OIG iClaims Focus Group Description

1. DOCUMENTATION FOR THE GENERIC CLEARANCE

OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEYS

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Disability Internet Claim (iClaim) Focus Groups

SSA SUB-NUMBER: B-02

DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY: Focus Groups.

1. BACKGROUND

On April 15, 2010, the House Subcommittee on Social Security, Committee on Ways and Means, held an oversight hearing on the Social Security Administration (SSA) field office service delivery. During the hearing, Congressman Xavier Becerra requested that the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) review iClaims from a customer service perspective.

As part of its plan to address Congressman Becerra’s request, the OIG initiated the review titled Claimant Experiences with Disability Internet Claim Applications. The OIG’s objective for this review is to obtain claimants’ perceptions on the iClaim process for disability benefits.

For our review we:

• Obtained a data extract from SSA of 60,943 disability insurance benefits (DIB) iClaim applications filed during May 2010;

• Selected a random sample of 250 DIB iClaim applications from the data extract.

• Completed discussions with the 250 claimants who filed the DIB iClaim applications. The discussions measured customer satisfaction with various aspects of using iClaim and collected information to help us understand the customer experience behind the responses. We used a 6-point satisfaction scale to obtain the claimants’ perspective on various aspects including:

• Navigating the iClaim application.

• Understanding the questions asked in the iClaim application.

• Understanding the iClaim instructions.

• Collected information from the 250 claimants and the SSA employees who processed their claims, as to what extent SSA is following-up with claimants to 1) obtain additional information or clarification of information in the iClaim application; and 2) the primary reasons for the follow-up discussions.

The OIG will report the results of discussions with claimants and information obtained from focus groups to Congressman Becerra via a Congressional report. However, prior to releasing the report to Congressman Becerra, the OIG will provide the Commissioner of Social Security an opportunity to provide comments on the report. We will consider the Commissioner’s comments, and if necessary, will make appropriate changes to the report prior to its release to the Congressman. The OIG’s Congressional reports do not include recommendations for any type of corrective actions on the part of SSA

Description

As a further enhancement of our review, the OIG would like to conduct focus groups to obtain individuals’ perceptions on the iClaim application process. A contractor will conduct the focus groups. There will be 6 focus groups—2 in each city—with 9 to 10 participants each in Miami, Florida; Dallas, Texas; and Los Angeles, California. Participant criteria for the focus groups are as follows:

• Focus Group 1

• Is in the 30−49 age range with an equitable distribution of male and female participants in each focus group;

• Fluent in English;

• Must not be currently employed by the Federal Government;

• Has not already applied for Social Security benefits nor is receiving them;

• Is experienced with Internet usage (e.g., has applied online for another public benefit; filed taxes online, performs banking or other financial transactions online, purchases goods or services or conducts similarly complex activities online);

• Mix of race/ethnicity, gender, income, and education.

• Focus Group 2

• Is in the 50 – 67 age range with an equitable distribution of male and female participants in each focus group;

• Fluent in English;

• Must not be currently employed by the Federal Government;

• Has not already applied for Social Security benefits nor is receiving them;

• Is experienced with Internet usage (e.g., has applied online for another public benefit, filed taxes online, performs banking or other financial transactions online, purchases goods or services or conducts similarly complex activities online);

• Mix of race/ethnicity, gender, income, and education.

Methodology

The methodology will be the same for both focus groups. We will show participants various pages of the online Disability Benefit Application, Adult Disability Report, and the Authorization to Disclose Information to the Social Security Administration. We will then ask participants about their understanding and opinion of SSA’s disability iClaim application. Specifically, we wish to determine if the participants:

• Understand that they need to complete the online Adult Disability Report and the Authorization to Disclose Information to the Social Security Administration, in addition to the actual Online Disability Benefit Application;

• Understand what information they are supposed to have readily available when they are applying for disability benefits online;

• Easily understand the questions on the Adult Disability Report and the online Disability Benefit Application;

• Are inclined to follow the Help links provided;

• Understand the information provided when using the Help links;

• Understand the documents they need to submit and how they should submit to SSA;

• Are likely to use the online Disability Benefit Application if they were to file a claim for disability.

IF FOCUS GROUP MEMBERS WILL RECEIVE A PAYMENT, INDICATE AMOUNT:

The contractor will pay focus group members $75 for their participation. The contractor informed us the amount is consistent with compensation for other, similar focus groups held in States with large metropolitan areas (due to higher cost of living).

USE OF SURVEY RESULTS:

The OIG will report to Congress the results of its review including the focus group findings on customer satisfaction when filing for disability benefits online using SSA’s iClaim application. The OIG will also provide the Commissioner of Social Security with a copy of its Congressional report.

BURDEN HOUR COMPUTATION (Number of responses (X) estimated response time (/60) = annual burden hours):

Number of Respondents: 60.

Estimated Response Time: 120 minutes.

Annual Burden Hours: 120 hours.

NAME OF CONTACT PERSON: Deborah Larwood

TELEPHONE NUMBER: (410) 966-6135