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Social Security: Beneficiary Payment for Representative Payee Services

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Report Type Reports and Testimonies
Report Date June 29, 1992
Report No. HRD-92-112
Subject
Summary:

Under legislation intended to strengthen the Social Security Administration's (SSA) representative payee program, a three-year program has been established to allow SSA-approved nonprofit groups to collect a fee from SSA beneficiaries for providing representative payee services. SSA appoints representative payees for about 5 million beneficiaries who cannot manage their own finances because of their youth or mental or physical impairments. Payees receive the benefits directly from SSA and must use them only for the beneficiaries' needs. While most payees are relatives of the beneficiaries, others may be court-appointed guardians or various public and private social service agencies. The representative payee fee program has been operating for only a short time, and its effectiveness remains to be seen. This report discusses the advantages and disadvantages of such a fee.

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