Social Security, OIG Partner with State of Wisconsin on Anti-Fraud Unit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 23, 2016

 

The Social Security Administration (SSA), its Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and the Wisconsin Department of Justice today announced a new Cooperative Disability Investigations (CDI) Unit in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  As part of the nationwide CDI Program, the Milwaukee Unit will identify and prevent Social Security disability fraud throughout the State of Wisconsin.

 

CDI is one of Social Security’s most successful anti-fraud initiatives, contributing to the integrity of many Federal, State, and local assistance programs.  CDI brings together personnel from SSA, its OIG, State Disability Determination Services (DDS), and local law enforcement agencies to analyze and investigate suspicious or questionable Social Security disability claims, and to help resolve questions of potential fraud, often before benefits are ever paid.  CDI helps disability examiners make informed decisions, ensure payment accuracy, and generate significant taxpayer savings, not only for Social Security, but also often for other Federal, State, and local programs.

 

“CDI has contributed to the integrity of Federal, State, and local benefit programs for almost 20 years,” said Social Security Acting Inspector General Gale Stallworth Stone.  “With the help of the Wisconsin Department of Justice, we will increase efforts to detect and prevent fraud and abuse in Social Security’s disability programs and related State and local programs, to preserve these benefits for Wisconsin citizens who truly depend on them.”

 

The Milwaukee CDI Unit is one of 12 new CDI units that SSA and the OIG have opened since August 2014, as part of an aggressive effort to root out disability fraud.  The CDI program consists of 37 units covering 32 States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia.

 

“Social Security’s most successful collaboration with the OIG in the area of disability fraud investigation and prevention is the CDI program. These units play a critical role in preventing fraud and investigating complex conspiracies, and we are excited to mark the work being done at the Milwaukee CDI Unit,” said Carolyn W. Colvin, Acting Commissioner of Social Security.  “I thank the Wisconsin Department of Justice for their involvement and commitment to fight fraud.  Social Security will continue to combat fraud and preserve public trust in our programs.”

 

The Milwaukee CDI Unit includes an OIG special agent, an SSA program expert, State disability examiners from the Wisconsin Disability Determination Bureau, and investigators from the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation.  

 

SSA and its OIG jointly established the CDI program in 1997.  Since CDI was established, it has contributed to $3.5 billion in projected savings to Social Security’s programs, and $2.4 billion in projected savings to related Federal and State programs.  For more information on the CDI program, please visit the CDI page.

 

Public citizens who would like to report suspected disability fraud should contact the Social Security Fraud Hotline at https://oig.ssa.gov/report; send U.S. Mail to P.O. Box 17768, Baltimore, MD, 21235; fax (410) 597-0118; or call (800) 269-0271 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

 

For more information, please contact Andrew Cannarsa, OIG Acting Communications Director, at (410) 965-2671.