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On September 9, a United States House subcommittee met to discuss eliminating barriers to employment for people with disabilities and flaws within Social Security Insurance (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) systems. Research by expert health economist and social safety net researcher Priyanka Anand was featured, offering critical evidence of how SSDI overpayment decreases workforce participation.
Individuals qualify for SSDI benefits if they are unable to maintain employment due to a disability. Cash benefits are based on the individual’s work history and cease if income surpasses a determined amount for an extended period of time. Work-related overpayments occur if SSDI benefits are still issued after the individual is no longer eligible. Anand’s findings revealed that after notification of overpayment, beneficiaries’ engagement in the labor force declined by 8%.
Anand’s study Labor supply response to overpayment notifications: Evidence from Social Security Disability Insurance, published in Contemporary Economic Policy, was cited in the testimony of Mathematica Principal Researcher Denise Hoffman. The hearing was held by the United States House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security Subcommittee on Work and Welfare.
“The complexities of SSI and SSDI programs can make it difficult for people to access benefits that they are entitled to. It can also disincentivize work for beneficiaries if they do not understand the program rules,” said Anand, an associate professor in the College of Public Health Department of Health Administration and Policy. “My research shows that inefficiencies such as overpayments can work against the SSDI program goal of supporting the work efforts of people with disabilities.”
Anand is a health economist with a research focus on the social safety net and social insurance programs, with a particular focus on disability policy. Her work has been published in journals such as the Journal of Health Economics, the American Journal of Health Economics, and Health Services Research. Before coming to George Mason University, Anand was a senior researcher at Mathematica Policy Research.