Release from the Office of the Attorney General:
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s disability fraud partnership has generated more than $19.7 million in savings in just under four years of operation.
The partnership generated $1.24 million in projected savings for state and federal governments during the third quarter of 2019. That pushes its total savings to $19.78 million since its inception in West Virginia.
“The return we have seen from this partnership has been exceptional,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “Our efforts are helping change a culture of fraud, waste and abuse, and by doing so we help protect Social Security disability benefits for decades to come for those who legitimately need this crucial safety net.”
The Cooperative Disability Investigations Unit, a partnership with the Social Security Administration, investigates suspicious or questionable disability claims. It investigates beneficiaries, claimants and any third party who facilitate fraud.
The unit’s findings help disability examiners make informed decisions and ensure payment accuracy, while also equipping state and federal prosecutors with the facts needed to secure a conviction. This, in turn, generates significant savings for taxpayers.
CDI Units help resolve questions of potential fraud, in many instances, before benefits are ever paid. The Attorney General’s Office joined the program in December 2015, making it a first-of-its-kind unit for West Virginia.
The state’s unit joins two investigators and an analyst from the Attorney General’s Office with representatives from SSA, its Office of the Inspector General and the state’s Disability Determination Section.
Nationally, the CDI program is one of the most successful anti-fraud initiatives with regard to federal disability programs. It operates 46 units covering 40 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Members of the public should report suspected disability fraud to the Social Security Fraud Hotline at https://oig.ssa.gov/report; send U.S. Mail to PO Box 17785, 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.