Deeming of Income to Establish Initial Eligibility for Supplemental Security Income Recipients - September 2001 A-05-99-21005

Sep 19, 2026

The audit evaluates how the Social Security Administration (SSA) assesses deemable income from spouses and parents when determining initial eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients. It reviews SSA’s SSI claims process, the Modernized SSI Claims System (MSSICS), and related FCIA penalty provisions. The review estimates $5 million in overpayments affecting 9,240 recipients linked to unstated or understated deemable income during early benefit establishment and identifies additional policy concerns for low-birth-weight infants.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryForms

FormatPDF

Pages27

Reading Time9 min

AccessFree to download

Mission

Authority

Vision

Executive Summary

Objective

Background

Results of Review

Conclusions and Recommendations

| OFFICE OF
THE INSPECTOR GENERAL | | --- | | SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION | | DEEMING OF INCOME TO ESTABLISH INITIAL ELIGIBILITY FOR SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME RECIPIENTS
September 2001 A-05-99-21005 | Mission We improve SSA programs and operations and protect them against fraud, waste, and abuse by conducting independent and objective audits, evaluations, and investigations. We provide timely, useful, and reliable information and advice to Administration officials, the Congress, and the public. Authority The Inspector General Act created independent audit and investigative units, called the Office of Inspector General (OIG) . The mission of the OIG, as spelled out in the Act, is to: 􀀁 Conduct and supervise independent and objective audits and investigations relating to agency programs and operations. 􀀁 Promote economy, effectiveness, and efficiency within the agency. 􀀁 Prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse in agency programs and operations. 􀀁 Review and make recommendations regarding existing and proposed legislation and regulations relating to agency programs and operations. 􀀁 Keep the agency head and the Congress fully and currently informed of problems in agency programs and operations. To ensure objectivity, the IG Act empowers the IG with: 􀀁 Independence to determine what reviews to perform. 􀀁 Access to all information necessary for the reviews. 􀀁 Authority to publish findings and recommendations based on the reviews. Vision By conducting independent and objective audits, investigations, and evaluations, we are agents of positive change striving for continuous improvement in the Social Security Administration's programs, operations, and management and in our own office. Executive Summary OBJECTIVE The objective of the audit was to evaluate the adequacy of the Social Security Administration (SSA) process for detecting deemable income of spouses and parents when establishing initial eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients. BACKGROUND The SSI program requires that the income of an applicant's ineligible parent(s) or spouse be included when determining eligibility and payment amount for SSI benefits. This process of considering another person’s income to be available for meeting the SSI recipient’s basic needs of food , clothing, and shelter is called deeming of income. SSI policy requires the claims representative (CR) to verify the alleged income of applicantsand their deemors ( ineligible spouses or parents) . SSI policy also allows the CR to accept the assertions of applicants and deemors that they do not receive any other income unless expenses exceed reported income . The Modernized SSI Claims System ( MSSICS) is an automated system for gathering, recording and updating SSI claims information. Household composition information is used to determine living arrangement and deeming codes. Income and resource information for household members is used to determine the applicant's eligibility and monthly benefit amounts. The Foster Care Independence Act (FCIA) of 1999 provides an administrative procedure for imposing penalties for false or misleading statements. FCIA provides a penalty of nonpayment of SSI benefits for individuals found to have made a statement for use in determining eligibility that the individual knew, or should have known, was false or misleading, or omitted a material fact. The period of nonpayment is 6 months for the first violation, 12 months for the second, and 24 months for the third violation. RESULTS OF REVIEW We estimated that $5 million in SSI overpayments exist for 9 ,240 SSI recipients who had applied for benefits during the period July 1, 1997 through June 30, 1998 and whose Supplemental Security Record showed a deemor income alert on December 18 , 1998. These overpayments resulted from unstated and/or understated deemable income from spouse to spouse and parent to child when applicants first started receivin

FAQs

What was the objective of the audit?

To evaluate whether SSA’s process adequately detects deemable income of spouses and parents when establishing initial SSI eligibility.

What were the key findings about overpayments?

The audit estimated $5 million in SSI overpayments for 9,240 recipients, stemming from unstated and/or understated deemable income at the initial review stage.

Why can policy outcomes differ for low-birth-weight infants?

Current law limits deeming while an infant is hospitalized and caps benefits; SSA’s computation procedures can delay the impact of parents’ income until later months, affecting high-income parents after release.

Sep 19, 2026

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