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Social Security Disability Fraud Scheme in New York Hearing

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Social Security Disability Fraud Scheme in New York Hearing SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY FRAUD SCHEME IN NEW YORK HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON SOCIAL SECURITY OF THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JANUARY 16, 2014 Serial No. 113–SS09 Printed for the use of the Committee on Ways and Means ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 94–393 WASHINGTON : 2016 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Sep 11 2014 14:19 Jul 05, 2016 Jkt 094393 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 I:\WAYS\OUT\94393.XXX 94393 joloto on DSKB35BYQ1 with HEARING COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS DAVE CAMP, Michigan, Chairman SAM JOHNSON, Texas SANDER M. LEVIN, Michigan KEVIN BRADY, Texas CHARLES B. RANGEL, New York PAUL RYAN, Wisconsin JIM MCDERMOTT, Washington DEVIN NUNES, California JOHN LEWIS, Georgia PATRICK J. TIBERI, Ohio RICHARD E. NEAL, Massachusetts DAVID G. REICHERT, Washington XAVIER BECERRA, California CHARLES W. BOUSTANY, JR., Louisiana LLOYD DOGGETT, Texas PETER J. ROSKAM, Illinois MIKE THOMPSON, California JIM GERLACH, Pennsylvania JOHN B. LARSON, Connecticut TOM PRICE, Georgia EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon VERN BUCHANAN, Florida RON KIND, Wisconsin ADRIAN SMITH, Nebraska BILL PASCRELL, JR., New Jersey AARON SCHOCK, Illinois JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York LYNN JENKINS, Kansas ALLYSON SCHWARTZ, Pennsylvania ERIK PAULSEN, Minnesota DANNY DAVIS, Illinois KENNY MARCHANT, Texas LINDA SA´ NCHEZ, California DIANE BLACK, Tennessee TOM REED, New York TODD YOUNG, Indiana MIKE KELLY, Pennsylvania TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas JIM RENACCI, Ohio JENNIFER M. SAFAVIAN, Staff Director and General Counsel JANICE MAYS, Minority Chief Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON SOCIAL SECURITY SAM JOHNSON, Texas, Chairman PATRICK J. TIBERI, Ohio XAVIER BECERRA, California TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas LLOYD DOGGETT, Texas JIM RENACCI, Ohio MIKE THOMPSON, California AARON SCHOCK, Illinois ALLYSON SCHWARTZ, Pennsylvania MIKE KELLY, Pennsylvania KEVIN BRADY, Texas ii VerDate Sep 11 2014 14:19 Jul 05, 2016 Jkt 094393 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 I:\WAYS\OUT\94393.XXX 94393 joloto on DSKB35BYQ1 with HEARING C O N T E N T S Page Advisory of January 16, 2014 announcing the hearing ........................................ 2 WITNESSES The Honorable Patrick P. O’Carroll Jr., Inspector General, Social Security Administration, accompanied by Edward Ryan, Special Agent-in-Charge, New York Field Division, Office of the Inspector General, Social Security Administration ..................................................................................................... 9 The Honorable Carolyn Colvin, Acting Commissioner, Social Security Admin- istration, accompanied by Beatrice M. Disman, Regional Commissioner, New York Region, Social Security Administration ............................................ 18 SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, statement .......................................... 59 Elsibeth Brandee McCoy, letter .............................................................................. 64 Larry Butler, statement .......................................................................................... 66 Michael Gilbert, statement ..................................................................................... 70 National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives, state- ment ...................................................................................................................... 74 Veronica Mayer, letter ............................................................................................. 76 QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD The Honorable Patrick P. O’Carroll Jr. ................................................................. 50 The Honorable Carolyn Colvin ............................................................................... 55 iii VerDate Sep 11 2014 14:19 Jul 05, 2016 Jkt 094393 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 I:\WAYS\OUT\94393.XXX 94393 joloto on DSKB35BYQ1 with HEARING VerDate Sep 11 2014 14:19 Jul 05, 2016 Jkt 094393 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 I:\WAYS\OUT\94393.XXX 94393 joloto on DSKB35BYQ1 with HEARING SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY FRAUD SCHEME IN NEW YORK THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 2014 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS, SUBCOMMITTEE ON SOCIAL SECURITY, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:00 a.m., in Room B–318, Rayburn House Office Building, the Honorable Sam John- son [chairman of the subcommittee] presiding. [The advisory of the hearing follows:] (1) VerDate Sep 11 2014 14:19 Jul 05, 2016 Jkt 094393 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 I:\WAYS\OUT\94393.XXX 94393 joloto on DSKB35BYQ1 with HEARING 2 HEARING ADVISORY Chairman Johnson Announces Hearing on Social Security Disability Fraud Scheme in New York Washington, Jan 9, 2014 U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson (R–TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, today announced a hearing on a massive Social Security Disability Insurance fraud scheme in New York that could cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. The hearing will take place on Thursday, January 16, 2014 in B–318 Rayburn House Office Building, begin- ning at 9:00 a.m. In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consider- ation by the Subcommittee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing. BACKGROUND: On January 7, 2014, the New York County District Attorney’s Office announced the indictment of 106 defendants for their alleged involvement in a criminal con- spiracy to defraud taxpayers. The defendants, who include many retirees of the New York Police and Fire Departments, are accused of massive fraud against the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program. The 102 beneficiaries, along with four facilitators who assisted them, are accused of collecting approximately $22 mil- lion in fraudulent benefits. According to the District Attorney, from approximately January 1988 to December 2013, the four principal defendants in the case coached applicants on how to falsely demonstrate symptoms of mental disorders in order to obtain disability benefits in exchange for a cash payment of up to $50,000. The remaining 102 defendants are charged with lying about their mental health and ability to work in order to receive SSDI benefits to which they were not entitled. Each claimant collected an average of $210,000 in total fraudulent SSDI payments, though for some the total amount obtained was close to $500,000. Many defendants falsely claimed to suffer from post- traumatic stress disorder and other mental illnesses as a result of their experience with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. According to the Social Security Administration (SSA) Office of Inspector General (OIG), the investigation dates back to 2008, when New York Disability Determina- tion Service employees noticed that many applications had the same handwriting and contained identical descriptions of their ailments. These claims were referred to the SSA OIG’s New York Cooperative Disability Investigations unit. In 2011, the SSA OIG and the New York County District Attorney’s Office launched an under- cover operation that led to the indictments. The announcement of these indictments follows revelations of similar abuse in August 2013, when authorities arrested more than 70 individuals involved in a dis- ability fraud conspiracy in Puerto Rico. Also, in October of 2013, the Senate Home- land Security and Governmental Affairs Committee released the results of their bi- partisan investigation detailing inappropriate conduct and collusion between a West Virginia law firm, a Social Security Administrative Law Judge and some local doc- tors in approving benefits while outlining the ineffective oversight by the SSA. With the 2013 Social Security Trustees report projecting that the SSDI program will only be able to pay 80 percent of benefits beginning in 2016, losses to the sys- tem from fraud is an issue of increasing concern. According to the SSA, 11 million beneficiaries received $139.4 billion in SSDI benefits in Fiscal Year 2013. In announcing the hearing, Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (R–TX) said, ‘‘The widespread disability fraud uncovered in Puerto Rico and most recently in New York is deeply troubling and unacceptable. Scandal after scandal proves the Social Security Administration is failing to protect precious taxpayer dollars and undermines Americans’ confidence in this vital program. With the Disability Insurance program unable to pay full benefits as early as 2016, my number one priority has been to keep this pro- VerDate Sep 11 2014 14:19 Jul 05, 2016 Jkt 094393 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 I:\WAYS\OUT\94393.XXX 94393 joloto on DSKB35BYQ1 with HEARING 3 gram strong for those who truly need it and protect taxpayer dollars. It’s time for Social Security to make it their number one priority as well. On behalf of hardworking American taxpayers, I am committed to getting an- swers and rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. Social Security must be held accountable for failing the American taxpayer and work to restore their trust.’’ FOCUS OF THE HEARING: The hearing will focus on the details of the
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