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Bounty Program Stopping Illegal SSI Payments What would happen if the government offered a $400 per head bounty for prisoners collecting benefits illegally? A new bounty program which paid correctional facilities to find prisoners collecting benefits illegally saved Social Security $75.4 million in payments, and jails and correctional facilities earned $10 million in bounties in just two years. The program began in 1997 after it was discovered that William Bonin, California's "freeway serial killer," collected disability checks for mental illness until his execution in 1996. Only after his death was reported by the funeral director did Social Security realize it had paid Bonin's benefits during his entire 14 years in prison. Bonin's mother received $75,000 of his checks and used them to pay her mortgage, not knowing her son was not supposed to get the money. Prisoners are ineligible for the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, regular Social Security payments, and disability insurance. SSI checks are typically sent to an inmate's home rather than to the prison, so correction officials do not see them. Participating law enforcement officials send names and Social Security numbers of all new inmates to Social Security. The names are then matched in Social Security's database of beneficiaries. The bounty payments are made to city and county jails as well as to state prisons without mandates on how they use the money. Individuals cannot collect the bounties. Source: "Inmate Bounty Program Said Working," Rebecca Sinderbrand, The Associated Press, November 22, 1999. This article first appeared in Volume 5, Issue 4 of "The Social Security and Medicare Advisor" newsletter (March/2000). To receive future editions of "The Advisor" in its special, free e-mail version, please click here. | ||||||||
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