BushWatch Main >> 2009 Budget >> Social Security AdministrationSOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
More than 58 million people receive critical cash benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA) each month, including Social Security retirement, survivor and disability benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for poor aged, disabled and blind Americans. Although SSA’s benefit payments are entitlements and therefore are not subject to the budget process, treatment of the agency’s administrative budget affects SSA’s ability to serve the tens of millions of Americans who depend on the agency each year. In addition to administering Social Security and SSI, the SSA performs certain health insurance functions, particularly for Medicare. The actual dollars requested for SSA’s administrative budget (LAE) reflect a modest increase (6 percent above the FY 2008 appropriation), as do the inflation-adjusted dollars (4 percent above the FY 2008 appropriation).
Table 15. Social Security Administration:
Comparison of FY 2001 and FY 2008 Actual Appropriations and FY 2009 Budget Request,
(dollars in millions) |
| FY 2001 | FY 2008 | FY 2009 Request |
| Appropriation | Inflation-Adjusted
Appropriation | Appropriation | Inflation-Adjusted Appropriation |
Administrative Budget (Limitation on Administrative Expenses) | $7,124.0 | $8,822.5 | $9,745.0 | $9,967.6 | $10,327.0 |
Office of the Inspector
General | $69.0 | $85.5 | $92.0 | $94.1 | $98.0 |
Research | $30.0 | $37.2 | $27.0 | $27.6 | $35.0 |
TOTAL | $7,223.0 | $8,945.2 | $9,864.0 | $10,089.3 | $10,460.0 |
1Inflation adjustment factors are derived from Table 10.1 Gross Domestic Product and Deflators Used in the Historical Tables: 1940-2013, Total Composite Outlay Deflators. |
While the 2008 appropriation for SSA’s administrative budget was $148 million more than the FY 2008 budget request, the 2009 request is $100 million less than what the Commissioner of Social Security requested. SSA continues to face administrative challenges—an expected “avalanche of retirement and disability claims” from the baby boomer generation, according to the Commissioner, and a significant backlog of almost 750,000 disability appeals waiting for hearings as of September 30, 2007.
