Kansas CDI unit credited with millions in savings; OIG urges statutory partnership with state

Joseph Espinosa, assistant special agent in charge with the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, told the Committee on Welfare Reform that the Kansas Cooperative Disability Investigations unit — a joint SSA OIG and state partnership — produced $8,700,000 in total monetary achievements and recoveries in 2024 and helped deny or cease 61 claims after 80 investigations were closed.

Espinosa described the CDI program as a nationwide task force that partners SSA special agents with state entities to investigate suspected fraud in SSA disability programs and related public assistance programs. “Fraud in the SSA programs weakens the trust fund,” he said, adding that “Social Security has a 0 tolerance for fraud.”

The CDI program investigates applicants and beneficiaries for the Supplemental Security Income program (referred to in testimony as Title 16 or SSI) and disability insurance under the Old‑Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program (OASDI, Title 2). Espinosa said SSA data show 44,688 Kansans received SSI in 2023 at an average of $704 per recipient and about 62,691 Kansans received Title 2 disability payments in 2023 at an average of $1,489 per beneficiary. He said the CDI program reported more than $80 million in projected savings to SSA disability programs nationwide in…