Representative Payee Misuse

• According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Representative Payment Program provides "financial management for the Social Security and SSI payments of our beneficiaries who are incapable of managing their Social Security or SSI payments."
  
  The Social Security Protection Act authorizes the Commissioner of Social Security to reimburse the beneficiary or his alternative representative payee a sum equal to the amount that was misused by a payee.
  
  The act defines misuse of benefits as "any case in which the representative payee receives payment... for the use and benefit of another person and converts such payment, or any part thereof, to a use other than the use and benefit of such other person."
  
  A representative payee involved in misuse faces large civil penalties of $5,000 per violation and an assessment of up to twice the amount of the misused payments.
  
  

Program Oversight

• Representative payees that are non-governmental, fee-for-service organizations that represent 50 or more beneficiaries must now be licensed and bonded, provided the state has licensing available. Individuals who represent 15 or more beneficiaries must also be licensed and bonded.
  
  The commissioner must conduct reviews periodically on all fee-for-service non-profits, governmental and nongovernmental organizations and individual payees. Only individuals serving 15 or more recipients must be reviewed.
  
  

Government Pensions

• According to the Government Finance Officers' Association (GFOA) Federal Liaison Center, many public retirees are caught by surprise when they begin receiving their benefits pursuant to Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). The GPO and WEP reduce Social Security retirement benefits for retirees who collect pensions from jobs not covered by Social Security.
  
  GPO reduces both spousal and survivor benefits by two thirds of their pension from employment not covered by Social Security.
  
  The 2004 legislation requires public employers who do not provide Social Security to notify every new hire. Employers must sign a disclosure certifying they have been informed about the effects of GPO and WEP. Copies of the disclosure must also be forwarded to the company that will pay the retirement benefits.
  
  The SSA must now alter its annual benefit statement to workers to estimate the potential impact of the GPS and WEP on the estimated monthly retirement benefits for which the worker will be eligible. The statement does not include expected benefits from other retirement plans.
  
  To escape the effects of GPO, a public employee must work the final five years of their careers in "jobs covered by Social Security and the retirement system that will pay their pension."
  
  

Divided System

• The Social Security Protection Act added a provision permitting Kentucky and Louisiana to establish a divided retirement system. A divided system permits "public employees to vote on whether they wish to participate in Social Security."
  
  If the majority of public employees wish to join, those who voted for Social Security will participate in the program and all new hires will automatically join the program. The employees who voted against Social Security would be granted the opportunity not to enroll in Social Security.
  
  In a non-divided system, all public employees are subject to the results of the majority vote.
  
  

Ticket to Work

• The names of beneficiaries of state supplement payments and the names of individuals whose disability period has ended would be provided to Benefits Planning, Assistance, and Outreach and Protection and Advocacy (P&A) systems.
  
  P&A services include working with those who need to secure, regain or maintain employment. Grants are awarded to employers who hire individuals from the program.
  
  Employers hiring under the Ticket to Work program, which includes individuals receiving vocational rehabilitation, are eligible for a worker opportunity tax credit.
  
  Workers who find they are unable to maintain a job due to a disability can file with the district court to have their Social Security benefits reinstated.