SSA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Announces Plan to Target Large-Scale Disability Fraud

The SSA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) announced yesterday a new effort targeting large-scale disability fraud and schemes. The pilot program is expected to last through September 2014 and may be expanded in both time and scope, if proven successful.

According to the press release, the pilot will focus on fraud allegations involving:

• SSA senior executives, administrative law judges, administrative appeals judges, and other employees;
• attorneys and non-attorney claimant representatives; and
• medical evidence providers, consultative examiners, vocational and medical experts, and other disability contractors.

The Inspector General has asked SSA Associate Chief Administrative Law Judge Paul Lillios to manage this new pilot program. “The pilot is a continuation of longstanding activity,” Judge Lillios said. “There has been a significant degree of attention placed by the media, Congress, and the public on the integrity of SSA, and this heightens our obligation to protect funds as best we can.”