions and records management requirements. Investment areas include E-Government Initiatives; 3 Financial Systems; HR Investments; and Records Management.

As required, we have confirmed that our IT Budget planning materials reflect the required contribution levels for each E-Government or Line of Business initiative.

3 Note that the Integrated Award Environment E-Government initiative includes the funding required to reimburse a proportional share of the costs to GSA for extending Data Universal Numbering Transition support, allowing additional time for implementation of the Unique Entity Identifier.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Table 3.26—Appendix A: FY 2025 Agency IT Portfolio Summary

FY 2025 Agency IT Portfolio Summary Costs in Millions*	Total Cost			Internal Labor			External Labor			ITS Funds
FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025
IT Portfolio Total*	$2,238.9	$2,197.5	$2,458.8	$673.1	$724.5	$766.9	$400.8	$329.4	$367.2	$1,165.1	$1,143.5	$1,324.6
Mission Delivery	$419.7	$347.0	$385.0	$219.5	$241.4	$234.3	$170.4	$66.1	$104.4	$29.8	$39.5	$46.2
Benefits Systems Modernization	$27.0	$23.1	$78.7	$16.2	$23.1	$28.7	$10.8	$0.0	$50.0	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0
Benefits Modernization	$27.0	$23.1	$78.7	$16.2	$23.1	$28.7	$10.8	$0.0	$50.0	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0
Benefits	$58.3	$54.2	$56.3	$48.1	$44.9	$51.9	$10.1	$7.6	$2.8	$0.0	$1.7	$1.7
Representative Payee Support Systems	$2.6	$1.1	$1.3	$2.6	$1.1	$1.3	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0
Benefits Systems Support	$41.6	$33.8	$38.6	$37.7	$29.8	$35.8	$3.9	$3.9	$2.8	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

FY 2025 Agency IT Portfolio Summary Costs in Millions*	Total Cost			Internal Labor			External Labor			ITS Funds
FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025
Earnings & Enumeration	$25.6	$23.4	$22.3	$21.5	$21.7	$21.2	$4.1	$1.7	$1.1	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0
Earnings and Enumeration Modernization	$11.7	$7.7	$6.1	$8.7	$7.6	$6.1	$3.0	$0.1	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0
Earnings Support Systems	$10.9	$11.2	$12.4	$10.5	$10.8	$12.2	$0.4	$0.4	$0.2	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0
Enumerations Support Systems	$3.0	$4.5	$3.7	$2.3	$3.3	$2.9	$0.8	$1.1	$0.9	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0
Program Integrity	$27.3	$23.5	$39.8	$16.3	$11.1	$15.7	$7.8	$4.1	$13.5	$3.3	$8.2	$10.6
Anti-Fraud Product	$6.1	$3.6	$7.7	$1.8	$3.6	$2.6	$4.3	$0.0	$5.0	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0
Anti-Fraud Support Systems	$9.1	$15.0	$17.1	$2.8	$3.1	$2.9	$3.0	$3.6	$3.6	$3.3	$8.2	$10.6
Debt Management Product

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

FY 2025 Agency IT Portfolio Summary Costs in Millions*	Total Cost			Internal Labor			External Labor			ITS Funds
FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025
Integrated Award Environment	$0.7	$0.7	$0.1	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0	$0.7	$0.7	$0.1
Performance Management LoB	$0.0	$0.0	$0.1	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0	$0.1
IT Infrastructure, IT Security,and IT Management	$1,778.0	$1,803.7	$2,028.3	$437.6	$467.0	$513.5	$221.1	$248.4	$247.9	$1,119.3	$1,088.3	$1,266.9
Cybersecurity	$215.8	$225.7	$262.1	$72.4	$76.2	$83.4	$34.7	$44.9	$47.5	$108.7	$104.6	$131.2
IT Security & Compliance	$215.8	$225.7	$262.1	$72.4	$76.2	$83.4	$34.7	$44.9	$47.5	$108.7	$104.6	$131.2

Table 3.27—FY 2025 Agency IT Portfolio Summary (Costs in Millions)

FY 2025 Agency IT Portfolio Summary Costs in Millions*	Total Cost			Internal Labor			External Labor			ITS Funds
FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025
Infrastructure	$1,384.4	$1,385.4	$1,564.5	$230.8	$246.4	$272.0	$155.8	$171.5	$176.9	$997.8	$967.4	$1,115.7
Application	$121.9	$132.6	$145.0	$43.7	$48.7	$51.5	$67.9	$72.6	$80.7	$10.3	$11.2	$12.8
Data Center and Cloud	$594.0	$606.6	$717.0	$75.8	$82.9	$89.7	$49.0	$53.7	$55.7	$469.2	$470.1	$571.6
End User	$205.0	$277.0	$244.1	$62.4	$64.2	$73.9	$18.7	$22.9	$19.2	$123.9	$189.9	$151.0
Network	$442.7	$340.0	$429.6	$43.1	$44.4	$49.9	$13.6	$14.8	$13.9	$386.0	$280.7	$365.8
Output	$6.2	$5.8	$5.9	$2.3	$2.2	$2.3	$1.2	$1.4	$1.3	$2.7	$2.3	$2.2
Platform	$14.6	$23.4	$23.0	$3.6	$4.0	$4.6	$5.4	$6.1	$6.0	$5.6	$13.3	$12.3
IT Governance & Other Support

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Table 3.28—Appendix B: Total Agency Cybersecurity Spend FY 2025 President's Budget

Total Agency Cybersecurity Spend FY 2025 President's Budget Cost in Millions	NIST Function¹	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025
All Programmatic Areas		$285.8	$297.4	$341.5
	Detect	$28.0	$30.9	$41.3
	Identify	$61.4	$68.9	$87.6
	Protect	$175.5	$168.3	$184.3
	Recover	$9.0	$16.4	$10.1
	Respond	$11.9	$13.0	$18.2
Admin		$3.1	$3.9	$3.9
	Identify	$3.1	$3.9	$3.9
Cybersecurity		$207.7	$226.1	$261.6
	Detect	$17.1	$20.1	$29.0
	Identify	$36.3	$42.1	$59.6
	Protect	$140.8	$141.2	$151.3
	Recover	$2.0	$10.2	$4.0
	Respond	$11.6	$12.6	$17.7
Data and Business Intelligence		$1.3	$1.5	$1.5
	Detect	$0.0	$0.0	$0.0
	Recover	$1.3	$1.5	$1.5
E-Gov		$0.3	$0.3	$0.3
	Protect	$0.2	$0.3	$0.3
	Recover	$0.1	$0.1	$0.1
Infrastructure		$71.7	$63.6	$71.8
	Detect	$10.9	$10.8	$12.3

1 Please refer to the NIST framework for more details Framework Documents | NIST

Table 3.29— Total Agency Cybersecurity Spend (Non-IT Cost)

Total Agency Cybersecurity Spend(Non-IT Cost)FY 2025 President's BudgetCost in Millions	NIST Function	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025
Non-IT Cost		$14.8	$16.6	$19.6
Credentialing and Access Management	Protect	$13.0	$14.0	$16.5
Insider Threat	Protect	$0.3	$0.3	$0.3
OIG--Respond-Prosecution and Investigation of Cyber Intrusions	Respond	$1.6	$2.4	$2.8

Table 3.30—Total Agency Cyber Human Capital Spend

Total Agency Cyber Human Capital Spend FY 2025 President's Budget Cost in Millions	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025
Human Capital	$0.3	$0.3	$0.3

Table 3.31—Total Agency Cybersecurity Spend

Total Agency Cybersecurity Spend FY2025 President's Budget Cost in Millions	FY2023 Total(Actuals)	FY2024 Total	FY2025 Total
All Programmatic Areas	$285.8	$297.4	$341.5
Non-IT Cost	$14.8	$16.6	$19.6
Human Capital-Cyber Human Capital	$0.3	$0.3	$0.3
Total	$300.9	$314.3	$361.4

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

SSA ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

For the full agency organization chart, please visit https://www.ssa.gov/org/ssachart.pdf *Acting **Detail In

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

MAJOR BUILDING RENOVATIONS AND REPAIR COSTS

We have maintained a record of accomplishment in real property efficiency. We continue to achieve the goals set forth initially by our Reduce the Footprint standards and continued in our Real Property Capital Planning efforts. Our major building costs are associated with our ongoing efforts to make the most efficient use of our space and reduce our reliance on leased space where it makes business sense.

This exhibit describes our fiscal year (FY) 2025 major building costs and provides an update on our on-going major building renovations and repairs funded in previous years.

FY 2025 Major Building Renovation Costs

We conduct frequent evaluations of our business processes to ensure our occupied space aligns with our business needs and with the future of work. In conjunction with evaluating our long- term space needs, we have identified several opportunities over the next several years to reduce space at some of our non-public facing locations. These opportunities correspond to upcoming lease actions or support General Services Administration (GSA) priorities.

Update of Ongoing Projects (Funded in Prior Years)

Frank Hagel Federal Building (FHFB): We evaluated our occupancy of the FHFB in Richmond, California, including the significant investments required to keep the space we occupied efficient and functional, and confirmed that the FHFB had too much space for our needs. We worked with GSA to identify alternative, cost-effective space to relocate our employees from the FHFB. Beginning in May 2023 we communicated our plan to vacate with affected Congressional offices and agency employees, and our union partners. We relocated our Richmond Teleservice Center (TSC) employees from FHFB to leased space for our Bay Area TSC on Franklin Street in Oakland, California. In doing so, we implemented space sharing to make most efficient use of the space and maintained the space as it was designed with no modifications. We are relocating our remaining FHFB employees to the Dellums Federal Building in Oakland, California, where we also already occupy space. To transition employees from FHFB to the Dellums Building, we must modify the space that we currently occupy and acquire some additional space. We are working with GSA to finalize the design for these modifications. Vacating FHFB will reduce our footprint by approximately 370,000 useable square feet (USF) and save the agency $4.5 million in annual rent.
National Capital Region: In January 2022, we collaborated with GSA to cancel our lease prospectus project at One Skyline Tower, and in January 2023, we issued notifications of our intent to vacate the leased location at the end of our lease (September 2024). We anticipate fully vacating as of March 31, 2024, at which time Skyline will be turned back to GSA. Upon lease expiration, we will reduce our footprint by approximately 280,000 USF and save the agency $10 million in annual rent costs.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Seattle Columbia Center: In December 2022, we reduced the Seattle Regional Office lease footprint from approximately 85,000 USF to 24,000 USF, saving approximately $3.9 million in annual rent costs. In collaboration with GSA, we identified replacement Federal space totaling approximately 7,800 USF, which we anticipate will save an additional $500,000 in annual rent costs. We are working with GSA to establish a cost estimate to renovate the Federal space and anticipate relocating in FY 2025. Upon completion, this project will reduce our footprint by approximately 77,200 USF and save the agency up to $4.4 million in annual rent costs.
Supply Building: The Supply Building is located on our headquarters campus in Woodlawn, Maryland. This project will modernize space originally designed as warehouse space to serve as office space. We completed the design for the project in December 2023, and we tentatively expect construction to be completed by June 2025. This project will enable us to vacate an outlying lease and save the agency approximately $2.9 million in annual rent at lease expiration.
Auburn Teleservice Center: GSA is disposing of the property located at 1901 C St. SW, Auburn, Washington, where one of our mega teleservice centers is located, along with a regional training center and interactive video training studio. These components currently occupy approximately 149,350 USF. However, we determined that we only need approximately 42,000 USF in a new lease, reducing our portfolio by approximately 105,000 USF. The disposition was part of the Federal Asset Sales and Transfer Act of 2016 process, and that the fit-out and move costs are borne by the Asset Proceeds and Space Management Fund via the General Services Administration at no cost to SSA. GSA awarded the replacement lease with a 20-year term, firm term 10 years at 1701 S Commons, Federal Way, Washington. We expect to relocate by the end of April 2024, a few months ahead of schedule.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Table 3.32—FY 2023 Physical Infrastructure Costs by Component 1, 2 (Dollars in thousands)

Components	Rental Payments to GSA	Communications, Utilities & Misc. Charges	Operations& Maintenance of Facilities3	Operations& Maintenance of Equipment	Total
LAE One Year
Office of Operations	$540,448	$26,434	$229,147	$63	$796,092
Office of the Chief Information Officer4	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Office of Hearings Operations	$112,643	$1,854	$39,634	$0	$154,131
Office of Human Resources	$0	$42	$165	$5	$212
Office of Retirement and Disability Policy	$0	$5	$0	$0	$5
Office of Communication	$0	$0	$2	$0	$2
Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity	$0	$2	$2	$0	$4
Office of Analytics, Review and Oversight	$2,376	$36	$287	$0	$2,700
Office of Budget, Finance, and Management	$0	$134	$3	$0	$137
DCBFM - Agency Level	$74,064	$182,446	$143,892	$230	$400,632
Office of General Counsel	$848	$6	$104	$0	$958
Disability Determination Services	$0	$27,608	$247	$0	$27,854
Information Technology Systems	$0	$201,651	$0	$602,153	$803,804
Social Security Advisory Board	$262	$7	$38	$18	$325
Subtotal LAE One Year	$730,641	$440,224	$413,520	$602,469

1 Totals may not add due to rounding. 2 Table does not include Technology Modernization Fund, Low-Income Subsidy activities, Postal Service Reform Act, or eCBSV.

3 Includes guard services. 4 The Office of the Chief Information Officer is a staff component that is responsible for the Information Management and

4 The Office of the Chief Information Officer is a staff component that is responsible for the Information Management and Information Technology programs. 5 The ITS budget funds all information technology projects for the Agency.

5 The ITS budget funds all information technology projects for the Agency.

Table 3.33—FY 2024 Estimated Physical Infrastructure Costs by Component 1,2 (Dollars in thousands)

	Rental Payments to GSA	Communications, Utilities & Misc. Charges	Operations&Maintenance of Facilities3	Operations&Maintenance of Equipment	Total
LAE One Year
Office of Operations	$549,657	$29,007	$208,050	$65	$786,779
Office of the Chief Information Officer4	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Office of Hearings Operations	$114,562	$2,034	$35,985	$0	$152,581
Office of Human Resources	$0	$46	$150	$5	$201
Office of Retirement and Disability Policy	$0	$5	$0	$0	$5
Office of Communication	$0	$0	$2	$0	$2
Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity	$0	$2	$2	$0	$4
Office of the Chief Actuary	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Office of Analytics, Review and Oversight	$2,417	$40	$261	$0	$2,718
Office of Budget, Finance, and Management	$0	$147	$2	$0	$150
DCBFM - Agency Level	$75,326	$200,202	$130,644	$237	$406,409
Office of General Counsel	$862	$6	$95	$0	$963
OGC - Agency Level	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Office of the Commissioner	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Disability Determination Services

1 Totals may not add due to rounding. 2 Table does not include Technology Modernization Fund, Low-Income Subsidy activities, Postal Service Reform Act, or eCBSV.

Totals may not add due to rounding. 2 Table does not include Technology Modernization Fund, Low-Income Subsidy activities, Postal Service Reform Act, or eCBSV. 3 Includes guard services. 4 The Office of the Chief Information Officer is a staff component that is responsible for the Information Management and

5 The ITS budget funds all information technology projects for the Agency.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Table 3.34—FY 2025 Estimated Physical Infrastructure Costs by Component 1,2 (Dollars in thousands)

	Rental Payments to GSA	Communications, Utilities & Misc. Charges	Operations& Maintenance of Facilities3	Operations& Maintenance of Equipment	Total
LAE One Year
Office of Operations	$546,995	$30,541	$211,891	$84	$789,512
Office of the Chief Information Officer4	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Office of Hearings Operations	$114,008	$2,142	$36,962	$0	$152,799
Office of Human Resources	$0	$48	$153	$7	$208
Office of Retirement and Disability Policy	$0	$6	$0	$0	$6
Office of Communication	$0	$0	$2	$0	$2
Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity	$0	$2	$2	$0	$4
Office of the Chief Actuary	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Office of Analytics, Review and Oversight	$2,405	$42	$265	$0	$2,713
Office of Budget, Finance, and Management	$0	$155	$2	$0	$158
DCBFM - Agency Level	$74,962	$210,786	$133,056	$309	$419,113
Office of General Counsel	$858	$7	$96	$0	$961
OGC - Agency Level	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Office of the Commissioner	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Disability Determination Services

1 Totals may not add due to rounding. 2 Table does not include Technology Modernization Fund, Low-Income Subsidy activities, Postal Service Reform Act, or eCBSV.

2 Table does not include Technology Modernization Fund, Low-Income Subsidy activities, Postal Service Reform Act, or eCBSV. 3 Includes guard services. 4 The Office of the Chief Information Officer is a staff component that is responsible for the Information Management and

5 The ITS budget funds all information technology projects for the Agency.

Table 3.35—FY 2023 Physical Infrastructure Costs by Region 1 (Dollars in thousands)

Regions	Rental Payments to GSA	Communications, Utilities & Misc. Charges	Operations&Maintenance of Facilities2	Operations&Maintenance of Equipment	Total
Boston	$27,700	$1,566	$12,531	$3	$41,799
New York	$84,551	$5,001	$49,443	$0	$138,995
Philadelphia	$60,496	$4,161	$42,652	$45	$107,355
Atlanta	$132,017	$12,452	$45,787	$2	$190,259
Chicago	$91,634	$6,998	$43,207	$5	$141,844
Dallas	$68,218	$3,644	$26,778	$1	$98,642
Kansas City	$29,819	$1,949	$15,332	$0	$47,101
Denver	$16,109	$914	$8,488	$8	$25,520
San Francisco	$110,379	$6,528	$47,110	$1	$164,018
Seattle	$23,564	$1,142	$11,290	$6	$36,002
Headquarters3	$86,154	$411,200	$175,018	$933,008	$1,605,380
Total	$730,641	$455,556	$477,637	$933,079	$2,596,914

Table 3.36—FY 2024 Estimated Physical Infrastructure Costs by Region 1 (Dollars in thousands)

Regions	Rental Payments to GSA	Communications, Utilities & Misc. Charges	Operations&Maintenance of Facilities2	Operations&Maintenance of Equipment	Total
Boston	$28,172	$1,714	$11,496	$3	$41,385
New York	$85,993	$5,471	$45,362	$0	$136,826
Philadelphia	$61,528	$4,553	$39,131	$47	$105,259
Atlanta	$134,268	$13,624	$42,007	$2	$189,902
Chicago	$93,197	$7,656	$39,640	$6	$140,499
Dallas	$69,382	$3,987	$24,567	$1	$97,938
Kansas City	$30,328	$2,133	$14,066	$0	$46,527
Denver	$16,384	$1,000	$7,788	$8	$25,180
San Francisco	$112,262	$7,143	$43,221	$1	$162,626
Seattle	$23,966	$1,249	$10,358	$6	$35,580
Headquarters3	$87,624	$449,886	$160,569	$975,650	$1,673,729
Total	$743,104	$498,416	$438,207	$975,724	$2,655,451

1 Totals may not add due to rounding. 2 Includes guard services.

2 Includes guard services. 3 Includes DDS, SSAB, ITS, Delegated Buildings, Program Integrity, and Low-Income Subsidy.

3 Includes DDS, SSAB, ITS, Delegated Buildings, Program Integrity, and Low-Income Subsidy.

Table 3.37—FY 2025 Estimated Physical Infrastructure Costs by Region 1 (Dollars in thousands)

Regions	Rental Payments to GSA	Communications, Utilities & Misc. Charges	Operations&Maintenance of Facilities2	Operations&Maintenance of Equipment	Total
Boston	$28,036	$1,806	$11,823	$3	$41,668
New York	$85,577	$5,765	$46,651	$0	$137,993
Philadelphia	$61,230	$4,797	$40,244	$55	$106,326
Atlanta	$133,619	$14,356	$43,202	$3	$191,179
Chicago	$92,746	$8,068	$40,767	$6	$141,588
Dallas	$69,046	$4,201	$25,266	$1	$98,515
Kansas City	$30,181	$2,248	$14,466	$0	$46,895
Denver	$16,305	$1,054	$8,009	$10	$25,377
San Francisco	$111,719	$7,527	$44,449	$1	$163,696
Seattle	$23,850	$1,317	$10,653	$7	$35,826
Headquarters3	$87,200	$474,068	$165,134	$1,134,857	$1,861,259
Total	$739,509	$525,206	$450,663	$1,134,944	$2,850,322

1 Totals may not add due to rounding. 2 Includes guard services.

2 Includes guard services. 3 Includes DDS, SSAB, ITS, Delegated Buildings, Program Integrity, and Low-Income Subsidy.

3 Includes DDS, SSAB, ITS, Delegated Buildings, Program Integrity, and Low-Income Subsidy.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

SOCIAL SECURITY ADVISORY BOARD

This Budget includes $3.150 million for the Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB) in FY 2025. Additionally, the Budget proposes to extend SSA’s no-year Information Technology (IT) balance authority to include the use of unobligated SSAB resources for SSAB IT efforts.

Board Creation and Functions

The Social Security Independence and Program Improvements Act of 1994 established a bipartisan, seven-member Board to advise the President, the Congress, and the Commissioner of Social Security on policies related to Social Security's Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program, and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.

According to the statute, the specific functions of the Board include: (1) analyzing the Nation's retirement and disability systems and making recommendations with respect to how the OASDI program and the SSI program, supported by other public and private systems, can most effectively assure economic security; (2) studying and making recommendations relating to the coordination of programs that provide health security with programs described in the first paragraph; (3) making recommendations to the President and to the Congress with respect to policies that will ensure the solvency of the OASDI program, both in the short-term and the long- term; (4) making recommendations with respect to the quality of service that the Administration provides to the public; (5) making recommendations with respect to policies and regulations regarding the OASDI and the SSI programs; (6) increasing public understanding of the social security system; (7) making recommendations with respect to a long-range research and program evaluation plan for the Administration; (8) reviewing and assessing any major studies of social security as may come to the attention of the Board; and (9) making recommendations with respect to such other matters as the Board determines to be appropriate.

Board Members

Board members are chosen on the basis of their integrity, impartiality, and good judgment, and are, by reason of their education, experience, and attainments, exceptionally qualified to perform Board duties. 1 Board members are Special Government Employees who work intermittently and are compensated at the daily rate of basic pay for level four of the Executive Schedule.

Board Meetings

Pursuant to its authorizing statute, the Board is required to meet at least four times per year. The Board exceeds that requirement, generally holding six, two-all-day bimonthly meetings and regularly scheduled conference calls.

For more detailed information about the Board, please see the Board's website at www.ssab.gov.

Explanation of Budget Request

The agency's budget for FY 2025 aims to support the Board’s administrative and research activities necessary to address the statutory obligations of the Board. The requested increase will allow the Board to maintain its ambitious research plan, comply with inter-agency reporting

42 USC § 903 (C)(2)

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

requirements, enhance its communication and outreach efforts, integrate succession planning and training opportunities into its governance goals, and ensure the agency establishes internal controls and works towards meeting system security requirements. The Board is not requesting reception and representation authority in FY 2025.

Table 3.38—Obligations by Object Class and Staffing1

Object Class	FY20232Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025Request
Personnel&Benefits	$2,261,814	$2,250,000	$2,450,000
Travel	$4,078	$20,000	$20,000
Rent&Telecommunications	$269,006	$285,000	$300,000
Consultants,Contracts&OtherServices	$242,552	$120,000	$330,000^{3}$
Supplies&Equipment	$29,250	$25,000	$50,000
Total,AllObjects	$2,806,700	$2,700,000	$3,150,000
Full-time,PermanentStaff	$11^{4}$	11	11
Part-time,SGE’sandTempStaff	0	0	0
BoardMembers	4	7	7

Explanation of Requested Increase

Personnel and Travel While SSAB has not increased the total number of staff, it recognizes that by 2025, approximately a third of SSAB senior staff will be eligible to retire. SSAB has begun developing a succession plan that includes professional development, job-specific training, and some short-term overlap hiring to ensure a smooth transition. SSAB has been unable to adopt its succession plans in FY 2023 or FY 2024 due to budget constraints but is hoping to institute succession planning in FY 2025. SSAB’s travel estimates include transit benefits, and associated costs for Board members and invited guests to meet in person. The Board had one in-person site visit in FY 2023. Without either a budget increase, allowance for use of prior year funds for IT spending, or assistance from SSA on operational costs, SSAB will be unable to have any inperson meetings, site visits, or fully fund necessary systems costs year in FY 2024. The FY 2025 budget request will allow one in-person site visit to meet with an SSA regional office and SSA staff that work directly with the public. The site visits have been invaluable to the Board as they see the operationalization of policy and hear directly from staff about their experience in providing services to the public.

1 Totals may not add due to rounding. 2 The FY 2023 total is the total amounts obligated in FY 2023 per SSA’s October 17, 2023; Financial Indicator

Totals may not add due to rounding. 2 The FY 2023 total is the total amounts obligated in FY 2023 per SSA’s October 17, 2023; Financial Indicator Report (FIR), potential differences could appear in subsequent FIRs. 3 The increase from FY 2024 to FY 2025 assumes SSAB will not fund necessary system supports t under the 2024

3 The increase from FY 2024 to FY 2025 assumes SSAB will not fund necessary system supports t under the 2024 continuing resolution level but will need to fund them in FY 2025. 4 For most of FY 2023 SSAB had 12 full time and 1 part time staff, but they left SSAB in August and September

4 For most of FY 2023 SSAB had 12 full time and 1 part time staff, but they left SSAB in August and September 2023 and are therefore not reflected in the staff total, under the 2024 continuing resolution level SSAB is currently under a hiring freeze and unable to hire the two research positions and the open administrative assistant position.

Limitation on Administrative Expenses

Real Property SSA renewed the lease for SSAB’s office space in 2017. SSA has the option of leaving the space in 2027. SSAB will continue to monitor the success of telework and has discussed reducing the agency’s real estate footprint with SSA and the General Services Administration. Cost projections reflect current lease arrangements including increased rental costs, cost increases for Federal Protective Services charges, and enhancements to the office internet and Audio-Visual systems.

Consultants and Contracts With level funding in FY 2024, SSAB cannot support critical system supports. The FY 2025 increase in this category assumes support for IT infrastructure; the continued use of cloud.gov to host the SSAB website; Interagency Agreements to cover other government-required services; and projected security costs for physical space.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

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Office of the Inspector General

CONTENTS APPROPRIATIONS LANGUAGE ... 207 GENERAL STATEMENT ... 208 Overview ... 208 STRATEGIC GOALS ... 210 Budgetary Resources ... 229 APPROPRIATION HISTORY ... 233

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Office of the Inspector General

TABLES

Table 4.1—OIG Performance Measures ... 210

Table 4.2—OIG Budget Authority and Amounts Available for Obligation ... 229

Table 4.3—Explanation of OIG Budget Changes ... 230

Table 4.4—Budget Resources by Object ... 231

Table 4.5—FTE Employment and WYs ... 232

Table 4.6—Average Grade and Salary ... 232

Table 4.7—Appropriation History Table ... 233

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

APPROPRIATIONS LANGUAGE

Office of the Inspector General

(Including Transfer of Funds)

For expenses necessary for the Office of Inspector General in carrying out the provisions of the Inspector General Act of 1978, $34,000,000, together with not to exceed $87,254,000, to be transferred and expended as authorized by section 201(g)(1) of the Social Security Act from the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund: Provided, That $2,000,000 shall remain available until expended for information technology modernization, including related hardware and software infrastructure and equipment, and for administrative expenses directly associated with information technology modernization.

In addition, an amount not to exceed 3 percent of the total provided in this appropriation may be transferred from the “Social Security Administration—Limitation on Administrative Expenses”, to be merged with this account, to be available for the time and purposes for which this account is available: Provided, That notice of such transfers shall be transmitted to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate at least 15 days in advance of any transfer.

Note: A full-year 2024 appropriation for this account was not enacted at the time the Budget was prepared; therefore, the Budget assumes this account is operating under the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2024 and Other Extensions Act (Division A of Public Law 118-15, as amended). The amounts included for 2024 reflect the annualized level provided by the continuing resolution.

Office of the Inspector General

GENERAL STATEMENT

OVERVIEW

The Social Security Administration (SSA) Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) Strategic Plan, including the SSA OIG mission, vision, and strategic goals, forms the foundation for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Budget. The FY 2025 Budget includes $121.3 million for SSA OIG direct appropriations, which represents an increase of $6.6 million over the FY 2024 CR level of $114.7 million and includes $2 million to remain available until expended for information technology (IT) modernization.

SSA OIG’s mission is to serve the public through independent oversight of SSA’s programs and operations. SSA OIG accomplishes this mission by conducting independent audits, evaluations, and investigations; searching for and reporting systemic weaknesses in SSA’s programs and operations; and providing recommendations for program, operations, and management improvements. SSA OIG’s vision is to drive meaningful change to protect taxpayer dollars. The mission and vision, together, emphasize SSA OIG’s role as public servants and agents of positive change. In FY 2023, SSA OIG identified $21 in returns to the government for every $1 in appropriations.

The FY 2025 Budget will allow SSA OIG to perform its core mission of auditing and investigating SSA programs and operations more efficiently and effectively. In particular, SSA OIG’s oversight responsibilities will increasingly rely upon building its data analytics capacity; investing in information technology modernization and automation tools; devoting resources to better understand the significance that artificial intelligence (AI) will play in SSA’s program and operations and the oversight needed by SSA OIG to help identify and minimize vulnerabilities in agency systems and programs; and monitoring the agency’s focus on its human capital needs to keep up with technological advances and other evolving and emerging areas. These improvements will lead to a more innovative, nimble, and responsive organization.

The FY 2025 Budget will increase SSA OIG’s productivity and impact through the addition of 15 Full Time Equivalents (FTE) over FY 2024 estimates. Based on an average from the last three fiscal years, each additional investigative FTE could potentially result in an estimated 31 additional cases closed and almost $1 million in additional monetary accomplishments. For every additional audit FTE, SSA OIG could produce an additional audit report. Over the past three years, an SSA OIG audit, on average, has identified about $30 million in questioned costs and about $28 million in funds put to better use.

The FY 2025 Budget includes an estimated $1.6 million in Interagency Agreements with the

U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the U.S. General Services Administration, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Treasury Executive Institute, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers to obtain specialized services from those agencies to support workforce development, specialized training, and operational enhancements.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Office of the Inspector General

Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE)

In FY 2025, SSA OIG will contribute an estimated $477,100 1 to the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), an annual amount determined by CIGIE. CIGIE is an independent entity established within the Executive Branch to address integrity, economy, and effectiveness issues that transcend individual Government agencies and aid in the establishment of a professional, well-trained, and highly skilled workforce in the Offices of Inspectors General.

Cooperative Disability Investigations (CDI) Program

In addition to the request for $121.3 million for direct base appropriations, the FY 2025 Budget requests SSA transfer $19.6 million from SSA’s Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) program integrity cap adjustment to the SSA OIG for the SSA OIG’s direct costs of leading the jointly operated anti-fraud Cooperative Disability Investigations (CDI) Program. This funding level represents an increase of $500,000 over the FY 2024 level of $19.1 million. 2

1 Estimate reflects the increase in CIGIE’s funding assessment of .40% starting in FY 2024. This percentage is applied against SSA OIG’s direct appropriations excluding no-year funding dedicated to IT Modernization. 2 The FY 2025 President’s Budget assumes the Fiscal Responsibility Act (P.L. 118-5) level for the program integrity cap adjustment in FY 2024. The SSA Congressional Justification assumes a $19.1 million transfer from the LAE account to the OIG for costs associated with jointly operated CDI unit costs in FY 2024, the same level as in the FY 2024 President’s Budget. See the Program Integrity exhibit in the LAE section for more information.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Office of the Inspector General

STRATEGIC GOALS

SSA OIG has consistently delivered valuable oversight information to SSA, the U.S. Congress, other stakeholders, and the public. SSA OIG’s work has led to changes in legislation, regulation, policy, and operations. As workloads increase and evolve, SSA OIG will continue to provide products that drive meaningful change.

SSA OIG’s Strategic Plan forms the foundation for the FY 2025 Budget. SSA OIG’s strategic goals, which are part of the strategic plan, are:

Strategic Goal 1: Deliver solutions to promote positive change Strategic Goal 2: Prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse in SSA programs and operations

Strategic Goal 2: Prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse in SSA programs and operations Strategic Goal 3: Optimize operations

Strategic Goal 3: Optimize operations Strategic Goal 4: Strengthen our workforce

Strategic Goal 4: Strengthen our workforce

SSA OIG monitors its progress in meeting its mission and strategic goals through performance measures. The following table contains SSA OIG’s Performance Measures with the associated FY 2023 results and FY 2024 targets.

Table 4.1—OIG Performance Measures

Performance Measure	FY 2023 Target	FY 2023 Actual	FY 2024 Target

Review and take action on 90% of hotline allegations within 5 days of receipt	90%	87%	90%
Substantially complete investigative fieldwork on 75% of social security program fraud investigations within 180 days	75%	59%	75%
Exceed the 3-year trailing average return-on-investment as reported by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency	20-to-1	21-to-1	26-to-1
Work with SSA to ensure 80% of the recommendations we made within the last 4 fiscal years, which SSA agreed to implement, have been resolved	80%	80%	80%
Ensure that 75% of audits are issued within one year from the entrance conference	75%	53%	75%

Office of the Inspector General

Strategic Goal 1: Deliver solutions to promote positive change

This goal aligns with SSA OIG’s vision to drive meaningful change to protect taxpayer dollars. To meet this goal, SSA OIG will prioritize initiatives in three key areas: expanded oversight responsibilities, impactful audits, and education and outreach.

Expanded Oversight Responsibilities

SSA OIG continues to devote significant resources to expanded oversight responsibilities that include areas related to the Federal Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Social Security-related government imposter scams, and more recently, to artificial intelligence (AI).

Disrupting Fraud Schemes Targeting the Government’s Response to the Pandemic

SSA OIG continues to support oversight and investigations of pandemic-related fraud. In FY 2023, the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) identified $5.4 billion in potentially fraudulent pandemic loans obtained using over 69,000 questionable Social Security numbers (SSN). Misuse of SSNs and identity theft are common threads used in the furtherance of schemes to fraudulently obtain funds. The misuse of SSNs and identity theft in furtherance of fraud schemes related to Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), and Economic Injury and Disaster Loans (EIDL), is no exception.

SSA OIG uses regular appropriations to serve as an integral part of the Federal government-wide effort to uncover CARES Act fraud and uses existing resources to support this effort. In FY 2023, SSA OIG contributed to 100 CARES Act investigations. Further, SSA OIG participates on the National COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force led by the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, and as many as 21 pandemic-related task forces and workgroups across the country.

In FY 2024, SSA OIG anticipates expending $1.1 million on pandemic-related investigative workloads and audits. In FY 2025, SSA OIG will continue investigating pandemic-related fraud schemes and assisting with associated prosecution efforts.

Investigating Social Security-Related Government Imposter Scams

Over the past few years, government imposter-related scams1 quickly grew into a major issue and presented an opportunity for fraudsters to prey upon the American public. Because of SSA OIG’s successful multi-pronged approach to combatting scams, there has been a notable decline in the number of SSA-related imposter scam allegations from 2020 to the present. However, according to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) data, Social Security-related scams remain the top-reported government imposter scam as of July 2023.

1 Social Security-related government imposter scams refer to in-person phone calls, robocalls, texts, emails, or mailings that use a false premise involving a Social Security number, account, or benefits to convince potential victims to provide personally identifiable information or money.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Office of the Inspector General

The legislative text and explanatory statement of the FY 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act

P.L. 117-328 set forth an expectation that SSA OIG continue its aggressive efforts in fighting SSA-related imposter scams: “The agreement commends SSA OIG efforts to combat Social Security impersonation scams and urges SSA to continue prioritizing this effort and pursuing the criminals perpetuating the fraud.” H.R. 2617 (Public Law 117-328) SSA OIG remains engaged and committed to maintaining institutional knowledge to investigate these scams by working with Federal, state, and local partners, as well as consumer advocacy groups, to protect people from becoming victims. For example, in October 2022, three individuals were indicted for their roles in a multi-year fraud and money laundering conspiracy involving call centers. The callers impersonated SSA and other U.S. government officials and tricked victims into sending them money to safeguard their assets, avoid arrest, or prevent their government benefits from being cut off. Victims sent money in the form of gift cards by providing redemption codes over the phone and mailed cash in packages sent to FedEx and UPS pick-up locations. SSA OIG partnered with other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to conduct interviews of victims, execute search warrants, and conduct other investigative techniques in various judicial districts across the country to obtain evidence needed to support the investigation and prosecution of these individuals. As alleged in the indictment, from January 2017 to August 2020, the individuals and other co-conspirators engaged in a conspiracy originating from call centers located in the country of India. The victims were defrauded of over $11 million because of the conspiracy. As of August 2023, all three defendants have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in violation of 18 USC § 1349, with sentencings set for two of the three defendants in the spring of 2024. The indictment for the third defendant was dismissed following their death in January 2024. SSA OIG continues to pursue large-scale investigations and public outreach to address this critical issue. In FY 2024, SSA OIG expects to dedicate an estimated $3 million to combatting imposter scams, including funding for human capital resources and allegations management. In FY 2025, SSA OIG will continue to commit staff to analyze imposter scam allegations, develop investigative leads, and deploy effective investigative strategies to combat these fraud schemes. The FY 2025 Budget will allow SSA OIG to better anticipate, recognize, and efficiently mitigate new and emerging fraud schemes, including those related to pandemic relief and government imposter scams.

Investigating E-Services Fraud

SSA has developed a suite of online services to improve customer service and promote efficiency by allowing the public to apply for benefits or check the status of an application online. During the COVID-19 pandemic, SSA closed its field offices to the public, resulting in a dramatic increase in the utilization of these online services. As the use of e-Services increased, so did the opportunity for fraudsters to manipulate SSA’s online platforms. Fraudsters used stolen personally identifiable information (PII) to file fraudulent online applications or redirect benefit payments to alternate bank accounts.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Since the start of FY 2021, SSA OIG has received more than 209,000 e-Services-related allegations, including fraud schemes that misuse or are facilitated by SSA’s online platforms, such as my Social Security. In FY 2025, SSA OIG will deploy advanced data analytics and generative AI tools to expeditiously identify and flag clusters of the most egregious cases of fraud for immediate investigation. As e-Services fraud continues to evolve, SSA OIG will require both analytical and investigative resources to provide oversight that is pivotal to protecting the public through FY 2025 and beyond.

In one case example, • Between May 2022 and July 2023, four individuals were sentenced for their participation

• Between May 2022 and July 2023, four individuals were sentenced for their participation in a conspiracy to steal beneficiary funds between February 2018 and August 2019. In May 2022, a 39-year-old woman was sentenced to four years of probation and ordered to pay $603. In June 2022, a 35-year-old man was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $95,000. In November 2022, a 35-year-old man was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay $95,000. In July 2023, a 40-year-old man was sentenced to 10 months in prison and ordered to pay $95,000.

• The individuals stole the PII of four Social Security beneficiaries including the names,

• The individuals stole the PII of four Social Security beneficiaries including the names, SSNs, and dates of birth and used the information to access their my Social Security accounts and redirect the SSA beneficiaries’ monthly benefits into accounts they controlled. • The individuals stole the PII of another individual including their name, SSN and date of

• The individuals stole the PII of another individual including their name, SSN and date of birth and established an electronic SSA benefit claim. The individuals then directed the monthly proceeds for that electronic claim into an account they controlled.

With the FY 2025 Budget, SSA OIG will continue to conduct complex and large-scale investigations, develop and leverage partnerships and collaborations to accomplish investigative priorities to permit more effective investigative efforts.

Examining and Leveraging Artificial Intelligence

In FY 2025, SSA OIG’s oversight responsibilities will increase significantly in this area to help identify and minimize vulnerabilities in agency systems, security, and programs. Significant investments will be required in hardware, software, and training to ensure SSA OIG personnel have the appropriate tradecraft to investigate AI-enabled criminal activity, protect vulnerable persons, and provide Federal and state prosecutors with the forensic data needed to successfully prosecute fraud against SSA. In recent years, SSA OIG identified best practices and lessons learned from analytical and investigative work done combatting pandemic- and imposter-related fraud. These will serve as the foundation for developing additional tools and investigative

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techniques necessary to confront this new challenge. Investigative support, analytical resources, and technological capabilities will be pivotal to deterring and dismantling emerging organized fraud schemes using AI technology to exploit SSA programs and operations.

Impactful Audits

SSA OIG’s core audit oversight efforts revolve around SSA’s most significant management challenges. SSA OIG annually identifies these challenges based on congressional mandates, audits, and investigative work.

During FY 2023, SSA OIG completed audits that promote positive change in SSA policies and procedures, such as the audits Manual Processes for Resource-intensive Workloads and Processing Non-citizens’ Original Social Security Numbers Electronically Through Enumeration Programs, and that oversee how the agency manages expenses, such as Funds Dedicated to Address Program Integrity and Hearings Backlog Workloads.

During FY 2023, SSA OIG issued 43 audits that identified over $1.8 billion in questioned costs and over $560 million in funds that could have been put to better use. Contributing to those totals were the reports: SSA’s Controls over Modernized Development Worksheets, Workers’ Compensation Lump-sum Settlements, and Statutory Benefit Continuation for Disability Beneficiaries.

In SSA’s Controls over Modernized Development Worksheets (MDW), SSA OIG determined the following:

SSA OIG estimated the MDWs associated with over 227,000 beneficiaries were processed untimely or inaccurately. MDWs that were delayed or inaccurately processed prompted some beneficiaries to contact SSA multiple times to request assistance on the same issues.
In addition, SSA OIG estimated SSA improperly paid more than 15,000 beneficiaries over $81 million and delayed over $759 million in benefit payments to nearly 43,000 beneficiaries because of untimely or inaccurate MDW processing.

Recommendations to SSA included:

Update policy to require that employees process MDW requests within set timeframes.
Implement controls to ensure employees take all actions requested before they close MDWs.
Create system alerts to notify employees when multiple MDW requests are created for the same issue for the same beneficiary. SSA agreed with our third recommendation but disagreed with the first and second. Despite SSA’s responses, we continue to believe MDWs should be processed within set timeframes and that controls are needed. Our work demonstrated that SSA’s quality reviews, feedback to technicians, and tracking of error trends did not effectively prevent employees from closing MDWs without taking the actions requested, delaying service and payments to customers.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

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SSA OIG continues working on impactful audits during FY 2024. As of January 2024, SSA OIG has 15 reports in process related to improving the prevention, detection, and recovery of improper payments. A list of all ongoing audit work is available on our website.

Audits Reviewing Customer Service at SSA

SSA OIG continues to focus on customer service issues at SSA to promote positive change, which is addressed in the following reports issued this past year:

Controls over the Social Security Administration’s National 800-number Service During the COVID-19 Pandemic (August 2023): Determined whether SSA had and used management controls over the service its 800-number employees provided callers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Findings:

SSA had management controls in place over the service 800-number employees provided during the pandemic. However, two of the three controls were not effectively employed, and the third control did not ensure 800-number callers’ requests were resolved timely and accurately.
SSA management continued reviewing calls answered by 800-number employees during the pandemic, but it did not meet its goal of conducting a monthly minimum of three service observations per employee for any month during the pandemic.
During the pandemic, SSA did not always timely intervene with 800-number employees identified through speech analytics as providing problematic service to callers.
SSA employees in other components were able to close Modernized Development Worksheets created by 800-number employees in response to requests by 800-number callers without taking the requested actions, resulting in some callers making repeated calls to the 800-number to resolve the same issues. Recommendations:
Create a performance standard that requires that teleservice center managers and other employees who conduct service observations conduct a minimum of three service observations for each qualified 800-number employee per month, as required by SSA policy.
Create policy to ensure all problematic calls identified through speech analytics are referred to regional management and regional management intervenes with the 800- number employees referred within defined timeframes to ensure prompt interventions address problematic and/or inadequate customer service. The Social Security Administration’s Hearings Backlog and Average Processing Times (September 2023): Determined whether the Office of Hearing Operations’ (OHO) Compassionate And Responsive Service (CAReS) Plan initiatives had reduced the hearings backlog and average processing times (APT).

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Findings:

While the hearings backlog and APT generally decreased between FYs 2016 and 2022, SSA OIG could not determine whether the CAReS Plan initiatives reduced the hearings backlog and APT.
Since SSA did not establish sufficient metrics to support their correlation to reducing the hearings backlog or APT for 42 of the 45 CAReS Plan initiatives, SSA OIG could not determine the effect the initiatives had on them. Recommendation:
For future CAReS Plan initiatives, SSA should establish and document metrics to measure a direct impact on the hearings backlog and APT. The Social Security Administration’s Telephone Service Disruptions (June 2023): Provided information on the extent of disruptions to SSA’s telephone services and their impact on the public.

Findings:

From May 2021 through December 2022, 40 telephone service disruptions occurred on the national 800-number and field office systems. The majority of these disruptions occurred from October through December 2022 and involved the 800-number.
Disruptions resulted in dropped calls, increased wait times and, in some instances, unavailable automated services. Wait times increased as SSA employees could not take calls during several of the outages. Functionalities such as the “estimated wait time” and the “call back assist” features, which callers used to avoid waiting on the telephone to speak with an SSA employee, were no longer available to callers.
The rate of unanswered calls for those who opted to speak with an employee during each of the service disruptions ranged from 32 to 80 percent. In addition, SSA OIG is following up on SSA’s mail procedures and customer wait times in SSA field offices and card centers and will issue these audits in FY 2024.

Audits Addressing Vulnerable Populations

Since October 1, 2020, SSA OIG has completed seven audits identifying underpayments, potential underpayments, or untimely payments of funds due or benefits to vulnerable populations, such as child beneficiaries, widows, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients, surviving spouses, and beneficiaries whose medical condition was not expected to improve. Potential underpayments identified in these reports totaled almost $640 million.

SSA OIG has additional ongoing work that focuses on services provided to vulnerable populations. Specifically, SSA OIG has work in progress to determine whether SSA implemented planned actions to reduce barriers to accessing its services. SSA OIG is also looking at whether SSA follows policies and procedures to identify and expedite initial disability applications that qualify as priority cases, such as Quick Disability Determination,

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Compassionate Allowance, Terminal Illness, Military Casualty/Wounded Warrior/100% Permanent & Total Disability, Homeless, Presumptive Disability/Blindness, and Hardship cases, among others.

Some individuals cannot manage or direct the management of their finances because of their age and/or mental and/or physical condition. The United States Congress granted SSA the authority to appoint a representative payee to receive and manage these beneficiaries’ payments. A representative payee can be an individual or an organization. In September 2023, SSA OIG reported that SSA did not take appropriate and timely action in response to alleged individual and organizational representative payees’ misuse of benefits and made six recommendations to SSA. SSA OIG continues to review issues impacting these vulnerable populations through in- process work looking at the effectiveness of SSA controls and procedures for monitoring representative payees.

Audits Concerning IT Security at SSA

SSA OIG continues to be concerned as Federal information systems—and the information they hold—are increasingly becoming targets of cyber-attacks. SSA must implement a strong information security program to detect and prevent intrusions. Prior SSA OIG audit1 and investigative work has revealed serious concerns with the security of SSA’s information systems. SSA OIG performs a vital role in ensuring the agency’s IT investments are economically prudent, and inform the agency, the United States Congress, and the American public.

To ensure SSA OIG is positioned to provide timely, effective oversight of SSA’s information security efforts in an ever-changing environment, staff need the necessary knowledge and skills. SSA OIG plans to invest in ongoing training for IT audit staff on evolving technology, new vulnerabilities, and emerging threats. During FY 2023, SSA OIG worked with contractors to assess the effectiveness of SSA’s information security policies, procedures, and practices on a representative subset of the Agency’s information systems. 2 This is required by Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) oversight and allows SSA OIG to perform audits that address imminent cybersecurity threats to SSA. SSA OIG will continue to use contractor support to supplement IT audit resources to complete important audits timely to meet agency needs.

1 See the following reports: Summary of the Audit of the Social Security Administration’s Information Security Program and Practices for Fiscal Year 2023; Summary of the Audit of the Social Security Administration’s Information Security Program and Practices for Fiscal Year 2022; The Social Security Administration's Information Security Program and Practices for Fiscal Year 2021; Security of the Social Security Administration’s Disability Case Processing System; The Social Security Administration’s Implementation of iPaySSA; The Social Security Administration’s Controls Over Malware Introduced by Email Phishing; The Social Security Administration’s Controls Over Malicious Software and Data Exfiltration; Security of the Social Security Administration’s Cloud Environment; and Ransomware Prevention and Response. See the following summaries of contractor reports: Security of the Web Identification, Authentication, and Access Control Systems; and Security of the Earnings Record Maintenance System-Cloud.

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Education and Outreach

Disrupting Social Security-Related Government Imposter Scams

SSA OIG also collaborates with all levels of government, leverages anti-fraud interests of private companies, and engages with special interest groups who focus on combatting fraud and protecting and reaching vulnerable populations. SSA OIG regularly engages with the news media to broaden consumer education efforts, including through television, radio, print, social media, and podcast interviews.

SSA OIG holds an annual Slam the Scam Day to educate the public about the tactics scammers use and encourage the public to hang up on scammers. The fourth annual Slam the Scam Day in 2023 garnered an approximate audience of over 86 million people, including television, radio, online, and print audiences. Further, in collaboration with SSA, SSA OIG provides stakeholders and state disability determination services with training programs, presentations, and outreach materials to help employees better identify potentially fraudulent claims activity and scams. SSA OIG, in collaboration with SSA, plans to lead and expand upon Slam the Scam Day activities and efforts in FY 2025.

In FY 2025, SSA OIG plans to work year-round on scam education. In addition to continuing the efforts described above, the organization will continue to track scam allegations submitted to SSA OIG, issue scam alerts, and increase its social media presence by posting new scam tactics and anti-fraud reminders.

Educating Employees and Contractors on Whistleblower Rights and Protections

SSA OIG’s Whistleblower Protection Coordinator educates agency staff about prohibitions against retaliation against employees who have made, or are contemplating making, a protected disclosure. The coordinator also informs employees about the rights and remedies available if retaliated against for making protected disclosures.

SSA OIG has collaborated with SSA to increase whistleblower education by:

Developing and releasing a two-part educational video that educated approximately 60,000 SSA and SSA OIG employees and 8,000 contractors about the OIG, whistleblower rights and remedies, and the functions of the Whistleblower Protection Coordinator.
Producing distribution materials and virtual posters for display in SSA and SSA OIG offices, all describing whistleblower rights and protections.
Coordinating with SSA’s Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity (OCREO) to develop a Video-on-Demand which will be required for all SSA and SSA OIG managers in FY 2024. In September 2023, SSA OIG organized its first OIG community-wide training event on whistleblower rights and remedies for practitioners, which it planned with more than 10 other OIGs, former U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board members, and key whistleblower rights advocacy groups. The training was made available to the entire OIG community (over 10,000

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invitees). In addition, SSA OIG is currently designing the FYs 2024-2025 educational campaign, “You’ve Got Rights!” which includes a rebranded image and streamlined materials available on a new interactive SharePoint site.

In FY 2025, SSA OIG will continue focusing on strong messaging on whistleblower rights and collaboration with SSA.

Collaborating with SSA

SSA OIG’s auditors continue to engage proactively with SSA, consistent with OMB guidance set forth in OMB Memorandum M-22-04, Promoting Accountability through Cooperation Among Agencies and Inspectors General, issued in December 2021. Through the FY 2025 Budget, SSA OIG will continue to take a balanced approach in its audit work across the SSA OIG-identified management challenges.

SSA OIG also coordinates with SSA to work toward resolving audit recommendations. For example, in March 2023, SSA OIG issued a report summarizing OIG audit recommendations that had not been implemented by SSA as of March 1, 2023. SSA OIG reported total cost savings of approximately $6.3 billion associated with 183 unimplemented audit recommendations. As of September 30, 2023, SSA had reduced the number of unimplemented recommendations to 141 and the associated cost savings to about $5.1 billion. In 2024, SSA OIG plans to start a review that will summarize unimplemented recommendations related to improper payments.

In addition, SSA OIG leadership continue to collaborate with SSA leadership through the National Anti-Fraud Committee (NAFC). The NAFC is an SSA OIG and SSA partnership that supports strategies for combatting fraud, waste, and abuse in SSA programs. The NAFC holds quarterly meetings and an annual anti-fraud summit in which SSA OIG agrees with the SSA on a list of action items to address throughout the year. OMB has heralded the NAFC as a model for agency/OIG partnership consistent with OMB Memo M-22-04.

Engaging with External Stakeholders and Promoting the SSA OIG Mission

SSA OIG keeps the United States Congress informed of its audits, criminal investigations and prosecutions, civil enforcement, public outreach, and education. In addition to providing the Semiannual Report to Congress, SSA OIG provides quarterly scam updates and bi-monthly news spotlights, participates in oversight hearings, and answers constituent requests and timely responds to inquiries from Members of Congress. SSA OIG works to ensure the United States Congress is aware of pressing issues and addresses questions involving fraud, waste, and abuse at SSA.

SSA OIG’s social media pages inform the public, news media, congressional members and staff, and relevant stakeholders about SSA OIG’s work; build public trust; and deter fraud, waste, and

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abuse of SSA programs. SSA OIG uses these communication platforms to build a robust following and positive reputation throughout the Federal government, United States Congress, news media, and the public as a trusted, creative, and engaging source of information.

Strategic Goal 2: Prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse in SSA

programs and operations

SSA OIG’s second strategic goal is to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse in SSA programs and operations, a goal that aligns directly with the core mission of SSA OIG. SSA OIG is responsible for protecting the integrity and efficiency of SSA’s administration of $1.5 trillion in benefit payments annually.

During FY 2023, SSA OIG issued 43 audit reports with recommendations to improve SSA’s programs and operations. During that same time, investigations conducted by SSA OIG resulted in 555 criminal convictions and contributed to over $179 million in monetary accomplishments, which includes court-ordered restitution, recoveries, settlements, judgments, fines, civil and administrative actions, and estimated savings resulting from investigations.

Ensuring Stewardship of SSA Programs

The FY 2025 Budget will allow SSA OIG to continue to focus on stewardship by completing audits that ensure the correct person is paid and benefit payments are accurate by:

Performing data matches with states and other localities and third parties to identify payments made to individuals who are not eligible for benefits;
Reviewing SSA’s adjustment of benefits for beneficiaries who work and may no longer meet the definition of disability; and
Evaluating processes that impact payment accuracy to identify the root cause of errors and challenges SSA faces in resolving overpayments. For example, SSA OIG issued an August 2023 report that matched Oregon death information against SSA records, estimating SSA issued over $10 million in payments after death, and it is completing an audit to match Department of State death information against SSA records. SSA OIG also issued an August 2023 report looking at funds dedicated to addressing program integrity and hearings backlog workloads that identified some errors in workload counts, and issued reports in July 2023 and September 2023 reviewing manual processes and making nine recommendations related to resource-intensive workloads and benefit termination actions.

SSA OIG also issued a September 2022 report on SSA’s Challenges and Successes in Obtaining Data to Determine Eligibility and Payment Amounts to review SSA’s efforts to implement new incoming data exchanges to reduce its reliance on beneficiaries’ self-reporting information that could affect their eligibility and payment amounts. SSA OIG reported that, while SSA has made progress implementing data exchanges to reduce its reliance on beneficiaries self-reporting information, it still has work to do. While some of the challenges SSA encounters when entering data exchanges are beyond its control, SSA could improve its process by implementing a centralized system for administering data exchanges and consider pursuing legislative changes to obtain the data it needs.

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As mentioned, SSA is responsible for issuing approximately $1 trillion in benefit payments annually. Given the amounts involved, even the slightest error in the overall payment process can result in millions of dollars in over- or underpayments. In its FY 2023 Agency Financial Report, SSA estimated it made approximately $8.3 billion in OASDI improper payments and $5.3 billion in SSI improper payments in FY 2022. Of those, $6.5 billion were OASDI overpayments and $4.6 billion in SSI overpayments; $1.8 billion in OASDI underpayments and $0.7 billion in SSI underpayments. SSA OIG audit work helps identify some of the sources of such improper payments. For example:

• In a May 2022 report, SSA OIG estimated SSA employees could have avoided approximately 73,000 OASDI overpayments totaling more than $368 million resulting from incorrect benefit computations.

• In a September 2022 follow-up audit, SSA OIG estimated SSA did not initiate recovery

• In a September 2022 follow-up audit, SSA OIG estimated SSA did not initiate recovery action from over 16,000 beneficiaries whom the agency overpaid about $73 million. • In a September 2023 report, SSA OIG estimated workers’ compensation lump-sum

• In a September 2023 report, SSA OIG estimated workers’ compensation lump-sum settlements were not processed correctly for about 151,000 beneficiaries, resulting in about $360 million in improper payments.

In addition, ongoing audits are looking at the challenges SSA faces in recovering SSI overpayments, and unreported marriages and workers’ compensation benefits that could impact benefit eligibility. SSA OIG continues to follow-up on prior audits and recommendations, and to plan audit work to identify and prevent improper payments.

Detecting and Preventing Social Security Disability Fraud

The CDI Program is an anti-fraud initiative that promotes the integrity of SSA’s disability programs. The CDI Program accomplishes its mission, in part, by closely examining questionable disability claims to stop payment before disability fraud occurs. The program also conducts criminal investigations of in-pay beneficiaries suspected of committing disability fraud, as individuals may have feigned physical impairments, concealed work activity, or failed to report other benefits or earnings to receive disability benefits they are not entitled to receive. In all cases, CDI obtains factual evidence sufficient to resolve questions of fraud and abuse in SSA’s disability programs.

The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 mandated CDI coverage to all 50 states and U.S. territories by October 2022, subject to law enforcement availability. Today, 50 CDI units cover all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and all U.S. territories. Since the program’s inception, CDI investigations have contributed to a projected savings to taxpayers of more than $7.9 billion. Accomplishments of the CDI Program include the following:

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October 1, 2022 - September 30, 2023 Disability claims denied or ceased = 1,114 Projected savings for SSA programs = $74,736,337 Projected savings for non-SSA programs = $93,777,019
October 1, 2021 – September 30, 2022 Disability claims denied or ceased = 1,029 Projected savings for SSA programs = $65,963,545 Projected savings for non-SSA programs = $85,918,896 SSA OIG is committed to the success of the CDI Program by increasing oversight and improving operations through dedicated leadership and management. At the outset of FY 2023, to support the new nationwide operations, SSA OIG implemented a new organizational structure to establish dedicated management over the investigative and operational aspects of the CDI Program. This structure includes a Senior Executive Service position to provide national oversight of the CDI Program. This reorganization established dedicated regional CDI field divisions and increased the number of SSA OIG employees supporting the program from 54 in 2022 to 73 in 2023. In FY 2022, SSA OIG began using the transfer from the allocation adjustment to support CDI program operating costs, consistent with how SSA fully funds its CDI program costs from dedicated program integrity funds.

SSA OIG continuously strives to advance and enhance the CDI Program by identifying and implementing innovative strategies to ensure investigative coverage for the full scope of SSA’s disability programs. In conjunction with SSA, SSA OIG has implemented “CDI Hubs” where existing CDI units conduct investigations in more than one state. In FY 2023, three units operated as hubs, expanding coverage to seven states, eliminating the need for additional office space, and resulting in significant cost savings. SSA and SSA OIG are also harnessing the skillsets and institutional knowledge of reemployed annuitants to serve as CDI investigators in areas where SSA OIG has had difficulty securing a state or local law enforcement partner. In FY 2023, SSA OIG began establishing formal training guidelines to ensure consistent nationwide unit operations. In FY 2025, SSA OIG will continue these plans.

Legal Oversight: Enforcing the Social Security Act

SSA OIG is responsible for enforcing Section 1140 of the Social Security Act, which, in part, protects consumers from misleading SSA-related communications by prohibiting the use of SSA words, acronyms, products, symbols, and other SSA-related images in communications to convey a false association with or authorization by SSA.

SSA OIG combats Section 1140 violations involving imposter websites, emails, telephone solicitations, U.S. mail, radio, television, Internet broadcasts, app stores, and social media platforms through education and enforcement. SSA OIG educates businesses and individuals, assists entities and individuals in understanding and complying with Section 1140, and, as appropriate takes enforcement and corrective action, through Civil Monetary Penalties (CMPs) against entities operating in violation of Section 1140.

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For example, in FY 2023, SSA OIG:

Engaged with Meta, LinkedIn, Microsoft, and Twitter to proactively combat imposter social media accounts and pages that conveyed the impression of an affiliation with SSA.
Presented at key telecommunications conferences to increase industry awareness about Section 1140’s applicability and the implications of committing Section 1140 violations.
Launched an outreach program to State Attorney General offices and other Federal agencies to enhance ongoing enforcement actions and deter future violations.
Partnered with SSA to release a training module for SSA employees and contractors on how to identify possible violations of Section 1140 and report them to SSA OIG.
Sent Notice of Section 1140 educational letters to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) informing these ISPs that operators of certain Internet Protocol addresses repeatedly attempted fraudulent transmissions to access SSA’s Business Services Online portal, placing the ISPs on notice before a potential enforcement action.
Collected lists of domain names that contain SSA-related protected words under Section 1140 and could convey the false impression that such domains are approved, endorsed, or authorized by SSA, and worked to disable these misleading domains. In FY 2025, SSA OIG will increase Section 1140 outreach to the telecommunications industry and continue to participate in external presentations, distribute ISP education mailers, hold educational and potential partnership meetings, provide law firm education, and take enforcement action and impose CMPs as necessary.

Strategic Goal 3: Optimize operations

SSA OIG’s third strategic goal is to optimize operations through five key initiatives: (1) intragovernmental collaboration; (2) modernizing information technology systems; (3) data analytics; (4) cybersecurity; and (5) cost-saving efforts.

Intragovernmental Collaboration

To leverage collective experience and resources across the Federal government, SSA OIG collaborates with other governmental entities to promote economy and efficiency in investigations. In FY 2023, SSA OIG collaborated with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Civil Division, and other Federal law enforcement agencies on investigations related to imposter scams and elder justice initiatives. SSA OIG also participates in committees, subcommittees, and workgroups under the auspices of CIGIE, including the Investigations, Technology, and Audit committees. These partnerships facilitate collaboration within the IG community to share best practices, training, and professional development opportunities. SSA OIG will continue to pursue new partnerships and collaborations strategically and proactively in FY 2025.

SSA OIG proactively shares data, information, and best practices with partner organizations to support a government-wide approach to combatting fraud and protecting American citizens. In June 2021, SSA OIG began sharing information collected via its online imposter scam complaint form with the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network. SSA OIG also shares reports of COVID-19 pandemic-related unemployment insurance fraud with the U.S. Department of Labor OIG. These efforts provide hundreds of law enforcement agencies with timely access

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to the fraud data collected. SSA OIG actively participates in national security investigations with the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of their network of Joint Terrorist Task Forces (JTTF) around the country. SSA OIG brings a wealth of data and expertise in identity- related matters to JTTF investigations. Further, SSA OIG leadership serves as members on JTTF executive boards throughout the nation.

SSA OIG continues to assist State Attorneys General Offices in their ongoing efforts to combat robocalls affecting their citizens. As part of the national Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, a group of 49 attorneys general proceeded to bring legal action against a company, its owner, and vice president for allegedly initiating and facilitating billions of illegal robocalls to millions of people and violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, and other Federal and state telemarketing and consumer laws. SSA OIG’s Digital Forensics Division, Intelligence and Analysis Unit, assisted by analyzing 1.2 billion source call numbers using technology to perform a match between the call numbers and an in-house data set containing SSA, law enforcement, private sector, financial institutions, and government phone numbers. The analysis of the file revealed 5,802 spoofed call numbers, which included 3,386 spoofed SSA call numbers. Most of the remaining spoofed numbers included various Federal, state, and local law enforcement entities.

Modernizing Information Technology Systems

Over the past several years, SSA OIG has made significant progress in modernizing and transforming applications that support investigative processes and workloads, as well as its administrative applications. In FY 2023, SSA OIG used dedicated modernization funding for new capabilities and critical enhancements. To meet the SSA OIG’s investigative needs, IT specialists and contractors continue to perform maintenance and enhance the Investigative Case Management System to ensure a secure, stable, and scalable platform. SSA OIG does this through infrastructure improvements and by incorporating new functionality. SSA OIG is continuing to explore additional opportunities to meet technological needs, including mobile and Generative Artificial Intelligence.

SSA OIG is modernizing administrative applications with business process management solutions and new databases. In FY 2023, SSA OIG implemented new applications to support human resources, budget, and property management workloads. In FY 2024, continuing to execute its multi-year IT Modernization plan, SSA OIG will develop a new legal support system for SSA OIG attorneys, and redesign web forms used by the public to report alleged fraud and imposter scams from the public. Modernizing has enabled SSA OIG to retire antiquated applications while simultaneously responding to customer needs.

Building on the success of integrating Natural Language Processing (NLP) into the Investigative Case Management System, SSA OIG continues to modernize NLP, with plans to incorporate additional topics and functionality. This technology helps drive decision-making by increasing automation and reducing human resources, which can be reallocated to different areas of investigative field work.

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In FY 2025, SSA OIG will continue IT maintenance and enhancements, improve usability and functionality, and enhance business processes by integrating applications.

Data Analytics

SSA OIG’s data analytics program continues to identify ways to improve operational efficiency, refine strategic decision-making, and maximize the organizational impact of data. This program is made possible by accessing SSA’s vast and diverse datasets, as well as collaborating with private, public, and governmental entities.

SSA OIG is in the process of constructing a data analytics platform, which will serve as a secure access point for all SSA OIG data needs. It will house data and analytical tools to increase operational efficiency and data security. The new platform will replace manual redundancies and inefficiencies. Auditors can use the platform to analyze large data sets, while investigators can run queries that generate automatic results. Other SSA OIG employees can review internal datasets (e.g., budget, travel, and training) to efficiently track, analyze, and project expenditures.

In FY 2024, SSA OIG will continue expanding analytical capabilities. Through the deployment of several reporting tools, SSA OIG will provide data drill-down and filtering capabilities, allowing SSA OIG to leverage data in innovative ways, enhancing efficiency and accessibility.

Cybersecurity

As cyber threats evolve, SSA OIG continues to facilitate intercomponent coordination, education, and exchange of cyber efforts through the SSA OIG Cybersecurity Workgroup. The Workgroup collaborates to remediate security vulnerabilities and manages security assessment activities to ensure continued compliance with Federal regulations and agency policy. Continued maturation of cyber response processes includes tracking and remediation of identified risks and incident response as required. SSA OIG is committed to advance toward zero-trust architecture to ensure least-privileged access to OIG’s enterprise applications and data. In addition, audit reviews are conducted per the standards of the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) of 2014. The evaluation and effectiveness of SSA’s information security program is based on the prescribed SSA OIG FISMA Reporting Metrics. Evaluation includes testing the effectiveness of information security policies, procedures, and practices of some of SSA’s information systems.

SSA OIG continues to be a contributing member of the SSA Insider Threat Hub, providing valuable cyber and investigative expertise during inquiries of mutual interest. SSA OIG also continues to leverage partnerships with external agencies for coordination on cyber matters of mutual interest.

Cost-saving Efforts

SSA OIG is committed to maximizing its resources through several cost-saving efforts, including analyzing options to consolidate office space to reduce its overall footprint. For example, in

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Office of the Inspector General

FY 2023, SSA OIG collocated investigative office space with the SSA CDI Unit in St. Paul, Minnesota reducing the overall footprint and rental cost for both SSA OIG and SSA.

Additionally, the Santa Ana, California office was reduced to align with the actual space needs of that location. Also, in FY 2023, SSA OIG successfully terminated leases in two locations as follows, (1) transferred a lease for an office space which was not fully utilized in El Paso, Texas to another Federal agency that required office space, and (2) closed an office in Bangor, ME. As SSA OIG continues to offer flexible work opportunities to employees, the organization will continue its review of office staffing levels and analysis of office Occupancy Agreements to potentially reduce its physical footprint and maximize office space spending.

SSA OIG also enhances organizational efficiency by centralizing several logistical and operational efforts, including central management of office furniture and supplies. In the past, some SSA OIG field employees (investigators and auditors) took on additional duties to facilitate SSA OIG office moves and projects. In FY 2023, SSA OIG headquarters logistics staff supported office moves onsite in St. Paul, Minnesota and El Paso, TX, providing hands-on assistance to SSA OIG field employees and ensuring efficient, successful completion of these projects. SSA OIG envisions expanding these centralized logistics efforts in FY 2025 and beyond, realizing the benefit of leveraging dedicated staff to complete these efforts timely and efficiently.

Strategic Goal 4: Strengthen our workforce

SSA OIG’s fourth strategic goal is focused on strengthening our workforce and improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. SSA OIG is committed to building an innovative and agile organization by attracting, developing, and retaining a high-performing, inclusive, and diverse workforce and providing them the resources to maximize their individual potential and improve operations.

Employee Training and Recognition

To develop and maintain a workforce capable of responding to future demands, SSA OIG leadership continues to empower its managers to consider and approve job-specific trainings and programs that will increase employee knowledge, skills, and abilities to help them carry out their assigned roles and responsibilities.

Examples of SSA OIG programs include:

The Professional Development Program (PDP) reviews requests for prestigious and in- demand developmental trainings. The PDP provides a consistent and equitable process for all employees to be considered for these developmental opportunities.
Through an agreement with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), all SSA OIG leaders receive 360-degree assessments at least once over a three-year period, affording them an opportunity to receive meaningful, actionable feedback from their supervisor, peers, direct reports, and other colleagues.
SSA OIG also recognizes employees’ achievements, in accordance with previous OMB

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

and OPM guidance that “strategic awards and recognition programs add value to organizations and support the retention of high-performing employees and those with mission-critical skillsets.” To ensure a vibrant workforce, free of discrimination, harassment, and prohibited

• To ensure a vibrant workforce, free of discrimination, harassment, and prohibited personnel practices, SSA OIG provides training to OIG management on personnel topics and best management practices.

• In FY 2025, SSA OIG plans to develop a comprehensive communication and training

• In FY 2025, SSA OIG plans to develop a comprehensive communication and training program related to policy changes, so all OIG employees can be properly trained and timely informed about OIG-wide policies.

The FY 2025 Budget Request includes almost $1 million to provide the training programs outlined above, which are only a subset of the many employee development programs and trainings offered to the SSA OIG workforce.

Recruitment and Retention Efforts

SSA OIG does, however, face immediate succession-planning challenges. Twenty percent of the workforce is retirement eligible as of December 2023, with the majority of the employees being criminal investigators. An additional 20 percent will become retirement-eligible in the next five years. To prepare for these upcoming retirements, and as part of a broader strategic staffing plan, SSA OIG issued more than 80 job opportunity announcements in FY 2023, for positions across the organization, in different series and grades.

In FY 2023, SSA OIG established a new component, the Office of Workforce Performance and Development (OWPD). OWPD’s primary areas of focus are training and professional development; diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) activities; and employee engagement. In FY 2023, OWPD implemented a new employee orientation and onboarding program (NEO), which communicates important program and policy information and assists employees in acclimating to their new roles. SSA OIG’s orientation program establishes a strong foundation for the employer-employee relationship–one that increases employee engagement, reduces turnover, and develops a strong organization. In FY 2023, OWPD launched the PEER (Prepare, Engage, Encourage, Relate) program. This program serves as a companion program to the NEO program. The PEER Program provides informal onboarding support, pairing new employees with a current employee in a similar role for the first 90 days, allowing new employees to experience a warm welcome, have a familiar face around the office, and know what to expect as they become acclimated with the OIG organization. Also in FY 2023, OWPD launched a virtual speed networking program, and affinity/advisory council information sessions. OWPD collaborated with OIT and launched a SSA OIG internal customer service help desk. In FY 2025, OWPD will create and implement new employee engagement activities, maintain and

Office of the Inspector General

improve current programs, and keep working to infuse DEIA practices into the culture of SSA OIG.

To attract and retain talented criminal investigators, SSA OIG has partnered with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to develop a detailed skills assessment for applicants to ensure SSA OIG is hiring the best and brightest candidates that meet the professional needs of the agency. As new investigators join the organization, a New Agent and Transitional Training Program has been developed to facilitate their transition.

Diversity and Inclusion

In FY 2022, SSA OIG established its own DEIA Council to strengthen the organization’s ability to recruit, hire, develop, promote, and retain talent, and to identify and remove any barriers to equal opportunity.

In FY 2023, the DEIA Council promoted diversity and inclusion by recommending trainings, commemorating cultural observances, and participating in nine recruitment events and special interest conferences. The DEIA Council was a strong advocate for the 30 x 30 Initiative, which supports increasing opportunities for women in law enforcement. OWPD and OCSO collaborated with SSA’s Office of Native American Partnerships (ONAP), and SSA OIG’s DEIA Council to have SSA OIG recruitment materials and scam awareness materials added to ONAP’s guidebook, which is shared with tribal nations across the country.

In FY 2024, the DEIA Council and OWPD partnered to develop the FY 2024 – 2028 DEIA Strategic plan. The Plan will assist efforts to infuse DEIA into the OIG and direct our path forward for the next five years.

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

The SSA OIG annual appropriation consists of appropriations from both the general fund and the trust funds. The President’s Budget for FY 2025 consists of $34,000,000 appropriated from the general fund, and $87,254,000, which will be transferred and expended as authorized by Section 201(g) (1) of the Social Security Act from the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund. The table below displays budget authority, split by type of funding, and obligations.

Table 4.2—OIG Budget Authority and Amounts Available for Obligation

	FY 2023 Actual	FY 2024 Estimate	FY 2025 President's Budget	FY24 to FY25 Change
FTE	500	516	531	15
General Fund Appropriation	$32,000,000	$32,000,000	$34,000,000	$2,000,000
Trust Fund Appropriation	$82,665,000	$82,665,000	$87,254,000	$4,589,000
Subtotal:1	$114,665,000	$114,665,000	$121,254,000	$6,589,000
No-Year Carryover(IT Mod)	$2,000,000	$1,961,476	$361,476	($1,600,000)
Program Integrity Transfer2	$15,100,000	$19,100,0003	$19,600,000	$500,000
Program Integrity Carryover4	$1,017,6415	$281,569	$616,571	$335,002
Total Authority:6	$132,782,641	$136,008,045	$141,832,047	$5,824,002
Total Obligation6	$129,607,9217	$135,030,000	$141,215,500	$5,824,002
Unobligated balance lapsing	$931,675	$0	$0	$0

1 Of the amount, $2 million is available for IT Modernization in each year. 2 P.L. 117-328 allowed SSA to transfer $15.1 million in FY 2023 from the LAE account to the OIG for the costs

4 SSA OIG’s share of PI cap/allocation adjustment is an 18-month account. The carryover represents the unobligated funds that will be obligated within the first six months of the following fiscal year. 5 In FY 2022, SSA OIG experienced delays in the of onboarding additional employees to support the CDI program.

Budget requests a $19.6 million transfer. 3 The FY 2025 President’s Budget assumes the Fiscal Responsibility Act (P.L. 118-5) level for the program integrity cap adjustment in FY 2024. The SSA Congressional Justification assumes a $19.1 million transfer from the LAE account to the OIG for costs associated with jointly operated CDI unit costs in FY 2024, the same level as in the FY 2024 President’s Budget. See the Program Integrity exhibit in the LAE section for more information. 4 SSA OIG’s share of PI cap/allocation adjustment is an 18-month account. The carryover represents the

5 In FY 2022, SSA OIG experienced delays in the of onboarding additional employees to support the CDI program. Therefore, SSA OIG’s PI carryover funds into FY 2023 were higher than originally estimated. 6 Total Obligations for IT Modernization include $2 million in FY 2023, $3.6 million in FY 2024 and $2.4 million in

6 Total Obligations for IT Modernization include $2 million in FY 2023, $3.6 million in FY 2024 and $2.4 million in FY 2025. 7 Total Obligations in FY 2023 reflect actuals through January 2024.

7 Total Obligations in FY 2023 reflect actuals through January 2024.

Table 4.3—Explanation of OIG Budget Changes

	FY 2024		FY 20251		Change
WYs(FTEs)	Obligations	WYs(FTEs)	Obligations	WYs(FTEs)	Obligations
BUILT-ININCREASES
Payroll Expenses	516	$118,602,200	516	$118,602,200	-	$0
·Change in base payroll expenses related to career ladder promotions,and within-grade increases	-	-	-	$974,500	-	$974,500
·Change in base expenses for employee benefits including health benefits and new employees hired under the Federal Retirement Employees System	-	-	-	$334,000	-	$334,000
Non-Payroll CostsAll other built-in non-payroll changes,travel management support and equipment	-	$12,384,100	-	$14,585,600	-	2,201,500
Rent	-	$4,043,700	-	$4,043,700	-
Subtotal,Built-inincreasesPROGRAMINCREASES	516	$135,030,000	516	$138,540,000	-	$3,510,000
Payroll IncreaseNet Increase in OIG WYs	-	-	15	$2,903,700	15	$2,903,700
Subtotal,ProgramIncreases	-	-	15	$2,903,700	15	$2,903,700
Total Increases	516	$135,030,000	531	$141,443,700	15	$6,413,700

	FY 2024		FY 2025		Change
	WYs(FTEs)	BudgetaryResources	WYs(FTEs)	BudgetaryResources	WYs(FTEs)	BudgetaryResources
BUILT-INDECREASES
Base PayrollExpenses一Decreasein all other payrollcosts	-	-	-	-	-	-
Non-Payroll Costs
Rent				($228,200)		$281,400
Subtotal,Built-indecreases	0	0	0	($228,200)	0	$281,400
PROGRAMDECREASES	-	-	0	-	-	-
Decrease in costsfor training,othersupport,services,and supplies
Subtotal,ProgramDecreases	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total Decreases	0	$0	0	($228,200)	0	$281,400
Net Change^{2}$	516	$135,030,000	531	$141,215,500	15	$6,185,500

Table 4.4—Budget Resources by Object

	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025	FY24 to FY25 Change
Full-time permanent	$72,491,900	$83,672,700	$86,865,600	$3,192,900
Other than full-time permanent	$485,600	$510,900	$521,100	$10,200
Other compensation	$1,329,800	$1,210,000	$1,222,100	$12,100
Subtotal，Personnel Compensation	$74,307,300	$85,393,600	$88,608,800	$3,215,200
Civilian personnel benefits	$34,380,000	$33,208,600	$34,201,700	$993,100
Total，Compensation and Benefits	$108,531,200	$118,602,200	$122,810,500	$4,208,300
Travel	$2,428,500	$2,907,100	$3,385,300	$478,200

2 Total includes funding from Program Integrity Transfer and IT Modernization no-year funding.

Office of the Inspector General

	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025	FY24 to FY25 Change
Transportation of things	$59,000	$65,000	$50,700	($14,300)
Rental payments to GSA	$3,997,700	$3,794,700	$3,551,000	($243,700)
Rental payments to others	$56,000	$65,000	$74,700	$9,700
Communications, utilities,and others	$467,000	$184,000	$193,800	$9,800
Printing and reproduction	$3,300	$3,000	$4,400	$1,400
Other services	$8,627,000	$8,305,000	$9,826,200	$1,521,200
Supplies and materials	$214,000	$127,000	$175,700	$48,700
Equipment	$3,408,100	$962,000	$993,200	$31,200
Insurance Claims	$0	$0	$0	$0
Land and Structure	$1,660,000	$15,000	$150,000	$135,000
Total BudgetaryResources^{3}$	$129,607,900	$135,030,000	$141,215,500	$6,185,500

Table 4.5—FTE Employment and WYs

	FY2023Actual	FY2024Estimate	FY2025President'sBudget
FTE	500	516	531
Overtime/Lump Sum Leave	1	1	1
Total:	501	517	532

Table 4.6—Average Grade and Salary

	FY 2023 Actual
Average ES	$195,600
Average GS	13
Average GS Salary	$130,800

3 Total includes funding from Program Integrity Transfer and IT Modernization no-year funding.

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 2015 to FY 2025.

Table 4.7—Appropriation History Table

Fiscal Year	Budget Estimate to Congress	House Committee Passed	Senate Committee Passed	Enacted Appropriation
General Funds	$29,000,000	$28,829,000		$29,000,000
Trust Funds	$75,622,000	$74,249,000		$74,350,000
2015 Total	$104,622,000	$103,078,000^{1}$		$103,350,000^{2}$
General Funds	$31,000,000	$30,000,000	$28,829,000	$29,787,000
Trust Funds	$78,795,000	$78,795,000	$74,521,000	$75,713,000
2016 Total	$109,795,000	$108,795,000^{3}$	$103,350,000^{4}$	$105,500,000^{5}$
General Funds	$31,000,000	$29,787,000	$29,787,000	$29,787,000
Trust Funds	$81,000,000	$75,713,000	$75,713,000	$75,713,000
2017 Total	$112,000,000	$105,500,000^{6}$	$105,500,000^{7}$	$105,500,000^{8}$
General Funds	$30,000,000	$29,796,270	$29,796,270	$30,000,000
Trust Funds	$75,500,000	$74,987,280	$74,987,280	$75,500,000
2018 Total	$105,500,000	$104,783,550^{9}$	$104,783,550^{10}$	$105,500,000^{11}$
General Funds	$30,000,000	$31,000,000	$30,000,000	$30,000,000
Trust Funds	$75,500,000	$77,500,000	$75,500,000	$75,500,000
2019 Total	$105,500,000	$108,500,000^{12}$	$105,500,000^{13}$	$105,500,000^{14}$
General Funds	$30,000,000	$31,000,000	$30,000,000	$30,000,000
Trust Funds	$75,500,000	$77,500,000	$75,500,000	$75,500,000

1 H.R. 5464.

2 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235).

3 H.R. 3020

3 H.R. 3020 4 S. 1695.

H.R. 3020 4 S. 1695.

Office of the Inspector General

5 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113). 6

H.R. 5926. 7

S. 3040. 8 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (P.L. 115-31). 9 Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-56). Funding includes a rescission of 0.6791% of FY 2017 appropriation. The $30,000,000 in general funds and $75,500,000 in trust funds included in the language for this account for FY 2018 were reduced by $415,284 and $301,166 respectively, in accordance with

P.L. 115-56. 10 Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-56). Funding includes a rescission of

0.6791% of FY 2017 appropriation. The $30,000,000 in general funds and $75,500,000 in trust funds included in the language for this account for FY 2018 were reduced by $415,284 and $301,166 respectively, in accordance with P.L. 115-56. 11 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (P.L. 115-56). 12

H.R. 6157. 13

H.R. 6157. 14 Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019 and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019 (P.L. 115-245). 15

H.R. 1865. 16

H.R. 1865. 17 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-94). 18

H.R. 133. 19

H.R. 133. 20 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260). 21

H.R. 4502. 22

H.R. 4502. 23 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (P.L. 117-103) 24

H.R. 2617. 25

H.R. 2617. 26 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117- 328)

FY 2025 Congressional Justification

Social Security Administration

Annual Performance Plan for Fiscal Year 2025

Revised Performance Plan for Fiscal Year 2024

Annual Performance Report for Fiscal Year 2023

Table of Content

Message from the Commissioner ... 3 Social Security Overview ... 5 Vision ... 5 Mission ... 5 Programs ... 5 Organization ... 6 Performance Planning and Reporting ... 7 Strategic Framework ... 7 Cross-Agency Priority Goals ... 8 Agency Priority Goals ... 8 Performance Measures At A Glance ... 10 Strategic Goal 1: Optimize the Experience of SSA Customers ... 11 Strategic Objective 1.1: Identify and Address Barriers to Accessing Services ... 11 Strategic Objective 1.2: Expand Digital Services ... 17 Strategic Objective 1.3: Build a Customer-Focused Organization ... 22 Strategic Goal 2: Build an Inclusive, Engaged, and Empowered Workforce ... 27 Strategic Objective 2.1: Promote Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in Hiring and Advancement ... 27 Strategic Objective 2.2: Support Employees’ Chosen Career Paths ... 31 Strategic Goal 3: Ensure Stewardship of SSA Programs ... 36 Strategic Objective 3.1: Improve the Accuracy and Administration of Our Programs ... 36 Strategic Objective 3.2: Identify and Eliminate Potential Barriers to Access Contracts and Grants ... 41 Strategic Objective 3.3: Improve Organizational Performance and Policy Implementation ... 45 Budgeted Workload Measure ... 49 Major Management and Performance Challenges ... 52 Challenges Identified by the Office of the Inspector General in FY 2023 ... 52 Additional Challenges Identified by Our Leadership ... 55 Appendices ... 57 Appendix A: Program Assessments ... 57 Appendix B: How We Ensure Our Data Integrity ... 68 Appendix C: Changes to Performance Measures ... 70 Appendix D: Summary of Key Management Officials’ Responsibilities ... 73

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 2

Message from the Commissioner

As the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), I present our Annual Performance Plan for Fiscal Year 2025, Revised Performance Plan for Fiscal Year 2024, and Annual Performance Report for Fiscal Year 2023, which details our priorities and goals for the next two fiscal years and our accomplishments in the past fiscal year.

We are an outstanding organization with dedicated public servants, yet we are struggling to overcome significant challenges, resulting in our current customer service crisis. Millions of people depend on us as their financial safety net, and it is imperative that we provide them with timely, quality service. We recognize people have been waiting far too long for vital services, brought on by years of underfunding and staffing shortages.

We are prioritizing the reduction of our record backlogs in processing disability cases. Nationally, our customers are waiting nearly eight months for a decision on an initial disability claim, which is far too long. We are working diligently to assist the State disability determination services (DDS), which have struggled to hire and retain the staff necessary to make timely disability decisions. We are using technology to serve more beneficiaries than ever before and exploring new ways to increase efficiency and productivity. For example, we established a Federal cross-agency team dedicated to increasing DDS processing capacity and reducing claims backlogs.

Millions of customers count on our National 800 Number technicians to answer important questions, and we know many people have experienced lengthy delays waiting to speak with an agent, particularly during our peak call periods. We recently transitioned our National 800 Number from an outdated service platform to our Next Generation Telephony Project. Although we expect the new system to make major improvements to reduce customer hold times and improve service by providing stable, reliable, and accessible phone service to the public, it will not fully resolve our phone service issues. We must also increase our teleservice center staffing and retain qualified staff to provide callers with timely service and improve the customer experience.

We are committed to ensuring that our programs and services are reaching the elderly, underserved communities, and other people facing potential barriers to accessing our services, including individuals with low income, limited English proficiency, mental and intellectual disabilities, and/or facing homelessness. We are listening to our customers—and our employees on the frontlines—and commit to improving the customer experience and agency performance.

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 3

As good stewards of our programs, we strive to reduce improper payments and combat waste, fraud, and abuse through our quality reviews, cost-effective program integrity work, and payment accuracy efforts. We will fight against malicious cyber campaigns that threaten our security and privacy, placing cybersecurity at the forefront of our effort to protect the sensitive information entrusted to us. I affirm that the performance data in this report is complete, reliable, and accurate.

Respectfully,

Martin O’Malley

Baltimore, Maryland March 11, 2024

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 4

Social Security Overview

Vision

Provide income security for the diverse population we serve.

Mission

Ensure equity and accessibility in delivering Social Security services by improving the customer experience and addressing systemic barriers to participation in our programs.

Programs

Few government agencies affect the lives of as many people as we do. We administer three programs under the Social Security Act, as amended:

Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI): Established in 1935, the OASI program provides monthly retirement and survivors benefits to qualified workers and their family members. In fiscal year (FY) 2023, we paid OASI benefits to an average of approximately 58 million beneficiaries each month and we paid almost $1.2 trillion to OASI beneficiaries through the fiscal year.
Disability Insurance (DI): Established in 1956, the DI program provides monthly benefits for workers who become disabled and their families. In FY 2023, we paid DI benefits to an average of approximately 9 million beneficiaries each month and we paid $149.4 billion to DI beneficiaries through the fiscal year.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI): Established in 1972, the SSI program provides monthly financial support to aged, blind, and disabled adults and children who have limited income and resources. In FY 2023, we paid SSI benefits to a monthly average of 7.5 million recipients (approximately 2.5 million of whom concurrently receive OASI or DI benefits) and we paid over $63 billion in SSI Federal benefits and State supplementary payments through the fiscal year. In addition, we support national programs administered by other Federal and State agencies, as required by law, such as Medicare, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, State Children’s Health Insurance Program, E-Verify, Medicaid, and Federal Benefits for Veterans, and programs associated with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefit Act, and Help America Vote Act. We administer our programs in accordance with law and regulations. We have implemented enterprise risk management processes to improve the effectiveness of our organization and program administration. Our goals are informed by strategic opportunities as well as our assessment of program evaluations, our Learning Agenda, and identified risks. Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 5

Organization

As of the end of FY 2023, over 61,000 Federal employees and 15,000 State employees served the public from a network of more than 1,500 offices across the country and around the world. We administer our programs and services online, by phone, by video, and in person in our offices. Our customers can access online services such as applying for retirement, disability, and Medicare benefits; checking the status of an application or appeal; or requesting a replacement Social Security card.

A diverse, engaged, and well-trained workforce is critical to meeting our service delivery goals. Our employees either directly serve the public or provide support to employees who do. We support our workforce throughout their chosen career paths by fostering an engaging workplace environment and by providing training and development opportunities.

DDSs make disability determinations for initial claims, reconsiderations, continuing disability reviews (CDR), and CDR appeals. Challenges with hiring and retaining staff have limited the DDSs’ capacity to improve disability workload performance.

Administrative law judges (ALJ) in our hearing offices and administrative appeals judges in our Appeals Council decide appealed cases. By the end of FY 2024, we plan to achieve our goal of eliminating the ALJ disability hearings backlog.

Our processing centers (PC) handle the most complex benefit payment decisions, in addition to issuing benefit payments after appeals decisions, determining and collecting debt, correcting records, and performing program integrity work.

Our teleservice centers answer a broad range of Social Security and Medicare questions, schedule appointments for our field offices, provide status updates on current claims or appeals, and ensure the accuracy of our records.

For more information about our organization and its functions, visit our organizational structure webpage.

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 6

Performance Planning and Reporting

Strategic Framework

This Annual Performance Report addresses the strategic goals, objectives, and strategies in our Agency Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2022–2026 as required by the Government Performance and Results (GPRA) Modernization Act of 2010. We assess our progress by the performance measures and targets for each strategic objective.

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 7

Cross-Agency Priority Goals

The GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 requires agencies to address Cross-Agency Priority Goals in our strategic plan and the annual performance plan. Refer to Performance.gov for our contributions to those goals and progress.

Agency Priority Goals

Agency Priority Goals (APG) are 24-month goals that reflect our top performance improvement priorities and key commitments for advancing the President’s Management Agenda, as required by the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010. We established three APGs for FYs 2022–2023 and FYs 2024– 2025, continuing our efforts to improve performance in the same priority areas. Our APGs support multiple objectives across our strategic plan. The following tables include our prior and new APGs and targets, FY 2023 results, and the strategic objectives most closely aligned with each APG. Visit Performance.gov for more information about how our APGs reflect our key priorities.

FYs 2022-2023 Agency Priority Goals	FY 2023 Target	FY 2023 Results
Improve Equity in the Supplemental Security Income Program
Improve equity in our Supplemental Security Income program through increased outreach and improved benefit delivery, including to communities of color and underserved communities
Strategic Objective 1.1: Identify and Address Barriers to Accessing Services	By September 30,2023,increase the number of all SSI applications by 15 percent,relative to the 2021 baseline,restoring rates closer to pre-pandemic levels
By September 30,2023,increase the number of SSI applications from underserved communities by 25 percent,relative to the 2021 baseline	We received about 1.74 million SSI initial claims,which was about 1 percent short of our target
Our FY 2023 underserved applications target was about 128,000,and we exceeded it by receiving nearly 135,000 SSI initial claims from underserved communities
Improve the National 800 Number Service
Improve the customer experience by reducing the Average Speed of Answer on the National 800 Number
Strategic Objective 1.3:Build a Customer-Focused Organization	By September 30,2023,achieve an average speed of answer of less than 12 minutes,including implementation of estimated wait time and call back options	Our FY 2023 average speed of answer was 35.8 minutes
Improve Initial Disability Claims*
Improve the customer experience by reducing the average processing time for initial disability claims and by prioritizing those individuals who have waited the longest for initial disability determinations
Strategic Objective 1.3:Build a Customer-Focused Organization	By September 30,2023,achieve an average processing time for initial disability claims of 164 days
By September 30,2023,decide 85 percent of pending initial disability claims that begin the final year 180 days old or older	Our FY 2023 average processing time for initial disability claims was 218 days
We decided 365,215(about 97 percent)of initial claims that started FY 2023 180 days old or older exceeding our target.

Strategic Objective 1.3: Build a Customer-Focused Organization

*Focus Area for Improvement

Improve the customer experience by reducing the average processing time for initial disability claims and by prioritizing those individuals who have waited the longest for initial disability determinations

FYs 2024-2025 Agency Priority Goals	FY 2025 Target
Improve Equity in the Supplemental Security Income Program
Improve equity in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program by increasing underpayment processing of our oldest and highest priority cases, including those disproportionately impacted by poverty
Strategic Objective 1.1: Identify and Address Barriers to Accessing Services	By September 30,2025, complete 98 percent of SSI underpayments that have been identified as priority cases or pending for a year or more at the beginning of fiscal year 2024
Improve the National 800 Number Service
Improve the customer experience by reducing the wait time to answer the phone on the National 800 Number
Strategic Objective 1.3: Build a Customer-Focused Organization	By September 30,2025, achieve an average speed of answer of 12 minutes1including implementation of estimated wait time and call back options2
$ \mathrm{^{1}} $ We will continue to evaluate this aspirational goal as we gain experience with a new phone system and monitor the impact of a current FY 2024 hiring freeze on the number of phone agents.
$ \mathrm{^{2}} $ This target is also a budgeted workload measure.
Improve Initial Disability Claims
Improve the customer experience by reducing the wait time for an initial disability claim decision
Strategic Objective 1.3: Build a Customer-Focused Organization	By September 30,2025, achieve an average processing time for initial disability claims of 215 days3
By September 30,2025, decide 92 percent of pending initial disability claims that begin the fiscal year 180 days old or older
$ \mathrm{^{3}} $ This target is also a budgeted workload measure.

Performance Measures At A Glance

The following table shows our FYs 2024 and 2025 performance measures (excluding agency priority goals and budgeted workload measures), aligned with the strategic goals and objectives in our FYs 2022–2026 Agency Strategic Plan.

Strategic Goal 1: Optimize the Experience of SSA Customers

1.1: Identify and Address Barriers to 1.1a: Redesign SSA’s website to enhance the user’s online experience Accessing Services 1.1b: Collect Customer Feedback 1.2: Expand Digital Services 1.2a: Increase the number of successfully completed online transactions 1.3: Build a Customer-Focused 1.3a: Provide uninterrupted access to our systems during scheduled times of operations Organization 1.3b: Modernize evidence acquisition systems to drive increased electronic medical evidence volumes through a multi-channel strategy 1.3c: Improve customer service by addressing the number of actions pending at the processing centers Strategic Goal 2: Build an Inclusive, Engaged, and Empowered Workforce

2.1: Promote Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, 2.1a: Increase the use of workforce data analyses to support strategic workforce planning and and Accessibility in Hiring and decision making Advancement 2.2: Support Employees’ Chosen Career 2.2a: Improve employee engagement Paths 2.2b: Ensure new supervisors receive timely leadership training 2.2c: Strengthen manager accountability for effective performance management Strategic Goal 3: Ensure Stewardship of SSA Programs

3.1: Improve the Accuracy and 3.1a: Improve the integrity of the Supplemental Security Income Program by focusing our Administration of Our Programs efforts on reducing overpayments 3.1b: Maintain a high payment accuracy rate by reducing overpayments, in the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Program 3.1c: Ensure the quality of our decisions by achieving the State disability determination services decisional accuracy rate for initial disability decisions 3.1d: Maintain effective cybersecurity and privacy programs 3.2: Identify and Eliminate Potential 3.2a: Achieve Small Business Administration annual scorecard success in contracting with Barriers to Access Contracts and Grants Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Zone, Woman-Owned, Veteran-Owned, and Small Disadvantaged Businesses

3.2b: Increase funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Institutions Serving Students of Color (ISSC) 3.3: Improve Organizational Performance 3.3a: Reduce our real property footprint and Policy Implementation Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 10

What Did We Accomplish in FY 2023?

We made noteworthy progress with this strategic objective by providing equity training and increasing our outreach efforts.

• Partnered with SSI outreach organizations and advocacy groups that help people apply for SSI, resulting in over 3,750 SSI claims. • Notified 1.4 million Social Security beneficiaries

• Completed over 19,000 outreach events for underserved communities, which included releasing Dear Colleague Letters to promote awareness of our programs and sending outreach mailers to beneficiaries who may also be eligible for SSI. • Partnered with SSI outreach organizations and

• Notified 1.4 million Social Security beneficiaries of their potential eligibility for SSI, resulting in 48,567 approved SSI claims paying over $11 million in benefits through March 17, 2023. • Improved communication efforts throughout the

• Streamlined our customer feedback platform with enhanced feedback channels and data collection tools. • Implemented two mandatory agency-wide Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) trainings regarding workplace harassment, discrimination, and disability awareness; and an executive training regarding inclusive workplace cultures. • Established a cross-component workgroup on

• Developed DEIA training that will help our adjudicators understand, recognize, and remove barriers to fair and equitable decision making. • Expanded race and ethnicity data collection to programs are equitably serving our applicants and beneficiaries.

What Do We Plan to Accomplish in FYs 2024 and 2025?

Strategy: Identify and address potential inequities in current policies and programs

We are expanding our network of advocates and community-based organizations and will meet with them regularly to address the needs of people facing barriers to accessing our services as outlined in our Equity Action Plan and the 2023 Update to the Equity Action Plan.

Ensure Equity and Conduct Outreach: Our Agency Equity Team coordinates interagency efforts

and opportunities to advance equity in our programs, consistent with the policies in Executive Order (EO) 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through the Federal Government, and EO 14091, Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. This includes outreach to migrant and Native American and Alaska Native communities, and to individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP). We are conducting proactive outreach to help same-sex couples that were previously denied spousal survivor benefits. We will continue to conduct SSI outreach, including to those in underserved communities. In FY 2024, we will improve program data collection by working to include race and ethnicity data through the Enumeration at Birth (EAB) process. We will also encourage customers to provide their race and ethnicity when completing applications for new or replacement Social Security number (SSN) cards. We plan to generate research using enhanced program data and a matched Census Bureau survey to identify potential disparities for smaller demographic populations of disability beneficiaries and applicants. We will also develop a Community Advisory Board composed primarily of individuals with OASDI or SSI experience to inform our research, customer experience, outreach, and other activities. In FY 2025, we will increase the number of States we partner with to collect race and ethnicity data through EAB. We will include diverse stakeholders and representatives of underserved communities in National Disability Forums or similar activities, providing them opportunities to share their unique insights. Refer to our website for racial equity research, statistics, and data resources.

Strategy: Increase support services for unrepresented claimants

We are committed to evaluating and improving our internal processes to increase equitable service to unrepresented claimants in the disability application process.

Ensure Equity and Improve Outreach: We will review and update agency-wide policies and

trainings to ensure equity in our programs. We support unrepresented claimants at the hearing level during our administrative review process, including by providing assistance to claimants to prepare for the hearing. We assess our processes and procedures for potential actions that may result in disparate

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 12 outcomes for unrepresented individuals. We provide in-person hearings, traditional video hearings, online video hearings, and hearings by telephone, offering a variety of accessible participation options to claimants. In FYs 2024 and 2025, we will engage claimant representative and disability advocacy communities to help us examine the impact of internal processes, polices, and service delivery systems on allowance and award outcomes, and how these vary between represented and unrepresented claimants in the hearings process. We will also continue outreach to unrepresented claimants at the pre-hearing phase to inform them of their rights at the hearings level of appeal.

Strategy: Conduct implicit bias training for employees

In FYs 2024 and 2025, we will provide additional agency-wide DEIA and implicit bias training. We also plan to implement implicit bias adjudicator training to help adjudicators better understand, recognize, and remove barriers to fair and equitable decision making.

Strategy: Conduct and analyze customer satisfaction surveys to identify areas for improvement

Our Voice of Customer architecture collects customer feedback to help us better understand customer perceptions, needs, and preferences. We will analyze data from various sources to identify areas for improvement.

Enterprise Voice of Customer (VoC) Feedback Collection: Our VoC feedback collection allows us to capture real-time customer feedback across service channels to help identify pain points along customers’ journeys. We collect

We are partners in OMB’s life experience projects, which are intended to streamline Federal Government service delivery at some of the most critical moments in people’s lives. We have been engaged in the Approaching retirement and Facing a financial shock life experiences. We will continue to support life experience projects to the degree that we are able, within the context of our budget and agency priorities. In FY 2024, we will integrate Customer Experience (CX) management disciplines throughout the agency, such as customer research, measurement, understanding, customer journey mapping, human-centered design, and customer-centric culture. We will use insights derived from our VoC feedback to develop and implement human-centered design solutions to address customer pain points and improve customer satisfaction. In FY 2025, we plan to measure the impact of solutions such as standardized appointment messaging, alternate contact information, a new disability process video, and an updated disability starter kit from the cross-functional Disability Journey Transformation Team. We also plan to study the impact that key performance indicators have on National 800 Number customer satisfaction and measure the impact of improvements we made for customers to submit online forms, including SSI, using mobile accessible tools and electronic signatures.

Visit Performance.gov for more information about our CX goals, progress, and results.

Long term Goals

Improve equity in our SSI program through increased outreach and improved benefit delivery, including to communities of color and underserved communities.
Improve equity and benefit delivery in our programs through increased outreach and the detection of disparities using data collection and analysis. We are making progress toward our long-term equity goals through our efforts to improve our outreach to underserved communities and collect service delivery feedback from our customers. Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 14

Performance Measures4

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Results	2020 Results	2021 Results	2022 Results	2023 Target	2023 Results	2024 Target	2025 Target
1.1a: Redesign SSA's website to enhance the user's online experience	Not available	We completed the content audit for the full information-al site, completed the new information architecture and design,and completed the retirement path updates	We implemented a beta site for ssa.gov;and achieved a two-point increase in customer satisfaction with the redesigned home page	Implemented official website release in December 2022(FY 2023)	Achieve a 1.5% increase from baseline satisfaction for customers using SSA's website	MetWebsite Customer Satisfaction Score(CSAT) increased by 46.8%	Achieve a 1% increase in satisfaction for customers using SSA's website over FY 2023 results(target CSAT 71.0)	Achieve a 1% increase in satisfaction for customers using SSA's website over FY 2024 results(estimated target CSAT 72.0)

FY 2023 Performance Progress

Target Met: We met our target for achieving a 1.5 percent increase from baseline CSAT in FY 2023. The baseline period for CSAT, from September through November 2023, yielded a score of 47.7. CSAT after launch on December 6, 2022, through September 30, 2023, was 70.0, a 22.3 point (46.8%) increase.

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Results	2020 Results	2021 Results	2022 Results	2023 Target	2023 Results	2024 Target	2025 Target
1.1b: Collect Customer Feedback	Not available	Not available	Not available	Not available	Establish end-of-journey feedback collection for priority service designations	Not Met	Establish baseline customer experience scores for priority service designations	Achieve a 2% increase in Customer Satisfaction for two customer experience journeys
FY 2023 Performance Progress
Target Not Met: We did not meet our target to establish end of journey feedback collection for priority service designations (retirement, enumerations, and disability) in FY 2023, although we made progress towards developing a targeted disability applicant survey.

FY 2023 Performance Progress

Target Not Met: We did not meet our target to establish end of journey feedback collection for priority service designations (retirement, enumerations, and disability) in FY 2023, although we made progress towards developing a targeted disability applicant survey.

Strategic Objective 1.2: Expand Digital Services

Leads: Deputy Commissioner for Operations and Chief Information Officer

Strategies:

Address our customers’ service needs

Increase the use of secure digital services

What Did We Accomplish in FY 2023?

We expanded our digital service options to meet the service needs of our customers.

FY 2023 Performance Measure Target and Results (see details)

• Extended our Internet Social Security Number Replacement Card (iSSNRC) application to 47 States and Washington, DC.

• Increased our iSSNRC name-change-due-tomarriage initiative to nine participating States. • Expanded MS Teams replacement SSN card

1.2a: Increase the number of successfully completed online transactions	Increase the number of successfully completed online transactions by 5 million over the prior year (381 million)	Met

• Expanded MS Teams replacement SSN card interview options to include date of birth corrections verified by Electronic Verification of Vital Events. • Deployed the Enterprise Scheduling System

• Deployed the Enterprise Scheduling System (ESS), allowing customers to self-schedule enumeration appointments in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which totaled over 230,000 enumeration appointments. • Implemented the i454, allowing adult

• Implemented the i454, allowing adult beneficiaries to complete and submit the Medical Continuing Disability Review (CDR) report, SSA-454, online.

What Do We Plan to Accomplish in FYs 2024 and 2025?

Strategy: Better understand our customers’ service preferences

We market our customer feedback collection across all major service channels (i.e., online, National 800 Number, and field offices) to understand customers’ perceptions, needs, and preferences.

Enhance my Social Security: Our online my Social Security portal offers a broad range of services, including changing an address or direct deposit information, getting personal retirement benefit estimates, and requesting a

estimates, and requesting a replacement SSN card. In FY 2024, we plan to provide customers with more options to update their addresses online, including those who are dually entitled to retirement and disability benefits.

Additionally, we plan to provide customers with the ability to provide tax withholding information online, and we will enhance our online 1099/SSA-1042S benefit tax statement application, allowing

online, and we will enhance our online 1099/SSA-1042S benefit tax statement application, allowing customers to access historical benefit statements for the five previous tax years. We will move Upload Documents (formerly eSubmit) behind my Social Security and enhance the claims status tracker and earnings correction screener. We will also upgrade our wage reporting application to a cloud-based platform, allowing for a more user-friendly experience.

Modernize the Social

Modernize the Social Security Statement: The modernized Statement provides users with their earnings records, Social Security and Medicare taxes paid, and future benefit estimates. The Statement also includes targeted supplemental fact sheets and links to retirement planning tools, calculators, and other applicable information. In FY 2024, we will conduct cognitive testing on the Spanish Statement and fact sheets. In FY 2025, we will

we will conduct cognitive testing on the Spanish Statement and fact sheets. In FY 2025, we will implement feedback from this cognitive testing to improve the understanding of our documents for our Spanish-language customers.

We will introduce online options and improve services provided over the phone and in our offices.

Expand Video Service Delivery (VSD): VSD provides options for the public to conduct some transactions by video with our employees. In FY 2024, we plan to expand video access to improve the timeliness of our service to claimants and balance workloads across our offices. We will also implement the review and acceptance of some evidence via video, as well as implement changes to SSA’s appointment management systems to improve efficiency for customers requesting video interviews. In addition, we are working with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to utilize video services to issue non-U.S. citizen replacement SSN cards. In FY 2025, we plan to expand video service options for hearings, interviews for replacement SSN cards, and post-entitlement actions. In FY 2024 and FY 2025, we also will be working to expand our marketing efforts to increase the number of video devices available to customers visiting field offices and add additional third-party video partner sites.

functionality to include initial claims scheduling for both technician and customer self-scheduling. In FYs 2024 and 2025, we will also consolidate multiple applications and functions into one enterprise solution, allowing the public to use their mobile devices to schedule appointments with us to apply for benefits.

Strategy: Increase the use of secure digital services

We provide the public with secure, online, remote self-service options.

Enhance the Digital Experience: We continually explore ways to enhance the customer experience by providing convenient, user-friendly, and secure digital self-service options. We are working to expand our digital self-service option, Upload Documents, to customers in more geographic areas.

This service allows users to electronically upload specific forms, documents, or evidence associated with their transaction, without the need to travel to a field office. We are prioritizing the review of forms and policies to either remove signature requirements or allow electronic signature options. We are also working to allow customers to upload retirement, SSI, and disability-related forms and evidence. In FYs 2024 and 2025, we will expand the selection of forms available via Upload Documents and explore other digital capabilities related to our document management process.

Expand Online Options for Replacement SSN Cards: We are expanding online service options for replacing SSN cards, reducing the need to visit an office. Currently, customers can request a nochange replacement SSN card

replacing SSN cards, reducing the need to visit an office. Currently, customers can request a nochange replacement SSN card in 47 States and Washington, DC, and a name-change SSN card in 17 States. In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to expand our State data exchange programs to allow customers to request a replacement SSN card in the remaining three States (Alaska, Oklahoma, and New Hampshire). We will fully automate updates to the Numident record SSN database. We will also automate the process for issuing replacement SSN cards for individuals granted U.S. naturalization through our Enumeration

issuing replacement SSN cards for individuals granted U.S. naturalization through our Enumeration Beyond Entry process data exchange through DHS. We are also working to increase the use of online options where available.

Long term Goals

• Increase the number of services and forms available on our secure digital platforms to provide more convenient, user-friendly, and secure digital self-service options. • Increase the usage of our secure digital services so that customers can conduct business with us at

• Increase the usage of our secure digital services so that customers can conduct business with us at their convenience.

We are making progress toward our long-term goals by expanding our online service options and providing additional service choices.

Performance Measures

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Results	2020 Results	2021 Results	2022 Results	2023 Target	2023 Results	2024 Target	2025 Target
1.2a: Increase the number of successfully completed online transactions	184 million	221 million	290 million	376 million	Increase the number of successfully completed online transactions by 5 million over the prior year(381 million)	Met401.5 million	Increase the number of successfully completed online transactions by 5 million over the prior year(406 million)	Increase the number of successfully completed online transactions by 5 million over the prior year(estimated target of411 million)

FY 2023 Performance Progress

Target Met: We exceeded our FY 2023 target of 381 million online transactions and completed about 25.8 million more transactions than FY 2022.

Leads: Deputy Commissioner for Operations, Deputy Commissioner for Hearings Operations, and Chief Information Officer

Continue modernizing our information technology

Improve timeliness and eliminate and prevent backlogs

What Did We Accomplish in FY 2023?

We expanded our partnerships and streamlined our operational processes. Improving our initial disability wait times and our PC performance are focus areas for improvement.

FY 2023 Performance Measure Target and Results(see details)
1.3a: Provide uninterrupted access to our systems during scheduled times of operations	99.90% availability	Met
1.3b: Modernize evidence acquisition systems to drive increased electronic medical evidence volumes through a multi-channel strategy	Acquire 56% of electronic medical evidence	Not Met
1.3c: Improve customer service by addressing the number of actions pending at the processing centers	4.7 million	Met

• Convened a Disability Tiger Team and a Retention and Recruitment Workgroup (with DDS representatives) to develop and implement solutions to eliminate the disability backlog and recruit and retain employees at the State level. • Re-directed Federal resources to provide

• Re-directed Federal resources to provide immediate support for disability claims processing. • Established a national contract to recruit and

• Established a national contract to recruit and manage medical and psychological consultants and issued guidance permitting telehealth for certain consultative examinations. • Integrated all disability case processing systems

• Integrated all disability case processing systems and used Intelligent Medical Language Analysis Generation to identify cases containing medical evidence that likely meet or equal a medical listing for expedited processing. • Onboarded two large health networks and

Integrated all disability case processing systems and used Intelligent Medical Language Analysis Generation to identify cases containing medical evidence that likely meet or equal a medical listing for expedited processing. Onboarded two large health networks and

• Onboarded two large health networks and 20 new health partners to increase the submission of electronic medical evidence. • Improved our system availability by expanding

• Improved our system availability by expanding cloud service capabilities and automating alerts for performance issues and resource constraints. • Registered an additional 8,746 Electronic

• Registered an additional 8,746 Electronic Records Express (ERE) users, resulting in an increase of 12 percent. Medical evidence received via ERE accounts for 27.66 percent of the total MER volume.

• Improved the Technician Experience Dashboard

• Completed TED roll-out to the Boston Region to provide technicians with the ability to verify customers, review customers’ data, and launch selected workflows from a single dashboard.

What Do We Plan to Accomplish in FYs 2024 and 2025?

Strategy: Continue modernizing our information technology

We will improve self-service support tools and video options, allowing our customers to choose how and when to conduct business with us. We are committed to modernizing and integrating technology solutions to provide accurate, current, easily accessible information and services for our customers and employees agency-wide.

Modernize Information Technology (IT): In FYs 2024 and 2025, we will expand our online self-

service appointment-scheduling capabilities, increase the number of forms customers can access and complete online, and simplify our process to apply for SSI benefits. We plan to create an online SSI application that is simple to use, accessible, equitable, transparent, and responsive for all customers. We plan to automate more services on our website, including adding customer-centric portals, mobile applications, and claim status information. We will conduct risk assessments and implement protocols to ensure online services are secure and accessible.

Improve 800 Number Services: Millions of our customers count on the convenience and

accessibility of our National 800 Number. One of our top priorities is to address the long wait times that our customers are experiencing to speak with an agent. We are improving service by implementing estimated wait time and call back options, completing our new agent training rollout, and relaunching the customer satisfaction survey.

In FY 2024, we plan to increase newly hired agent performance by improving our training processes and continuing to improve our telephone platform. We will also evaluate and start implementing strategies for improving our 800 Number performance. In FY 2025, we will continue implementing process improvement strategies and assess additional automated features to improve our 800 Number service to the public. Our 800 Number APG demonstrates our commitment to improve service delivery.

Strategy: Improve timeliness and eliminate and prevent backlogs

We are committed to addressing our growing backlogs and improving service to the public. We share claimants’ frustrations with unacceptable wait times.

Address Initial Disability Decision Wait Times: One of our top priorities is to improve the national average processing time for initial disability claims and reduce the number of older cases, even as our receipts are projected to increase. In FYs 2024 and 2025, we will focus on reducing processing time and prioritizing claims from individuals who have waited the longest for a disability decision. We will continue working with the DDSs to address ongoing challenges with recruitment and retention. The

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 23

President's Budget will support ongoing hiring to rebuild our staff in FY 2025. We will leverage our Federal disability processing units to provide maximum assistance for processing disability claims.

Our APG focused on improving the wait time for an initial disability determination demonstrates our commitment in this area.

Enhance Disability Case Processing: We successfully integrated independent disability case processing systems at the hearing and appellate levels into one modernized case processing system, eliminating silos in technology and improving disability case processing throughout our enterprise. In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to provide greater efficiency and improve the quality of our processes.

We will meet the growing needs of the disability workload and prioritize IT enhancements to help reduce the disability claims backlog.

Reduce the Hearings Backlog: We are eliminating the hearings backlog and reducing the time it takes to receive a hearing decision. As the DDSs process increased volumes of initial claims and reconsiderations, we are

reconsiderations, we are preparing for a downstream increase in requests for hearings, Appeals Council review, and civil action court filings. We plan to eliminate the backlog and reduce the average wait for a hearing to 270 days by the end of FY 2024. To prevent the recurrence of the backlog in FY 2025 and retain average wait time for a hearing of no more than 270 days, we will monitor our incoming workloads and our capacity to complete work, replace our

270 days, we will monitor our incoming workloads and our capacity to complete work, replace our ALJ losses, and maintain our support staff levels.

Expand Access to Electronic Medical Evidence: We offer medical providers multiple electronic options to submit evidence via our automated Health IT program, Electronic Records Express web portal, and web services. In FY 2024, we plan to onboard partners through our connections with large data exchange companies to increase the submission of electronic medical evidence. We plan to modernize our electronic medical evidence gathering capabilities to meet the needs of the end users. In FY 2025, we plan to update and implement software to increase our ability to obtain electronic medical evidence.

plan to expand our use of RPA, process the oldest pending cases across all workloads, and share workloads across our eight PCs to engage all available processing capacity. In FY 2025, we plan to automate additional PC workloads.

Long term Goals

• Improve the customer experience by reducing the Average Speed of Answer on the National 800 Number.

• Improve the customer experience by reducing the average processing time for initial disability claims and by prioritizing those individuals who have waited the longest for initial disability determinations. • Increase our customers’ ability to electronically transact business with the agency to increase

• Increase our customers’ ability to electronically transact business with the agency to increase equity and accessibility to our services.

We are exploring new options to address our service delivery challenges. We established dedicated teams to increase DDS processing capacity and reduce claims backlogs.

Performance Measures

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Results	2020 Results	2021 Results	2022 Results	2023 Target	2023 Results	2024 Target	2025 Target
1.3a：提供不interrupted access to our systems during scheduled times of operations	99.95% availability	99.84% availability	99.89% availability	99.96% availability	99.90% availability	Met 99.95% availability	99.90% availability	99.90% availability
FY 2023 Performance Progress
Target Met：We exceeded our target of 99.90 percent and achieved 99.95 percent system availability in FY 2023 through expansion of automated alerting, advanced performance testing, and modernized deployments. This investment ensures our critical systems supporting retirement, disability, and telephone services; as well as external business services are available, stable, and secure for our users.
1.3b: Modernize evidence acquisition systems to drive increased electronic medical evidence volumes through a multi-channel strategy	Acquired 51% of electronic medical evidence	Acquired 52% of electronic medical evidence	Acquired 53% of electronic medical evidence	Acquired 55% of electronic medical evidence	Acquire 56% of electronic medical evidence	Not Met 55%	57%	58%
FY 2023 Performance Progress
Target Not Met: While electronic channels, and Health Information Technology (HIT) specifically, had significant growth in FY 2023, we did not meet our target. We acquired 55 percent of our medical evidence electronically, which was 1 percent less than our 56 percent target.

FY 2023 Performance Progress

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Results	2020 Results	2021 Results	2022 Results	2023 Target	2023 Results	2024 Target	2025 Target
1.3c: Improve customer service by addressing the number of actions pending at the processing centers	4.5 million	3.75 million	3.86 million	4.2 million	4.7 million	Met 4.56 million	5.05 million	5.3 million
FY 2023 Performance Progress
Target Met: We met our target of addressing the actions pending at the PCs in FY 2023 through the judicious use of overtime and the regular transfer of workloads across all eight PCs to maximize capacity. The number of actions pending at the PCs was approximately 4.6 million, below our target of 4.7 million.

FY 2023 Performance Progress

What Did We Accomplish in FY 2023?

Broaden reach for hiring and promote retention

We developed strategies to enhance our selection and retention process.

• Updated our Careers with SSA website announcing direct hiring authority allowing managers to directly recruit and hire candidates to fill critical positions, and added inclusive language in our job announcements in support of our DEIA Strategic Plan. • Published our FYs 2023–2026 Human Capital

• Published our FYs 2023–2026 Human Capital Operating Plan (HCOP) to address retention and attrition challenges through Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP). • Conducted a DEIA workforce analysis, including

2.1a: Increase the use of workforce data analyses to support executive workforce and decision making

• Conducted a DEIA workforce analysis, including workforce representation, and projected changes to representation, trend data, and employee experience data. • Implemented an agency-wide policy on

• Implemented an agency-wide policy on prohibiting discrimination, including harassment, based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. • Updated employee engagement resources,

• Updated employee engagement resources, including executive and manager toolkits enabling agency leaders to streamline workforce planning efforts and mitigate the impact of attrition. • Implemented training and provided resources to

• Developed a Veteran New Hires page on our Veterans Employee Terminal website that provides a checklist with links to financial resources and benefits available to veterans. • Developed DEIA Training for Adjudicators for

• Implemented training and provided resources to support our current military veteran employees.

• Collaborated with the Department of Veterans

What Do We Plan to Accomplish in FYs 2024 and 2025?

Strategy: Conduct analyses to identify and address any systemic barriers present in hiring and advancement

We will conduct analyses on hiring and employee advancement through our annual Management Directive 715 reporting process. We will implement changes in hiring and career advancement, particularly around training. We will review our workplace culture, as necessary, to further these commitments.

Enhance Strategic Workforce Planning: We are enhancing our SWP to ensure we effectively hire,

develop, and retain a talented and diverse workforce. In FY 2024, we will update and expand our SWP strategies and business process to meet agency needs. We will monitor the HCOP implementation and adapt strategies as opportunities for innovative workplace improvements arise. We will also develop a comprehensive long-term strategy to identify and reduce skill and competency gaps within mission critical and leadership positions. In FY 2025, we will begin implementing a training plan to reduce leadership competency gaps. We will also expand SWP strategies to address occupation-specific competency assessment and development.

Promote DEIA: Our goal is to improve policies and

practices to ensure a representative workforce and maintain compliance with the laws and regulations related to Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in Federal Government employment and the Architectural Barriers Act Accessibility Standards. In FY 2024, we will release the Civil Rights and Diversity Empowerment Portal, a consolidated equal opportunity training site for our non- managers, managers, and equal employment opportunity (EEO) practitioners. We will implement DEIA strategies, policies, practices, and processes to identify and eliminate barriers in hiring and advancement. In FY 2025, we plan to enhance the Civil Rights and Diversity Empowerment Portal showcasing up-to-date EEO/DEIA trainings.

Strategy: Broaden reach for hiring and promote retention

Increasing workplace flexibility allows us to broaden our geographic reach for hiring and retention in a way that complements our efforts to promote diversity and equity in hiring and advancement.

Expand Recruitment Efforts: We are expanding manager recruitment capabilities, increasing

internship opportunities, and utilizing Office of Personnel Management (OPM) special hiring

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 28 authorities (e.g., Schedule A, Pathways, Military Spouse). In FYs 2024 and 2025, we will utilize special hiring authorities, including direct hiring authority for approved mission-critical vacancies. We will leverage partnerships with over 400 universities and institutions that specifically work with underserved communities and provide guidance and program oversight for veteran hiring, training, and retention activities. We will increase the use of social media platforms as a recruitment tool for students, recent graduates, and direct hire applicants to attract top talent from anywhere in the country.

Foster Employee Retention: Our goal is to identify innovative strategies to engage our employees

and foster retention. We will use a variety of human capital (HC) strategies to improve retention among current employees and new hires. In FYs 2024 and 2025, we will prioritize employee well- being by conducting mental health and wellness workshops and developing health and well-being tutorials. We will also expand workload and stress mitigation strategies by developing an employee engagement marketing plan that promotes employee health and well-being. This broad marketing campaign will introduce resources that encourages our employees to utilize our programs and support resources. We also plan to issue new employee retention and workload resources and leverage technology to improve workforce efficiency.

We are working to build a culture of recognition by providing employee recognition resources and best practices for our managers and supervisors. In addition, we are encouraging more frequent, timely, and informal recognition and acknowledgment of employee and group contributions, such as peer-to- peer awards. In FYs 2024 and 2025, we will develop and release an Employee Recognition Toolkit. We also plan to increase manager support and accountability by increasing soft skills training for supervisors and managers and implementing Improving Workforce Morale (IWM) plans.

Execute Talent Management and Succession Planning: We provide our executives with ongoing

virtual training opportunities that align with the Executive Core Qualifications to promote continual learning. In FY 2024, we will provide guidance and support for Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program (SES CDP) graduates, as they begin the process to obtain OPM certification. In FY 2025, we will advertise the next cohort, make selections, and begin the SES CDP.

Long term Goal

Increase workforce diversity through improved recruitment, hiring, and retention. We are working towards our long-term goal of ensuring we attract and retain a talented and diverse workforce by training managers, administrative staff, and human resource (HR) specialists on recruitment strategies, merit promotion, hiring authorities, and workplace flexibilities. Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 29

Performance Measures

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Results	2020 Results	2021 Results	2022 Results	2023 Target	2023 Results	2024 Target	2025 Target
2.1a: Increase the use of workforce data analyses to support strategic workforce planning and decision making	Not available	Not available	Not available	Not available	Release four new workforce planning and analysis resources	Met Released four workforce planning and analysis resources	Release four new workforce planning and analysis resources	Release five new workforce planning and analysis resources
FY 2023 Performance Progress
Target Met: We met our target in FY 2023 by releasing four workforce planning and analysis resources. These tools and resources focused on exercising inclusive decision-making, workload prioritization, knowledge sharing, and workforce projections.

FY 2023 Performance Progress

Lead: Deputy Commissioner for Human Resources

Strategies:

Invest in our employees

Ensure inclusive leadership development

What Did We Accomplish in FY 2023?

We focused on improving employee engagement and leadership development.

• Implemented mini-flash mentoring events for over 5,000 employees on career development, interpersonal skills, and soft skills with a 96 percent participant satisfaction rate. • Launched the FY 2023 Traditional Mentoring

• Launched the FY 2023 Traditional Mentoring Program with 400 mentees and hosted activities that included mentoring program guidance, action planning, and focus groups for program improvement.

• Commenced the second year of our Leadership

2.2a: Improve employee engagement	Achieve a score of 76 on the Employee Engagement Index (Supervisor Subindex)	Not Met
2.2b: Ensure new supervisors receive timely leadership training	At least 95% of new supervisors complete training within one year of the effective date of their supervisory appointment	Met
2.2c: Strengthen manager accountability for effective performance management	Track 96% of performance documents through e7B	Met

• Commenced the second year of our Leadership Fundamentals curriculum for supervisors with over 1,000 participants, offering skill and career expansion via a series of developmental assignments. • Provided career development information

• Provided career development information sessions on planning, interviewing, and resources to over 6,600 employees, and received a 95 percent participant satisfaction rating. • Hosted Labor and Employee Relations (LER)

• Hosted Labor and Employee Relations (LER) training sessions for over 500 managers on addressing performance and conduct.

• Evaluated and implemented enhancements to

• Evaluated and implemented enhancements to the National Leadership Development Program

(NLDP) application process to support prospective applicants during the assessment process. • Hosted NLDP readiness sessions for

(NLDP) application process to support prospective applicants during the assessment Hosted NLDP readiness sessions for

What Do We Plan to Accomplish in FYs 2024 and 2025?

Strategy: Invest in our employees

We will modernize our talent management systems to support interactive and job-specific activities across the employee lifecycle, further supporting management accountability for improved employee performance and engagement.

Improve Employee Engagement: We employ tools that support executive and management

development, including attrition and retention analysis, employee feedback surveys, and targeted IWM plans. We will implement our FYs 2024–2025 agency-level IWM plan, which serves as a roadmap for improvement in the areas of effective leadership, employee and manager development, effective communication, and DEIA. We hold meetings with senior executives, managers, supervisors, and employees to solicit thoughts and recommendations on new ideas to foster and improve engagement across the agency. We will partner with internal and external stakeholders to share information on engagement through the Employee Engagement Community of Practice. We will also develop and share agency-wide best practices, tools, and strategies to address employee engagement, employee career path resources, development opportunities, and workplace flexibilities.

Strengthen the Performance Management Process: We are equipping managers with the necessary

tools to address potential and current performance and conduct matters through LER training. Training participants will compare their pre-and post-training knowledge scores to gauge their level of growth between assessments. In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to improve participants’ scores across pre-and post-training assessments and achieve an average score of 85 percent on post-training assessments.

In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to update our secure electronic platform for employee documents, also known as e7B, to keep pace with changes to agency system and security policies, provide a more intuitive user experience for supervisors and employees, and improve supervisors’ compliance with

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 32 performance timelines. In FY 2025, we will replace the current performance application, fulfill the performance management program’s business needs, and address mandated systems requirements.

Strategy: Ensure inclusive leadership development

We will invest in our future leaders by developing job-enrichment opportunities to facilitate the transfer of job knowledge from employees eligible for retirement to less experienced employees.

Invest in Training and Support for Managers: We developed Leadership Fundamentals (LF), a

multi-year online and self-paced curriculum that provides sequential training for managers within the first five years of their supervisory roles. The curriculum includes personnel management, labor and employee relations, diversity in the workplace, performance management, and health and safety training. We also implemented our Management Minutes initiative to provide all agency managers and supervisors with a targeted series of tips, tools, and strategies to build and sustain an engaged workforce. In FY 2024, we will release the LF Years 3–5 curriculum, and in FY 2025, we will maintain and update the entire LF curriculum.

Ensure Equity in Leadership Development: We continually recruit from underrepresented groups to

expand and diversify our applicant pools in leadership development programs. In FYs 2024 and 2025, we will announce NLDP offerings with several modifications, which will improve the application process and enhance the developmental experience. The NLDP is comprised of three tiers to develop leaders at all levels: Aspiring Leadership for GS-8 through GS-11, Mid-Level Leadership for GS-12 through GS-14, and Executive Leadership for GS-15 employees. In addition, we plan to develop a more robust educational series, including a series designed to prepare prospective applicants for the SES CDP application process. We will also conduct public servant leadership training for SES and GS-15s. This training will encourage leaders to be aware of the need for flexibility in their management style to accommodate individual employee needs with the goal of enhancing our employee experience and boosting employee morale, engagement, and retention.

Long term Goals

Increase employee engagement and empowerment as measured in the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey.
Expand and maximize leadership development opportunities to promote employee retention and strengthen succession planning. We are making progress toward our long-term goals by supporting our employees with our employee engagement and leadership training resources. Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 33

Performance Measures

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Results	2020 Results	2021 Results	2022 Results	2023 Target	2023 Results	2024 Target	2025 Target
2.2a: Improve employee engagement	Achieved a score of 72 on the Employee Engagement Index (Supervisor subindex)	Achieved a score of 75 on the Employee Engagement Index (Supervisor subindex)	Achieved a score of 76 on the Employee Engagement Index (Supervisor subindex)	Achieved a score of 75 on the Employee Engagement Index (Supervisor subindex)	Achieve a score of 77 on the Employee Engagement Index (Supervisor subindex)	Not Met Achieved a score of 74 on the Supervisor subindex	Achieve a score of 75 on the Employee Engagement Index (Supervisor subindex)	Achieve a score of 76 on the Employee Engagement Index (Supervisor subindex)

FY 2023 Performance Progress

Target Not Met: We did not meet our FY 2023 target. However, we offered a variety of employee engagement resources to supervisors. We updated the Employee Engagement Suite with new supervisory resource materials, offered supervisory and leadership training, and released a bi-monthly management minutes e-mail series.

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Results	2020 Results	2021 Results	2022 Results	2023 Target	2023 Results	2024 Target	2025 Target
2.2b: Ensure new supervisors receive timely leadership training	84% of supervisors enrolled within 90 days	100% of supervisors enrolled within 90 days and 98% completed training within one year	100% of supervisors enrolled within 90 days and 54% completed training within one year	82.4% of new supervisors complete training within one year of the effective date of their supervisory appointment	At least 95% of new supervisors complete training within one year of the effective date of their supervisory appointment	Met96% of new supervisors completed training within one year of the effective date of their supervisory appointment	At least 95% of new supervisors complete training within one year of the effective date of their supervisory appointment	At least 95% of new supervisors complete training within one year of the effective date of their supervisory appointment
FY 2023 Performance Progress

FY 2023 Performance Progress

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Results	2020 Results	2021 Results	2022 Results	2023 Target	2023 Results	2024 Target	2025 Target
2.2c: Strengthen manager accountability for effective performance management	Tracked 94% of performance documents through e7B	Tracked 96.5% of Employee acknowledgements through e7B	Tracked 98% of Employee acknowledgements through e7B	Tracked 96.3% of Employee acknowledgements through e7B	Track 96% of performance documents through e7B	Met Tracked 96% of performance documents through e7B	Track 96% of performance documents through e7B	Track 96% of performance documents through e7B
FY 2023 Performance Progress
Target Met: We tracked 96 percent of performance documents through e7B.

Strategic Objective 3.1: Improve the Accuracy and Administration of Our Programs

Support our cost-effective program integrity work to safeguard benefit programs to better serve our recipients

Enhance our payment accuracy efforts, including overpayments and underpayments

Expand the use of data analytics and predictive modeling

Strengthen our cybersecurity program

What Did We Accomplish in FY 2023?

Improving our payment accuracy and program integrity is a focus area for improvement.

FY 2023 Performance Measure Target and Results (see details)

• Released videos on YouTube, social media platforms, and in field offices explaining the importance of reporting wages and the various options that are available to report. • Initiated migration of our iClaim fraud detection

• Mailed over 19,000 notices, informing beneficiaries who are potentially eligible for higher benefits based on their own earnings record. We mailed nearly 38,000 notices to surviving spouses who are potentially eligible for a higher surviving spouse benefit and 1,500 notices to beneficiaries who are potentially eligible for a higher surviving divorced spouse benefit due to the death of an ex-spouse.

• Released videos on YouTube, social media

FY 2023 Performance Measure Target and Results(see details)
3.1a: Improve the integrity of the SSI Program by focusing our efforts on reducing overpayments	94.00%(O/P)	Results available in Summer 2024
3.1b: Maintain a high payment accuracy rate by reducing overpayments,in the Old-Age,Survivors,and Disability Insurance Program	99.80%(O/P)	Results available in Summer 2024
3.1c: Ensure the quality of our decisions by achieving the State disability determination services decisional accuracy rate for initial disability decisions	97% decisional accuracy	Met

• Initiated migration of our iClaim fraud detection analytics to our Anti-Fraud Product Line.

• Initiated a reassessment of fraud risk in the

• Initiated a reassessment of fraud risk in the disability program; completed the enumeration and debt management fraud risk assessments; and completed the Title II Retirement and Survivors Insurance fraud risk profile. • Implemented multi-factor authentication for the

• Implemented multi-factor authentication for the mobile wage reporting application.

3.1d: Maintain effective cybersecurity and privacy programs

Achieve 81 % on the CIO Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) Metrics Scorecard

What Do We Plan to Accomplish in FYs 2024 and 2025?

Strategy: Support our cost-effective program integrity work to safeguard benefit programs to better serve our recipients

Dedicated program integrity funding helps ensure individuals receive the benefits to which they are entitled and helps safeguard the integrity of benefit programs by confirming eligibility, preventing fraud, and improving payment accuracy for overpayments and underpayments. Program integrity funding allows us to conduct SSI redeterminations and continuing disability reviews, conduct the anti- fraud cooperative disability investigations program, and support special attorneys for criminal fraud prosecutions. We will continue these efforts to ensure public confidence in our programs and operations and to ensure we are providing beneficiaries the correct benefits to which they are entitled.

Modernize our Debt Management: Through this effort, we are working to provide beneficiaries

with options for repaying debts and enable us to more effectively and efficiently post, track, collect, and report on overpayments. In FY 2023, we expanded and streamlined our automated remittance processing capabilities. In FY 2025, we will modernize systems to help address overpayments before they occur and modernize our debt management systems. We will also explore opportunities to advance modernization efforts in FY 2024.

Strategy: Enhance our payment accuracy efforts, including overpayments and underpayments

We remain focused on improving payment accuracy and preventing fraud. We are committed to mitigating and preventing improper payments by leveraging audit recommendations, implementing automation and business process improvements, and enhancing data analytics. We are continually improving the administration of our programs and identifying and addressing potential inequities. For more information, please refer to our Agency Financial Report and paymentaccuracy.gov.

Promote Timely Wage Reporting: We are enhancing our mobile wage reporting application to make

it easier to report wages from mobile devices. In FYs 2024 and 2025, we will work to automate wages received from payroll data providers through the Payroll Information Exchange, refining the use of third-party data and reducing manual workloads.

Ensure Timely and Accurate Payments to Claimants and their Appointed Representatives:

When fee agreements are in place between claimants and their representatives, both parties expect timely and accurate payments following a favorable decision. We focused our efforts on releasing approved representative fees within 60 days of receipt, resulting in a 33 percent reduction in pending representative fee cases. In FYs 2024 and FY 2025, we will prioritize representative fee actions to ensure representative’s entities can receive payment and issue claimant benefits.

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 37

Strategy: Expand the use of data analytics and predictive modeling

We will enhance our enterprise fraud risk management program by conducting additional risk assessments.

Enhance Fraud Prevention and Detection Activities: We are improving our use of data analytics

and predictive modeling to identify evolving patterns of suspicious activities in our workloads, allowing us to detect and prevent fraud before issuing payments. In FY 2024, we plan to initiate a reassessment of fraud risk in eServices and administrative services; complete the disability program fraud risk re-assessment, enumeration and debt management fraud risk profiles; and update the Enterprise Fraud Risk Management Strategy. In FY 2025, we plan to initiate re-assessment of fraud risk in the Representative Payee and Title XVI programs and draft an Enterprise Fraud Risk profile that includes all fraud risk profiles completed for the first cycle of fraud risk assessments. Through FY 2025, we also plan to migrate our remaining eServices fraud detection analytics to the Anti-Fraud Product Line.

Strategy: Strengthen our cybersecurity program

We will strengthen the resilience of our cybersecurity program, which is critical to protecting the personally identifiable information we store and enabling uninterrupted availability of our network.

Strengthen Our Information Security Program and Privacy Programs and Modernize Our

Cybersecurity and Privacy-Enhanced Risk Management Infrastructure: We enhanced our

security controls to address the risks inherent in our legacy applications by continuous monitoring, implementing a comprehensive integrity review process, and restricting employees’ access to resources appropriate for their job function. We also developed privacy compliance and risk management role- based training (RBT) focused on privacy compliance and risk management.

In FY 2024, we plan to implement RBT for system security officers, security authorization managers, system owners, and project managers and develop privacy breach response and remediation RBT. In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to implement privacy breach response and remediation RBT for breach response coordinators. We will also collaborate with risk principals across the agency to mature and automate our privacy risk management framework. We plan to ensure privacy compliance requirements and risk are adequately documented and managed for information systems, applications, and programs that process personally identifiable information.

Long term Goal

Improve the integrity of the Supplemental Security Income program by reducing overpayments and underpayments to ensure eligible individuals receive the benefits to which they are entitled. We are working toward our long-term goal by updating our policies, guidance, and procedures to improve payment accuracy, fraud prevention, and cybersecurity. Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 38

Performance Measures

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Results	2020 Results	2021 Results	2022 Results	2023 Target	2023 Results	2024 Target	2025 Target
3.1a: Improve the integrity of the Supplemental Security Income Program by focusing our efforts on reducing overpayments	91.87%(O/P)	91.24%(O/P)	92.83%(O/P)	91.98%(O/P)	94.00%(O/P)	Available Summer 2024	94.00%(O/P)	94.00%(O/P)
FY 2023 Performance Progress
FY 2023 results will be available in summer of 2024.

FY 2023 Performance Progress

FY 2023 results will be available in summer of 2024.

FY 2023 Performance Progress

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Results	2020 Results	2021 Results	2022 Results	2023 Target	2023 Results	2024 Target	2025 Target
3.1b: Maintain a high payment accuracy rate by reducing overpayments, in the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Program	99.80%(O/P)	99.83%(O/P)	99.83%(O/P)	99.49%(O/P)	99.80%(O/P)	Available Summer 2024	99.80%(O/P)	99.80%(O/P)
FY 2023 Performance Progress
FY 2023 results will be available in summer of 2024.

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Results	2020 Results	2021 Results	2022 Results	2023 Target	2023 Results	2024 Target	2025 Target
3.1c: Ensure the quality of our decisions by achieving the State disability determination services decisional accuracy rate for initial disability decisions	97% decisional accuracy	96% decisional accuracy	97% decisional accuracy	97% decisional accuracy	97% decisional accuracy	Met 97.5% decisional accuracy	97% decisional accuracy	97% decisional accuracy
FY 2023 Performance Progress
Target Met: We exceeded our FY 2023 target, achieving 97.5 percent decisional accuracy rate for initial disability decisions.
3.1d: Maintain effective cybersecurity and privacy programs	Managing Risk score achieved	Managing Risk score achieved	Managing Risk score achieved	Results not available	Achieve 81% on the CIO FISMA Metrics Scorecard	Met Achieved 96% on the CIO FISMA Metrics Scorecard	Achieve 90% on the CIO FISMA Metrics Scorecard	Achieve 90% on the CIO FISMA Metrics Scorecard
FY 2023 Performance Progress
Target Met: We exceeded our FY 2023 target, achieving 96 percent on the CIO FISMA metrics scorecard. We allocate the appropriate effort and resources to the five CIO FISMA Scorecard metrics to improve the agency's cybersecurity posture.

FY 2023 Performance Progress

Strategic Objective 3.2: Identify and Eliminate Potential Barriers to Access Contracts and Grants

Lead: Deputy Commissioner for Budget, Finance, and Management

Strategies:

Disseminate acquisition and grant proposal requests widely to ensure responses from a broad range of organizations

What Did We Accomplish in FY 2023?

We focused on eliminating potential barriers to acquisition and grant opportunities.

• Announced the Interventional Cooperative Agreement Program (ICAP) funding opportunity to a list of 688 contacts, including a list of 180 HBCU and ISSC contacts and held two information sessions assisting applicants unfamiliar with the application process.

FY 2023 Performance Measure Target and Results (see details)

• Announced the Retirement and Disability Research Consortium (RDRC) funding opportunity to a list of 600 contacts, including HBCU and ISSC contacts.

• Announced the Analyzing Relationships

• Announced the Analyzing Relationships between Disability, Retirement, and Work funding opportunity, to a list of 688 contacts, including 180 HBCU and ISSC contacts and held two information sessions. Also posted information on our Disability Research website.

• Published the “Equity-Based Guidelines to

3.2a: Achieve Small Business Administration annual scorecard success in contracting with HUBZone, Woman-Owned, Veteran-Owned, and Small Disadvantaged Businesses	Achieve an overall grade of“A” on the Small Business Administration (SBA) scorecard	Results available in Spring of 2024
3.2b: Increase funding for HBCUs and ISSCs	50% above the 4-year average	Met

• Published the “Equity-Based Guidelines to Increase Access to and Encourage Participation in Grant Opportunities by HBCUs and ISSCs”

• Hosted an Industry Day with over

• Hosted an Industry Day with over 300 registered small business contractors to present upcoming IT modernization initiatives and associated contracting opportunities. • Partnered with the SBA Procurement Center

• Updated our agency Procurement Forecast on a quarterly basis to give the vendor community, specifically small businesses, a more accurate and up-to-date account of our upcoming procurements.

What Do We Plan to Accomplish in FYs 2024 and 2025?

Strategy: Identify and work to address potential barriers and bolster open competition in the acquisition and grants process

We will devise best practices to encourage participation by HBCUs and ISSCs, including direct communications with affinity-based professional associations through a ListServ we created and through information sessions targeted for HBCU and ISSC alumni on new competitive grant programs. We will develop best practices for Federal contracts to share with qualified HUBZone, Woman- Owned, Veteran-Owned, and Small Disadvantaged Businesses.

Advance Equity in Procurement and Grantmaking: Our goal is to ensure equitable access to

contracting and grant opportunities for underrepresented groups and research institutions serving people of color. The RDRC, ICAP, and ARDRAW Request for Applications (RFA) now include an institutional diversity score allowing government evaluators to assign additional points in areas where aspects of the work will be performed by HBCUs. In FYs 2024 and 2025, we will continue to perform outreach at various HBCU and ISSC events and promote our research opportunities. We will also promote the use of small business set-asides for procurement to achieve our small business goals of 28 percent and small disadvantaged business goal of 13 percent for FY 2024, as negotiated with the Small Business Administration. This involves limiting competition for certain contracts to help provide equal opportunities for small businesses.

Strategy: Disseminate acquisition and grant proposal requests widely to ensure responses from a broad range of organizations

We are reaching out to HBCUs and ISSCs for feedback about our grantmaking process and potential barriers, which will inform our processes going forward. We are also reaching out to 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.

Advance Equity in Procurement: Our Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization

conducts monthly outreach meetings with our vendor community to engage with them and discuss upcoming contracting opportunities and help small businesses identify subcontracting opportunities. We created an HBCU and ISSC contact list to reach targeted research audiences and maintain open communication with the community of potential applicants. In FYs 2024 and 2025, we will continue to utilize the HBCU and ISSC contact list to notify the community of upcoming grant RFAs and information sessions.

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 42

• Improve access to contracting and grant opportunities for underrepresented groups and research institutions serving people of color.

We are making progress toward our long-term goal through our efforts to identify potential barriers and taking steps to address them.

Performance Measures

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Results	2020 Results	2021 Results	2022 Results	2023 Target	2023 Results	2024 Target	2025 Target
3.2a: Achieve Small Business Administration annual scorecard success in contracting with HUBZone, Woman-Owned, Veteran-Owned,and Small Disadvantaged Businesses	Achieved an overall grade of“A” on the SBA scorecard	Achieved an overall grade of“A” on the SBA scorecard	Achieved an overall grade of“A” on the SBA scorecard	Achieved an overall grade of“A” on the SBA scorecard	Achieve an overall grade of“A” on the SBA scorecard	Available Spring 2024	Achieve an overall grade of“A” on the SBA scorecard	Achieve an overall grade of“A” on the SBA scorecard
FY 2023 Performance Progress
FY 2023 results will be available in spring 2024.

FY 2023 results will be available in spring 2024.

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Results5	2020 Results5	2021 Results5	2022 Results	2023 Target	2023 Results	2024 Target	2025 Target
3.2b: Increase funding for HBCUs and ISSCs6	$176,196	$62,686	$550,577	$608,896	50% above the 4-year average7	Met100% above the 4-year average6	100% above the 4-year average6	105% above the 4-year average6
FY 2023 Performance Progress
Target Met: We exceeded our FY 2023 target of increasing funding for HBCUs and ISSCs by 50 percent above the 4-year average.In FY 2023,RDRC grants to HBCU and ISSC institutions and scholars totaled $735,000,which was more than double the 4-year average.

FY 2023 Performance Progress

6 Consistent with Executive Order 14041, White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity Through Historically Black Colleges and Universities, dated September 3, 2021.

7 The “4-year average” benchmark period is based on performance in FYs 2019 to 2022, which is the period of increased Retirement and Disability Research Consortium outreach to HBCUs and ISSCs. FY 2023 is the first year we start to measure this performance indicator.

Leads: Deputy Commissioner for Retirement and Disability Policy and Deputy Commissioner for Budget, Finance, and Management

Strategies:

Simplify our policies and modernize our processes

Strengthen program and resource management

What Did We Accomplish in FY 2023?

Expand strategic partnerships with external partners

We partnered with other Federal agencies to share data and develop strategies to address governmentwide initiatives.

• Began a robust regulatory agenda focusing on simplifying SSI, improving the disability adjudication process, updating medical listings, and reducing improper payments. In total, we published 10 Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and Final Rules in FY 2023 from this agenda. Refer to our website for more information. • Leveraged partnerships with external

3.3a: Reduce our Real Property Footprint	Achieve a 70,000 USF reduction	Met

• Leveraged partnerships with external organizations, including the Partnership for Public Service and other Federal agency Community of Practice, for government-wide planning efforts regarding the future of work. • Worked strategically with external partners such

• Worked strategically with external partners such as the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems and State Vital Statistic Agencies for our initiative to expand the collection of race and ethnicity data through EAB. • Coordinated with DHS U.S. Citizenship and

• Coordinated with DHS U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to fully automate issuance of SSN cards to refugees through our Enumeration Beyond Entry program. This change expedites SSN processing and prevents a visit to a field office. • Collaborated with Department of Health and

What Do We Plan to Accomplish in FYs 2024 and 2025?

Strategy: Simplify our policies and modernize our processes

We will update regulatory provisions to reflect advances in medical knowledge and regularly engage internal and external stakeholders to evaluate and update policies.

Publish SSA/Administration Regulatory Priorities to Simplify SSI, Improve the Disability

Adjudication Process, and Reduce Improper Payments: In FY 2024, we published an NPRM to

reduce wage reporting burdens and improve payment accuracy, and we plan to publish three final rules to simplify In-Kind Support and Maintenance policies.

Improving the Disability Adjudication Process: In our NPRM, Intermediate Improvement to the

Disability Adjudication Process: Including How We Consider Past Work (SSA-2023-0024), we proposed revising the time period that we consider when determining whether an individual's past work is relevant for purposes of making disability determinations and decisions. Specifically, we proposed revising the definition of past relevant work (PRW) by reducing the relevant work period from 15 to 5 years. This change would allow individuals to focus on the most current and relevant information about their past work, better reflect the current evidence based on changes over time in worker skill decay and job responsibilities, reduce processing time, improve customer service, and reduce burden on individuals. We are working on the final rule.

Update the Listing of Impairments: The Listing of Impairments describes disabling impairments for

each of the major body systems. We consistently review these listings and make targeted updates as necessary and when the regulatory agenda allows to reflect advances in medical knowledge, emerging research, and stakeholder input.

Strategy: Strengthen program and resource management

We will leverage data, analyses, and program expertise to manage our organizational challenges and ensure an enterprise approach to deliver our mission.

Organizational Health and Organizational Performance: In accordance with OMB Memorandum

M-23-15, Measuring, Monitoring, and Improving Organizational Health and Organizational Performance in the Context of Evolving Agency Work Environments, we cultivated a mature organizational performance process based on our established routines to monitor our progress, respond to identified challenges, and foster a culture of evidence-based analysis and continuous improvement. We are building additional routines for measuring and monitoring our organizational health to improve our mission delivery and optimize our work environment. In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to establish a robust framework to measure and assess the organizational health of our agency. We also plan to increase organizational health indicators and incorporate them into our existing structure. We also plan to automate and improve performance management capabilities by implementing application programming interfaces to better retrieve employee information.

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 46

Reduce Our Real Property Footprint: We will reassess the long-term future of agency facilities and

our real property portfolio, while fulfilling workspace needs, optimizing space utilization, and achieving cost savings to meet the requirements in OMB Memorandum M-22-14, FY 2024 Agency- wide Capital Planning to Support the Future of Work. We are reducing our real property footprint, as we renovate existing buildings and renew lease agreements. We continue to evaluate our real property requirements and pursue savings that we can reinvest to improve service.

Strategy: Expand strategic partnerships with external partners

We will partner with other Federal agencies to increase the accuracy of our records, improve the customer experience, and increase organizational effectiveness.

Develop an Occupational Information System: We work with the Department of Labor’s Bureau of

Labor Statistics (BLS) to develop the Occupational Requirements Survey, which collects detailed information on occupations in the national economy. After an initial three years of data collection (Wave 1), BLS began collecting occupational data on a five-year cycle.

Expand Strategic Partnerships with External Partners: We provide SSN verifications and

exchange birth, death, prisoner, and benefit payment information, as permitted under law, with Federal, State, and private partners. We are implementing a data exchange to provide State death data to the Department of the Treasury for the Do Not Pay system, in support of Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. We also hold quarterly Data Exchange Community of Practice meetings to expand our Federal and private sector partnerships. In FYs 2024 and 2025, we plan to expand our partnerships with other Federal agencies regarding HC and organizational priorities regarding the future of work, SWP, workforce analytics, and succession planning.

Long term Goals

Improve customer experience and equity in our disability programs by continuously updating our medical criteria to reflect advances in medical knowledge.
Increase our data exchange partners by expanding outreach efforts with the data exchange community of practice and the States’ data exchange community of interest. We are making progress toward our long-term goals through our efforts to update our policies, streamline our processes, and leverage our Federal and private sector partnerships to better serve our customers. Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 47

Performance Measures

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Results	2020 Results	2021 Results	2022 Results	2023 Target	2023 Results	2024 Target	2025 Target
3.3a: Reduce our real property footprint	Achieved a 39,205 USF reduction	Achieved a 89,406 USF reduction	Achieved a 159,000 USF reduction	Achieve a 43,600 USF reduction	Achieve a 70,000 USF reduction	Met Achieved a 108,614 USF reduction	Achieve a 824,000 USF reduction	Achieve a 250,000 USF reduction
FY 2023 Performance Progress
Target Met: We exceeded our FY 2023 target, reducing our real estate footprint by 108,614 USF.

Budgeted Workload Measure

Workload Measures	FY 2019 Results	FY 2020 Results	FY 2021 Results	FY 2022 Results	FY 2023 Results	FY 2024 Estimated	FY 2025 Request
Retirement and Survivor Claims (includes Medicare)
Retirement and Survivor Claims Completed	6,020,702	6,120,255	6,081,969	6,592,620	6,692,914	6,654,000	6,735,000
Disability Claims
Initial Disability Claims Receipts	2,345,615	2,212,858	2,009,254	2,141,612	2,185,209	2,254,000	2,211,000
Initial Disability Claims Completed	2,310,057	2,037,356	2,011,298	1,882,540	1,973,641	2,205,000	2,390,000
Initial Disability Claims Pending	593,944	763,747	739,745	940,886	1,127,881	1,166,000	987,000
Average Processing Time for Initial Disability Claims(days)	120 days	131 days	165 days	184 days	218 days	230 days	215 days
Disability Reconsiderations
Disability Reconsiderations Receipts	566,462	567,800	571,291	542,376	545,937	618,000	669,000
Disability Reconsiderations Completed	544,148	552,601	515,698	483,217	483,148	578,000	684,000
Disability Reconsiderations Pending	133,503	143,781	192,892	233,919	289,890	325,000	310,000
Average Processing Time for Disability Reconsideration(days)	109 days	122 days	147 days	183 days	213 days	225 days	215 days

9 Volumes for FYs 2023–2025 include National 800 Number Calls Handled by automation. For FYs 2024–2025, we project about 4 million automated calls handled in each year.

10 FYs 2021 and 2022 calls handled results were updated retroactively after the close of the fiscal year when the data became available. 11 We will continue to evaluate the aspirational goal as the agency gains experience with its new phone system and

Workload Measures	FY 2019 Results	FY 2020 Results	FY 2021 Results	FY 2022 Results	FY 2023 Results	FY 2024 Estimated	FY 2025 Request
Program Integrity
Periodic CDRs Completed	1,939,167	1,492,926	1,615,561	1,506,195	1,611,019	1,675,000	1,675,000
Full Medical CDRs Completed (included above)	713,156	463,264	510,510	590,206	550,197	575,000	575,000
SSI Non-Medical Redeterminations Completed	2,666,287	2,153,109	2,367,391	2,202,803	2,515,721	2,489,000	2,482,000
Selected Other Agency Workload Measures
Social Security Numbers Completed	17,646,561	12,906,716	11,576,821	16,118,113	18,138,054	19,000,000	19,000,000
Annual Earnings Items Completed	288,089,658	288,748,604	277,359,601	293,568,628	304,177,795	312,000,000	313,000,000
Social Security Statements Issued12	11,347,689	19,285,438	11,977,451	16,118,113	14,871,940	11,000,000	15,000,000
Selected Production Workload Measures
Disability Determination Services Production per Workyear	303	255	239	230	240	249	262
Office of Hearings Operations Production per Workyear	111	93	78	64	69	81	81

12 The Social Security Statements Issued measure includes paper statements only. It does not include electronic statements issued. In FY 2023, my Social Security users accessed their Social Security Statements 32.6 million times.

Major Management and Performance Challenges

Challenges Identified by the Office of the Inspector General in FY 2023

OIG identified six top management issues for our agency:

Each year, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) identifies our top management and performance challenges and publishes it on their website. Additionally, our leadership identified additional challenges facing our agency.

Below, we state the strategic initiatives we implore to address the challenges identified by OIG and our leadership. Acronyms for the responsible components are listed in Appendix D, Summary of Key Management Officials' Responsibilities.

Manage Human Capital

Components: DCARO, DCBFM, DCCOMM, DCHO, DCLCA, DCO, DCRDP, OCIO, DCHR, OCACT, DCCREO, OGC, and OIG

Challenge: SSA must design and implement adequate plans to hire, develop, and retain the employees it needs to meet its mission, address its workloads, and provide the high level of customer service the public expects and deserves.

Our strategic initiatives to address this challenge include:

Enhance Strategic Workforce Planning;
Promote Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility;
Expand Recruitment Efforts;
Foster Employee Retention;
Execute Talent Management and Succession Planning;
Improve Employee Engagement;
Strengthen the Performance Management Process;
Invest in Training and Support for Managers; and
Ensure Equity in Leadership Development.

Improve Service Delivery

Components: DCARO, DCCOMM, DCHO, DCO, DCRDP, OCIO, DCCREO, and OIG

Challenge: SSA needs to address and improve in-office visits and other service methods, such as telephone and online services.

Our strategic initiatives to address this challenge include:

Ensure Equity and Improve Outreach;
Establish Enterprise Voice of Customer (VoC) Feedback Collection; Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 52

Enhance my Social Security;
Modernize the Social Security Statement;
Expand Video Service Delivery;
Enhance Online Appeals;
Enhance Enterprise Scheduling System;
Enhance the Digital Experience;
Expand Online Options for Replacement SSN Cards;
Modernize Information Technology;
Improve 800 Number Services;
Address Initial Disability Decision Wait Times;
Enhance Disability Case Processing;
Reduce the Hearings Backlog;
Expand Access to Electronic Medical Evidence;
Addressing the Processing Center Backlog;
Improving the Disability Adjudication Process; and
Ensure Timely and Accurate Payments to Claimants and their Appointed Representatives. Protect the Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability of Information Systems and Data

Component: DCARO, DCRDP, OCIO, and OIG

Challenge: SSA must ensure its information systems are secure and sensitive data are protected.

Our strategic initiatives to address this challenge include:

Modernize Information Technology;
Enhance Fraud Prevention and Detection Activities;
Strengthen Our Information Security and Privacy Programs and Modernize Our Cybersecurity and Privacy-Enhanced Risk Management Infrastructure; and
Expand Strategic Partnerships with External Partners.

Modernize Information Technology

Component: DCARO, DCBFM, DCHO, DCO, DCRDP, OCIO, and OIG

Challenge: SSA must continue modernizing its IT to accomplish its mission despite budget and resource constraints.

Our strategic initiatives to address this challenge include:

Enhance my Social Security;
Modernize the Social Security Statement;
Expand Video Service Delivery; Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 53

Enhance Online Appeals;
Enhance Enterprise Scheduling System;
Enhance the Digital Experience;
Expand Online Options for Replacement SSN Cards;
Modernize Information Technology;
Improve 800 Number Services;
Enhance Disability Case Processing;
Expand Access to Electronic Medical Evidence; and
Strengthen Our Information Security and Privacy Programs and Modernize Our Cybersecurity and Privacy-Enhanced Risk Management Infrastructure.

Improve Administration of the Disability Programs

Components: DCARO, DCBFM, DCHO, DCO, DCRDP, OCIO, and OIG

Challenge: SSA needs to address concerns related to the timely and accurate processing of disability related workloads, particularly initial disability claims, reconsiderations, hearings, and continuing disability reviews (CDR). Additionally, SSA must work to ensure State DDSs have the necessary resources, including sufficient staff, to provide timely and accurate disability determinations.

Our strategic initiatives to address this challenge include:

Expand Equity and Improve Outreach;
Enhance Online Appeals;
Enhance Enterprise Scheduling System;
Address Initial Disability Decision Wait Times;
Expand Video Service Delivery;
Enhance Disability Case Processing;
Reduce the Hearings Backlog;
Expand Access to Electronic Medical Evidence;
Promote Timely Wage Reporting;
Publish SSA/Administration Regulatory Priorities to Simplify SSI, Improve the Disability Adjudication Process, and Reduce Improper Payments;
Update the Listing of Impairments; and
Develop an Occupational Information System. Improve the Prevention, Detection, and Recovery of Improper Payments

Components: DCARO, DCBFM, DCO, DCRDP, OCIO, OGC, and OIG

Challenge: SSA must be a responsible steward of the funds entrusted to its care by minimizing the risk of making improper payments and recovering overpayments when they occur. Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 54

Our strategic initiatives to address this challenge include:

Addressing the Processing Center Backlog;
Promote Timely Wage Reporting;
Ensure Timely and Accurate Payments to Claimants and their Appointed Representatives;
Enhance Fraud Prevention and Detection Activities;
Strengthen Our Information Security Program and Privacy Programs and Modernize Our Cybersecurity and Privacy-enhanced Risk Management Infrastructure; and
Expand Strategic Partnerships with External Partners.

Additional Challenges Identified by Our Leadership

Prevent Fraud, Waste, and Abuse

Components: DCARO, DCO, DCRDP, and OIG

Fraud, waste, and abuse erode the public’s trust in our ability to efficiently provide vital services. Fraud prevention is critical to conserving valuable resources and meeting our mission to meet the changing needs of the public.

Our strategic initiatives to address this challenge include:

Addressing the Processing Center Backlog;
Promote Timely Wage Reporting;
Ensure Timely and Accurate Payments to Claimants and their Appointed Representatives;
Enhance Fraud Prevention and Detection Activities;
Strengthen Our Information Security Program and Privacy Programs and Modernize Our Cybersecurity and Privacy-enhanced Risk Management Infrastructure; and
Expand Strategic Partnerships with External Partners. Increasing Initial Disability Pending and Keeping Pace in the Disability Program with Medicine, Technology, and the World of Work

Components: DCHO, DCO, DCRDP, and OCIO

One of our priorities is to improve the national average processing time for initial disability claims and work down older cases. We are identifying opportunities in policies, workloads, and processes for improving and enabling efficient and effective operations.

Additionally, medicine, technology, and the nature of work are constantly evolving. We must create an agile and responsive organization committed to keeping pace with those changes and maximizing efficiencies throughout the disability program.

Our strategic initiatives to address this challenge include:

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 55

Address Initial Disability Decision Wait Times;
Modernize Information Technology;
Enhance Disability Case Processing;
Expand Access to Electronic Medical Evidence;
Develop an Occupational Information System;
Improving the Disability Adjudication Process;
Update the Listing of Impairments; and
Expand Strategic Partnerships with External Partners. Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 56

Appendices

Appendix A: Program Assessments

We routinely conduct studies and surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of our programs. Continuous evaluation of program data, research, and analysis assist us in identifying strengths and weaknesses in our programs. Program evaluation results assist us in developing strategies to address the major challenges we face and improve how we administer our programs. We complete many of our evaluations annually, while others may be quarterly, biennial, triennially, or one-time efforts. We included within this section an introduction to the Annual Evaluation Plan and summary of findings for the most current reports available, organized by the Strategic Goal they support.

Evidence Act Deliverables (Annually)

As required by the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, we have developed Annual Evaluation Plans that describe our program evaluations to support our FYs 2022–2026 Agency Strategic Plan and other agency priorities. We are making progress on evidence-building activities specified in our FYs 2022–2026 Learning Agenda, and we have continued efforts to support our evidence-building capacity based on our FYs 2022–2026 Capacity Assessment. Our Evaluation Plans describe the most significant program evaluations that we will complete during the year. These plans are available on our website.

Customer Experience (Annually)

Our 2023 CX Action Plan outlines seven CX actions that we will execute in FYs 2023 and 2024 to build our CX management capacity. We worked with CX industry experts to develop journey mapping standards and CX decision modeling to help us identify which aspects of our current service delivery channels are generating the greatest customer pain points to implement CX activities and solutions. We designated three HISP priority services: applying for a replacement Social Security card, filing for Social Security retirement benefits, and obtaining adult disability benefits. Visit Performance.gov for more information about our CX Action Plans and our FY 2025 Congressional Justification for more specifics about our planned actions.

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 57

Strategic Goal 1 – Optimize the Experience of SSA Customers

Prospective Client Survey (Biennially)

The Prospective Client Survey queries non-beneficiaries between ages 50 and 64 to identify service expectations and preferences of the upcoming wave of retirees. The most recent survey was completed in FY 2023.

Retirement Application Survey (Biennially)

The Retirement Application Survey (RAS) measures customer satisfaction with the retirement application process and identifies service expectations and preferences for future service among recent retirees. We conducted the RAS most recently in FY 2022, with customers awarded retirement benefits in April 2022. The sample included applicants who filed in person, by telephone, and online. We conducted the survey by mail from May through mid-August 2022. The results reflect the opinions of 5,468 respondents.

The purpose of the survey was to determine how well Social Security served its customers when they filed their application for retirement benefits. The survey also included questions to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic may have affected their decision on when and how to file for retirement benefits. We offer the following takeaways from the FY 2022 RAS Report compared with the RAS Report conducted with customers in February 2020:

Almost all respondents in FY 2022 filed their applications for retirement benefits online or over the telephone. However, one out of every three respondents said they would have preferred to file in person.
More respondents who said they do not use the Internet filed online anyway.
More respondents said they called Social Security about their application for retirement benefits.
Fewer respondents visited an office about their application for retirement.
Almost half of respondents indicated they stopped working after the pandemic was officially declared.
Most respondents said the pandemic had no effect on when they filed for their retirement benefits.
More than half of the respondents who visited a local office without an appointment still received service.

Office Visitor Survey (Ad Hoc)

The Office Visitor Survey (OVS) measures customer satisfaction with the agency’s in-person service in field offices and hearing offices. We conducted the surveys annually until FY 2018, then moved to a biennial schedule, and then to an “as needed” schedule for future iterations of the survey. Our last biennial survey was conducted in January 2020. Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 58

In July 2022 and again in January 2023, we conducted an OVS to assist the agency’s re-entry evaluation by examining in-person service in offices after re-entry, which began in April 2022.

Customer satisfaction with in-office service remained high and improved in some features of service during re-entry. The following table displays key comparison data of in-office service during pre-pandemic and re-entry periods.

	January 2023	July 2022	January 2020
Rating of Overall Satisfaction with Service	92% Excellent/Very Good/Good(E/VG/G)	92%E/VG/G	93%E/VG/G
Business Resolution	89%a accomplished their goal during visit	89%a accomplished their goal during visit	79% accomplished their goal during visit
Rating of Wait Time	83%a E/VG/G	83%a E/VG/G	78%E/VG/G
Length of Wait	73% waited 30 minutes or less	72% waited 30 minutes or less	69% waited 30 minutes or less
Rating of Office Comfort	93%a E/VG/G	94%a E/VG/G	87%E/VG/G
Rating of Interview Privacy	87%a,bE/VG/G	92%a E/VG/G	81%E/VG/G
Did interaction increase confidence in SSA in-person service?	89%a Yes	88%a Yes	84%Yes

a Statistically significant difference compared to January 2020 b Statistically significant difference compared to July 2022

b Statistically significant difference compared to July 2022

Evaluation of the Ticket to Work and Other Employment Support Programs (Continuously)

The Ticket to Work and Other Employment Support Programs evaluation examines employment patterns and outcomes of disabled beneficiaries, including those beneficiaries who use employment services such as the Ticket to Work (TTW), Partnership Plus, and Work Incentives Planning and Assistance programs. We last completed a comprehensive evaluation in 2013 (see our webpage for the reports). Additionally, we analyzed our implementation of the TTW program in a report on potential changes that we might consider for the Work Incentive Planning and Assistance program service model in 2020 and in a report on alternative payment structures for Employment Networks in 2021. We completed an independent 10-year evaluation of the TTW program in 2013, which produced seven reports. All reports are publicly available on our webpage.

Since the end of the comprehensive evaluation in 2013, we have funded analyses related to the TTW through our Retirement and Disability Research Consortium. These grants supported external researchers working both alone and in collaboration with SSA staff to produce published papers, working papers, and conference presentations, including topics of relevance to the TTW program. 13 We also recently published a paper assessing the TTW evaluation findings to date and providing new results on TTW outcomes relative to costs. 14

In FY 2023, we awarded a contract for a new formal evaluation of the TTW program. The evaluation will focus on identifying the underlying reasons for disparities in program successfulness among beneficiaries. The evaluation will consist of surveys, semi-structured interviews, an analysis of program data, and other data collection and analyses as appropriate. The evaluation research questions fall into the following four categories: program effectiveness and opportunities for improvement, consumer characteristics, service provision, and service equity. Interim reports will be completed beginning in FY 2026. The evaluation, along with final reports and datasets, will be completed in FY 2027.

Strategic Goal 2 – Build an Inclusive, Engaged, and Empowered Workforce

Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) (Annually)

OPM administers the FEVS, which allows us to assess employee perspectives of organizational performance across several major HC areas: recruitment, development, performance culture, leadership, job satisfaction, and personal work experiences. The 2023 FEVS results indicated both strengths and opportunities for improvement. The results revealed that questions with the highest positive responses show employees feel they are held accountable for achieving results and producing quality work, are treated with respect by their supervisors, believe that through their work they contribute to the common good, and feel the agency prepares them for potential cybersecurity threats. The 2023 survey results indicate that performance recognition is a persistent challenge and represents an opportunity for improvement. Questions concerning reasonable workloads, performance-based recognition, involvement of employees in decisions that affect their work, and perceptions of senior leaders’ ability to generate motivation and commitment in the workforce represent the lowest positive responses.

Human Capital Evaluation System (Continuous)

We developed a Human Capital Evaluation System (HCES) to demonstrate our efforts to monitor and assess how well HC policies and programs support our mission, in compliance with OPM’s Human Capital Framework (HCF). The HCES is an agency-wide system used to oversee

13 The Retirement and Disability Research Consortium is an interdisciplinary extramural research program under which SSA funds research centers. These research centers manage and award grants supporting SSA’s focal area topics. See "Effects of the Ticket to Work Program: Return on Investment and Overall Assessment of Outcomes Versus Design" by Paul O'Leary and Emily Roessel (Social Security Bulletin 83, no. 1 (2023): 1-39). https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v83n1/v83n1p1.html . Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 60 the operations of HR management programs and assess the results of organizational performance and compliance with laws and regulations.

Our HCES consists of four activities and programs:

HCOP – Agency-level method of capturing HC and workforce planning initiatives, milestones, and performance measures: o Describes plans for executing the HC elements from our ASP and APR and addresses the government-wide priorities identified in OPM’s HCF, Federal Workforce Priorities Report, and the President’s Management Agenda. o Operationalizes goals of the government-wide and agency DEIA Strategic Plans. o Supports OMB Memorandum M-17-22, Comprehensive Plan for Reforming the Federal Government and Reducing the Federal Civilian Workforce.
HRStat – Metric-based, analytical monitoring process that tracks HC priorities and supports leadership data-driven decision making, as related to agency goals and performance improvement strategies: o Tracks agency progress on HCOP activities, along with other data-based strategic HC and workforce planning activities. o Platform to raise HC issues in need of input or intervention to executives and discuss HC topics, policies, and program information with leadership to ensure consistent, effective communication while socializing and standardizing data-driven decision making.
Independent Audit Program (IAP) – Comprehensive virtual HCF audit of all 10 regional offices, Central Operations, and headquarters Servicing Personnel Offices (SPO) on a 5-year cyclical basis. o May include a review of more than 50 agency and OPM-defined outcomes across a variety of HR functions, such as: training, performance management, labor- management/employee relations, civil rights and equal opportunity, staffing (including delegated examining unit hiring and merit promotion), security and suitability, and work-life. o Conducted one audit in FY 2023 and found no significant issues (i.e., no illegal appointments or veterans’ preference and adjudication issues). o Effective April 2023, the 10 regional SPOs were centralized under the office of HR. We are working with OPM to determine the HCF audits for FYs 2024–2025.
Human Capital Review (HCR) – Discussion between agency HC leaders and OPM. The participants review agency HC results in connection with HCOP goals, their impact on strategic goals, as well as risks, barriers, and successful practices. Key elements of the HC business processes are discussed, including the HCOP, HRStat, and the IAP. The FY 2023 HCR discussion with OPM took place on May 18, 2023. Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 61

Overall, the HCES helps executive leadership assess the effect of HC strategies designed to achieve agency goals and contributes to our organizational performance as a mechanism to monitor and evaluate outcomes related to HC management strategies, policies, programs, and activities. Ensuring HC policies and programs support our mission is a critical step in evaluating organizational performance and determining how to improve processes. We maintain accountability for success and appropriate use of HR authorities across all HC endeavors with strategic internal tracking and assessment procedures.

Management Directive 715 Report (Annually)

We provide the status of our efforts to establish and maintain effective equal employment affirmation actions programs under Section 717 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and effective affirmation action programs under Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

In FY 2023, the Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity (OCREO) improved or continued efforts toward achieving the status as a Model Equal Employment Opportunity agency, as established in criteria issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). These initiatives include:

Identifying and eliminating barriers to equal employment opportunity (EEO) by completing an analysis of detected triggers that indicate potential barriers. OCREO drafted and shared a copy of the FY 2023 Barrier Analysis Findings Report with each component to increase awareness of the agency’s identified agency-wide triggers and barriers. The MD-715 Report includes actions to mitigate barriers and the agency updates the Barrier Analysis Action Plan as needed.
Providing the agency head with a State of the Agency Briefing that describes our efforts to attain model EEO agency status and component briefings to senior executives with a comprehensive analysis of their components’ workforce demographics via “State of the Component Briefings” issued in the fourth quarter of FY 2023. The analysis included workforce participation rates by race, ethnicity, gender, and disability status, identifying areas in need of improvement based on low representational rates as compared to the civilian labor force. EEO Activity at the component level is provided, including the number of employees counseled, formal complaints filed, and ADR participation.
Marketing Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to informally resolve EEO claims, after revising the ADR policy to increase management participation in ADR by requiring managers to get Deputy Commissioner-level concurrence to decline ADR. The ADR process is a tool to promote voluntary settlements early and throughout the EEO process and to resolve workplace disputes in a positive and constructive manner at the lowest level. The ADR policy has helped promote manager participation in the ADR process. In FY 2023, the management participation in ADR was 92.4 percent, exceeding the EEOC’s benchmark of 90 percent participation. Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 62

Collaborating with the Office of Labor-Management and Employee Relations (OLMER) on implementing the Notification and Federal Employee Anti-Discrimination and Retaliation Act (No FEAR) policy, under which OLMER conducts an independent review of complaints in any discrimination finding, “including those identified by investigations conducted under the agency’s anti-harassment program.” The purpose of the independent reviews is to determine whether to recommend disciplinary action against management officials named in an EEO complaint for which a finding of discrimination was issued. Under the No FEAR policy, OLMER may also review significant settlements. OLMER conducts these reviews on an ad hoc basis when OCREO receives either a finding from the EEOC or a settlement agreement that raises questions about the need for corrective action. OCREO submits findings and settlement agreements to OLMER for review, along with the Report of Investigation for the case. OLMER then analyzes whether to recommend disciplinary action and returns its recommendation to the component to consider taking action, if applicable.
Allowing employees to initiate EEO complaints and to view the status of their cases electronically (eFile).
Improving accessibility for employees and applicants with disabilities through services and support. This effort includes assistive technology (and related training), adaptive devices, reader and personal assistants, interpreter services, and related services for employees who are deaf or hard of hearing. Creating mandatory training material as part of the agency’s Employer of Choice for Employees with Disabilities initiative on topics such as Schedule A hiring authority, Selective Placement Program, and partnerships and outreach with disability organizations involved in the placement of applicants with disabilities. Strategic Goal 3 – Ensure Stewardship of SSA Programs Federal Information Security Modernization Act Report (Annually) The Federal Information Security Modernization Act Report tells Congress whether our overall information technology security and privacy programs and practices comply with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014. In FY 2023, we successfully implemented solutions for encrypting data-at-rest on end-users’ devices, such as laptops and mobile phones, as well as our data centers, High Value Assets, and cloud providers. We provide strong encryption for data transmitted to our business and data exchange partners. These efforts complement other areas of progress we have made in meeting enhanced requirements for endpoint detection and response (EDR) and enterprise logging in support of OMB Memorandums M-22-01, Improving Detection of Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities and Incidents on Federal Government Systems through Endpoint Detection and Response and M-21-31, Improving the Federal Government’s Investigative and Remediation Capabilities Related to Cybersecurity Incidents. In addition, we are building onto the existing Identity, Credential, and Access Management strategy to target key requirements to enable agency-wide MFA at the application and system level in compliance with EO 14028, Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity. Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 63

Pre-Effectuation Review of Disability Determinations (Annually)

The Pre-Effectuation Review of Disability Determinations assesses the accuracy of DDS initial, and reconsideration adult disability allowances, per section 221(a) of the Social Security Act. The most recent results include FY 2020 data.

Safeguard Security Report (Annually)

We provide examples of our policies and procedures to demonstrate how we safeguard personally identifiable information and Federal tax information. We submit this report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on an annual basis.

Safeguard Review (Triennially)

The Safeguard Review assesses the use of Federal tax information and the measures we employ to protect this information. This review is an onsite evaluation completed in collaboration with the IRS.

The IRS completed its full Safeguard Review of our agency in the summer of 2016. The review concluded with a closing conference in September 2016 and produced findings pertaining to both physical and IT security. We received one critical finding from the review and addressed it in June 2017. We report the findings from this review on a semi-annual basis through submission of a corrective action plan to the IRS. The IRS postponed the June 2020 Safeguard Review (Triennial), due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are working with our IRS stakeholders to develop an approach for reviewing and testing agency systems.

Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds (Annually)

The Board of Trustees reports annually to Congress on the financial and actuarial status of the two Social Security trust funds. The 2023 report was signed on March 31, 2023. At the end of 2022, the OASDI program was providing benefit payments to about 66 million people: 51 million retired workers and dependents of retired workers, 6 million survivors of deceased workers, and 9 million disabled workers and dependents of disabled workers. During the year, an estimated 181 million people had earnings covered by Social Security and paid payroll taxes on those earnings. The total cost of the program in 2022 was $1,244 billion, while total income was $1,222 billion. The combined OASI and DI Trust Fund reserves are projected to reach reserve depletion in 2034, at which time continuing income to the trust funds would be sufficient to pay 80 percent of scheduled benefits. For the 75‑year projection period, the OASDI actuarial deficit is 3.61 percent of taxable payroll.

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 64

Annual Report to Congress on Medical Continuing Disability Reviews (Annually)

A legislatively mandated report provides summary information on medical CDRs conducted for a completed fiscal year. The most recent report includes FY 2017 data.

Report on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Non-medical Redeterminations (Annually)

This report provides summary information on non-medical redeterminations of SSI recipients conducted for a completed fiscal year. The report includes actuarial estimates of the net Federal lifetime reductions in SSI and Medicaid benefits resulting from the reviews conducted during that fiscal year. The most recent report includes FY 2014 data.

Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 Section 845(b) Report (Annually)

A legislatively mandated report provides summary information on work-related CDRs conducted for a completed calendar year. The report includes actuarial estimates of the net lifetime reduction in OASDI benefits resulting from the CDRs conducted in that calendar year (CY). The most recent report includes CY 2021 data.

Annual Report of the Supplemental Security Income Program (Annually)

We report annually to the President and Congress on the status of the SSI program and provide 25-year projections of program participation and costs. In January 2023, 7.4 million individuals received monthly Federal SSI payments averaging $654, a decrease of about 136,000 recipients from the 7.6 million recipients with an average payment of $603 in January 2022. By 2047, the end of the 25-year projection period, we estimate that the SSI recipient population will reach 8.3 million. The projected growth in the SSI program over the 25-year period is largely due to the overall growth in the U.S. population, though we project the growth in the SSI recipient population to be somewhat slower than the growth in the U.S. population.

Enumeration Accuracy Report (Triennially)

We report the accuracy of original or replacement SSN assigned during the fiscal year under review. In FYs 2015 and 2018, original SSN enumeration accuracy rates were 100 percent. For FY 2022, we randomly sampled 1,000 replacement card applications available to the public from May 2022 through August 2022. The FY 2022 Enumeration Quality Review determined the processing of replacement card applications had a 96.5 accuracy rate. The overall accuracy rate for SSN replacement cards was 96.5 percent.

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 65

Evaluation of WorkSmart that identifies Continuing Disability Reviews

We are evaluating the results from WorkSmart to identify work CDR cases. WorkSmart consists of three systems of computer programs that identify and prioritize cases most likely to result in determinations of Substantial Gainful Activity. Our tracking and assessment each year indicate the need for improved coordination with our processing of cases and WorkSmart’s releases. In FY 2023, we initiated a formal evaluation of WorkSmart to assess its effectiveness in selecting and prioritizing cases for work CDRs and to identify areas of improvement on the challenging task of separating enforcement releases that result in cessation or termination from cases that result in benefit continuation. We expect to report the evaluation findings in FY 2024.

Targeted Denial Review (Annually)

We assess the accuracy of reconsideration disability denials made by the DDS. In FY 2023, we analyzed 25,411 cases and cited 1,100 decisional errors and 2,875 documentation errors. We returned 3,975 cases to the adjudicating components for correction—a return rate of

15.6 percent. Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Stewardship Review (Annually) Our Stewardship Review measures the accuracy of payments to persons receiving Social Security retirement, survivors, or disability benefits. The national dollar accuracy rates for FY 2022, defined as the percentages of dollars paid that are free of either an overpayment (O/P) or any underpayment (U/P), were 99.49 percent for O/P and 99.86 percent for U/P based on random sampling. In FY 2021, the O/P accuracy rate was 99.83 percent and 99.95 percent for U/P. The difference between the FY 2022 O/P and U/P accuracy rate and FY 2021 O/P and U/P accuracy rate was not statistically significant. Information about the improper payments, root causes, and corrective actions in our programs for FY 2022 (and previous years) can be found on the Payment Accuracy website.

Supplemental Security Income Stewardship Review (Annually)

The SSI Stewardship Review measures the accuracy of payments to persons receiving SSI benefits by reviewing all non-medical factors of eligibility and payment. Information about the improper payments, root causes, and corrective actions in our programs for FY 2022 (and previous years) can be found on the Payment Accuracy website. The results of the FY 2023 report will be available in FY 2024.

Supplemental Security Income Transaction Accuracy Review (Annually)

The SSI Transaction Accuracy Review (STAR) examines non-medical aspects of eligibility, such as income, resources, and living arrangement, to assess the adjudicative accuracy of SSI initial claims, redeterminations, and limited issues to ensure they are policy compliant. In FY 2022, a sample of 4,197 cases provided meaningful information about the quality of the non- Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 66 medical aspects of these SSI transactions. The national case accuracy rates for FY 2022, defined as the percentage of cases free of either an O/P or a U/P, were 92.8 percent for O/P and

94.0 percent for U/P. In FY 2021, these rates were 92.8 percent and 94.3 percent, respectively. The change in the FY 2022 O/P and U/P case accuracy rates from those of FY 2021 was not statistically significant. In addition to case accuracy, STAR measures the accuracy of payments authorized, or dollar accuracy. The national dollar accuracy rates for FY 2022 were 99.1 percent for O/P and 99.3 percent for U/P. In FY 2021, these rates were 99.1 percent and 99.4 percent, respectively. The change in the FY 2022 O/P dollar accuracy rate from the FY 2021 rate is not statistically significant. The results of the FY 2023 review will be available in FY 2024. Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Transaction Accuracy Review (Triennially) We review non-medical factors of eligibility to assess recently processed retirement, survivors, and disability insurance claims to ensure compliance with operational policy. For FY 2020, the overall OASDI O/P case accuracy was 99.3 percent, and the overall OASDI U/P case accuracy was 98.3 percent. The case accuracy rates indicate that approximately 2-out-of-every 100 claims were incorrectly paid—about 0.7 out of 100 cases had O/Ps, and about 1.7 out of 100 cases had U/Ps. The OASDI national dollar accuracy rates for FY 2020 were 99.4 percent for O/Ps and 98.5 percent for U/Ps. The results of the FY 2023 study will be available in the third quarter of FY 2024. Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 67

Appendix B: How We Ensure Our Data Integrity

We are committed to providing consistent, reliable, and valid data. We have internal controls to ensure that our data are quantifiable, verifiable, and secure. Our internal controls include:

Audit trails;
Integrity reviews;
Separation of duties;
Restricted access to sensitive data;
Reviews at all levels of management; and
Validation and verification in our System Development Life Cycles. These same controls support the Commissioner’s Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act Assurance Statement.

Data Integrity Systems and Controls

We gather performance data using automated management information and other workload measurement systems. We assess the data in terms of four quality dimensions:

Accuracy – Measures how well data adheres to specification (e.g., definitions, rules, and policies);
Consistency – Measures consistency in internal and external reporting of data;
Completeness – Measures missing occurrences or attributions of the data; and
Timeliness – Measures the currency of the data (i.e., data are up-to-date and reporting occurs on time). We conduct quality evaluations based on established internal methodologies. As we introduce new performance measures, we perform a comprehensive data assessment using the four quality dimensions. From the assessment results, we establish a baseline. After establishing the baseline, we automate continuous monitoring to sustain high-quality data. Continuous monitoring allows us to follow data trends and proactively remediate potential issues.

In our data quality program, we derive several accuracy and public satisfaction measures from surveys and work samples. These measures provide confidence levels of 95 percent or higher.

As part of our fiduciary responsibility to the public, we use an audit trail system (ATS) to protect our records and taxpayer funds from improper use. The ATS collects and maintains detailed information about our internal and public transactions. We store the data from programmatic and select Internet applications, so we can review transactions for fraud and abuse.

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 68

Audit of Our FY 2023 Financial Statements

The Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 requires the OIG or an independent external auditor that it selects to audit our financial statements. OIG selected Ernst & Young (EY) to conduct the FY 2023 financial statement audit.

The auditor found we fairly presented the basic financial statements, in all material respects, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for Federal entities. EY’s FY 2023 audit report marked the 30 th consecutive year that we received an unmodified audit opinion on our financial statements. The auditor also found that our agency maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over our financial reporting.

EY cited two significant deficiencies identified in prior years. The significant deficiencies are internal control over certain financial information systems controls and internal control over accounts receivable with the public (benefit overpayments).

The audit included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The audit did not find instances of noncompliance with laws, regulations, or other materials tested.

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 69

Appendix C:

Changes to Performance Measures

Results for Discontinued Fiscal Year 2023 Performance Measures

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Result	2020 Result	2021 Result	2022 Result	2023 Target	2023 Result
Expand video service delivery	Not available	Not available	Implemented MS Teams to 100% of frontline employees	On hold due to software implementation restrictions	Conduct test with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to issue non-U.S. Citizen replacement cards	Not MetPending approval and signature with DHS
FY 2023 Performance Progress
Target Not Met: We did not meet our target to expand the use of video service delivery for other workloads.In FY 2023,we successfully conducted 2,541 MS Teams video appointments forU.S.Citizen no-change replacement SSN cards.We are working with DHS to issue non-U.S.Citizen replacement cards.

FY 2023 Performance Progress

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Result	2020 Result	2021 Result	2022 Result	2023 Target	2023 Result
Enhance the leadership and executive pipelines through modernized national leadership and executive development programs	NLDP Launch Complete	NLDP Competencies Identified	NLDP Assignments Initiated	90% of NLDP participants reduced competency gaps	Implement 50% of NLDP improvements based on program evaluation feedback	Met
Implemented 67% of NLDP improvement based on program evaluation feedback
FY 2023 Performance Progress
Target Met: We met our target to implement 50 percent of NLDP improvements based on program evaluation feedback. We implemented 67 percent of NLDP improvements recommendations.

FY 2023 Performance Progress

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Result	2020 Result	2021 Result	2022 Result	2023 Target	2023 Result
Modernize our Debt Management System	Developed the initial release of an online remittance application, which provides individuals with the ability to access a payment portal and make payments via the Department of the Treasury's Pay.gov website	Delayed the implementation of the online remittance(iPaySSA)application while we reassessed potential risks	Deployed the new online payment process	Expanded the Social Security Electronic Remittance System	Expand our automated remittance processing capabilities	MetSuccessfully expanded the Lockbox service to include SSI remittances
FY 2023 Performance Progress
Target Met: We met our FY 2023 target to expand our automated remittance processing capabilities.

FY 2023 Performance Progress

Target Met: We met our FY 2023 target to expand our automated remittance processing capabilities. We expanded the use of lockbox services to include SSI remittances. In FY 2023, Lockbox processed over 215,000 remittances for $54 million.

Fiscal Year Performance	2019 Result	2020 Result	2021 Result	2022 Result	2023 Target	2023 Result
Ensure Timely and Accurate Payments to Appointed Representatives	Achieved an average processing time of 55.2 days	Achieved an average processing time of 65.9 days	Achieved an average processing time of 60.6 days	Achieved an average processing time of 71.5 days	Achieve an average processing time of 60 days	Met Achieved an average processing time of 45 days
FY 2023 Performance Progress
Target Met: We met the FY 2023 target through the prioritization of issuing appointed representative fees within the processing centers. We achieved an average processing time of 45 days, which is an improvement of about 26 days on average compared to FY 2022.

FY 2023 Performance Progress

Fiscal Year 2023 Performance Measures with Title Changes

Previous Title	Current Title
1.3c: Improve customer service by reducing the number of actions pending at the processing centers	1.3c: Improve customer service by addressing the number of actions pending at the processing centers
2.1b: Increase the use of workforce data analyses to support executive workforce and succession planning and data-driven decision making	2.1a: Increase the use of workforce data analyses to support strategic workforce planning and decision making
2.2b: Ensure new supervisors receive timely training to improve their leadership skills and competencies	2.2b: Ensure new supervisors receive timely leadership training

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 72

Appendix D: Summary of Key Management Officials’ Responsibilities

Commissioner of Social Security (COSS) manages all agency programs and staff and serves as

the Chief Operating Officer, responsible for improving agency management and performance.

Deputy Commissioner of Social Security (DCOSS) an appointed position, authorized to act on

behalf of the COSS.

Chief Actuary (OCACT) plans and directs program actuarial estimates and analyses for our

programs and for any proposed changes in programs and trust funds. OCACT provides technical and consultative services to the COSS, the Board of Trustees of the Social Security Trust Funds, Congress, and their respective staffs.

General Counsel (GC) advises the COSS, DCOSS, and all subordinate organizational

components (except the Inspector General) on legal matters. GC also serves as the agency’s Senior Agency Official for Privacy and oversees the implementation of privacy protections and ensures that all privacy requirements are met.

Inspector General (IG) is a Senate-confirmed position that promotes economy, efficiency, and

effectiveness in administering our programs and operations, and prevents and detects fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement.

Office of Transformation (OT) facilitates the most critical business enhancements that serve

the public and support our frontline employees.

Deputy Commissioner for Analytics, Review, and Oversight (DCARO) oversees the review

of program quality and effectiveness and makes recommendations for program improvement utilizing feedback from the adjudication of cases, predictive modeling, and other advanced data analysis techniques. DCARO also coordinates the agency’s anti-fraud initiatives, responds to the recommendations of external monitoring authorities, and serves as the accountable official for improper payments.

Deputy Commissioner for Budget, Finance, and Management (DCBFM) directs our

comprehensive management programs including budget, financial policy, acquisition, grants, facilities and logistics management, and security and emergency preparedness. DCBFM also serves as the Chief Financial Officer, Performance Improvement Officer, the Program Management Improvement Officer, and the responsible official for Enterprise Risk Management and the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act.

Deputy Commissioner for Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity (DCCREO) ensures

compliance with the laws and regulations that govern Federal-sector Equal Employment Opportunity, promotes an equitable and inclusive work environment, and serves as the agency lead for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility. Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 73

Deputy Commissioner for Communications (DCCOMM) conducts our national public

information and outreach programs and fosters the transparency of our operations.

Deputy Commissioner for Hearings Operations (DCHO) administers our nationwide hearings

program in accordance with relevant Federal laws.

Deputy Commissioner for Human Resources (DCHR) administers our human resources

programs, including training, human capital initiatives, personnel and employee relations, and labor management. DCHR also serves as the Chief Human Capital Officer and the senior accountable official on employee engagement initiatives.

Deputy Commissioner for Legislation and Congressional Affairs (DCLCA) develops and

conducts our legislative program, serves as our liaison to Congress, and analyzes legislative and regulatory initiatives.

Deputy Commissioner for Operations (DCO) directs our network of field offices,

National 800 Number teleservice centers, and processing centers. DCO also oversees the Chief Business Office and the State disability determination services.

Deputy Commissioner for Retirement and Disability Policy (DCRDP) advises the COSS on

major policy issues and is responsible for all activities in the areas of program policy planning, policy research and evaluation, statistical programs, and overall policy development, analysis, and implementation. DCRDP provides enterprise-wide oversight data-sharing agreements and negotiates Social Security (totalization) agreements with foreign governments. DCRDP serves as liaison with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and leads our efforts to improve the clarity, tone, and readability of our notices. DCRDP also leads our efforts in implementing the Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018.

Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) directs the strategic management of our

systems and databases, which includes the development, validation, and implementation of new systems. OCIO directs operational integration, strategic planning processes, and implementation of a systems configuration program. The OCIO also provides strategic vision, aligns information technology initiatives with overall business goals, and drives innovation.

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 74

Social Security Administration | Annual Performance Report FYs 2023–2025 Page | 75

Social Security Administration | Publication No. 22-017 | March 2024 Produced and published at U.S. taxpayer expense