The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) announced recently that it would be opening five new Cooperative Disability Investigations (CDI) Units across the country.
CDI units are part of a program that is in place to identify and prevent Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) fraud. The SSA said in the press release that the CDI units would be located in Birmingham, Alabama; St. Paul, Minnesota; Raleigh, North Carolina; Charleston, West Virginia and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“CDI brings together personnel from SSA, its OIG, State Disability Determination Services (DDS), and local law enforcement agencies to analyze and investigate suspicious Social Security Disability claims, to help resolve questions of fraud before benefits are paid,” the agency said. “CDI efforts help disability examiners make informed decisions, ensure payment accuracy, and generate significant taxpayer savings for Federal and State programs.”
As of last week, the CDI program consisted of 36 units covering 31 states and Puerto Rico. This includes a unit located in Oklahoma City. Since it was established in 1997, the SSA claims the program has “contributed to $3.2 billion in projected savings to Social Security’s programs, and $2 billion in projected savings to other Federal and State programs.”
SSDI Fraud is Rare
Programs like CDI are helpful in that they prevent potential SSDI fraud from occurring. This leads to low instances of reported crime. In fact, fraud on the behalf of victims and errors made by the SSA constituted less than 1 percent of SSDI benefits paid from 2011-13, according to various news outlets.
If you hear reports about people “gaming” the system when it comes to SSDI, they may be overblown, as the SSA utilizes an extremely rigid application and appeals process, and puts money into safeguards like CDI. For more information about this, you can visit our FAQ page.
If you need help applying for SSDI or are working through an appeal, talk to our Tulsa disability attorneys. You can reach us directly by calling the numbers located on this page or by filling out the case review form.
Troutman & Troutman, P.C. – Tulsa Social Security Disability attorneys
Source: http://oig.ssa.gov/newsroom/news-releases/cdi-expansion-2015
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