THE LEDGER-STAR
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 17, 1994 TAG: 9411170665
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER DIXON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
Social Security underpaid hundreds of thousands of retired Americans nearly a half-billion dollars because of a glitch in its computer system dating to 1978, agency officials acknowledge.
Social Security, which recently discovered the mistake in its computer software, is now working to identify as many as 426,000 elderly people whose retirement checks were shorted by an average of $10 a month for more than a decade, or about $1,000 overall.
Agency officials told The Associated Press, which learned of the mistake this week, that Social Security intends to notify and repay all of the recipients hurt by the error, which totals $478.5 million. The agency will also reimburse survivors or the estates of any retirees who have died.
Commissioner Shirley Chater said that while she was gratified that agency employees helped uncover the mistake, ``it is now imperative that we take immediate action to correct the problem so that it will not occur again and then move quickly to begin processing the underpayments that are long overdue.''
Spokesman Phil Gambino, seeking to put the mistake in perspective, said it affects less than 1 percent of the 43 million Americans who receive Social Security benefits.
But fixing the problem is still expected to be a burden for an agency struggling to answer its telephones, reduce a backlog of claims for disability benefits and crack down on fraud.
And Sen. William Cohen, a Maine Republican who is in line to take over the Senate Special Committee on Aging early next year, said the episode also raises serious questions about how many other computer errors have resulted in underpayments.
``It also further chips away at the public's confidence in the Social Security system,'' Cohen said. ``While I am pleased that the Social Security Administration finally found this problem affecting hundreds of thousands of senior citizens, this once again points out the disturbing problems the SSA has experienced in managing its programs.''
The underpayments are blamed on a glitch with Social Security's antiquated patchwork of computers that began as early as 1978 and continued until 1991.
The error occurred when Social Security processed increases in benefits for certain segments of the retired population on the rolls. Although most of them received the correct amount, some did not.
As word of the underpayments gets out, the agency is bracing for a deluge of calls to its toll-free telephone line, which already answers 60 million calls a year.
A seniors advocate asked elderly Americans to hold off their inquiries because the agency will be notifying everyone entitled to a check.
``They found the mistake. They're fixing it. And the only thing that will prevent them from fixing it further is calling in and making more information and personnel demands on the system until they untangle the knot that's out there,'' said Patrick Burns, a spokesman for the National Council of Senior Citizens, a Washington advocacy group.
Burns said the computer glitch is not surprising for a government program that provides $325 billion a year in disability, retirement and survivors benefits. ``What's surprising is that they haven't had more errors like this in the past,'' he said.
David Certner, senior coordinator for economic issues at the American Association of Retired Persons, said it is encouraging that Social Security is ``willing to go back and make these payments.''
But an official of the union that represents field office employees says the agency lacked the staff to catch the problem sooner.
``They don't have people to do the oversight,'' said Warren C. Fretwell, executive vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3342 in Syracuse, N.Y.
Social Security sought $385 million to upgrade its computers this year, but Congress gave it just $97 million. MEMO: Social Security's toll-free phone number is (800) 772-1213. Hours are
7 a.m. to 7 p.m. business days (regardless of time zone).
ILLUSTRATION: WHO'S AFFECTED
The problem affects two types of retirees. There may be some
overlap.
Those who are eligible for an increase in their monthly payments
based on the additional salary they earn and the taxes they pay when
they work after retirement. Approximately 3.3 million retirees are
entitled to such an increase every year.
Those who take early retirement benefits (before age 65) and then
return to work or miss monthly payments for other reasons.
Approximately 1 million such retirees are due increases each year
when they turn 65.
KEYWORDS: SOCIAL SECURITY
by CNB