Evaluating Survey Report of Social Security Disability Benefit Receipt Using Linked National Health Interview Survey and Social Security Administration Data.

Abstract

Linking nationally representative population health survey data with Social Security Administration (SSA) disability program data provides a rich source of information on program recipients. Survey participant data from the 1998-2005 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) were linked to SSA administrative records from 1997 through 2005. The goal of this study was to assess agreement between the actual benefit receipt based on the SSA administrative records and the survey report of benefit receipt in the linked NHIS and SSA file for the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population. This evaluation provides information on the expected accuracy of survey report of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit receipt, including how participant characteristics may be associated with reporting misclassification. The results indicate that there is some underreporting of SSA disability benefit receipt based on the NHIS responses compared with the SSA administrative records. The analysis identified some differences between the concordant and discordant groups for selected characteristics, but there were no clear patterns among the different survey questions or the different survey participant characteristics.