A recent case of fraud and abuse in the Philadelphia area has led over a dozen lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee to seek better protections on how Social Security disability checks are sent to disabled people who rely on them. Primarily, they are concerned about checks picked up by representative payees.

The lawmakers sent a letter on Friday to the Government Accountability Office to evaluate the payee program of the Social Security Administration. Advocates say that some people with physical and mental disabilities are being taken advantage of, and they point to the case in Philadelphia as proof.

In that case, a woman apparently locked disabled people in a boiler room in her basement and cashed in their monthly Social Security checks, amounting to $600 to $900 each. This apparently went on for a period of years until her landlord found the victims in the basement. Authorities say they are still not sure how extensive the scheme was. The woman and three other people were eventually charged with various crimes, including kidnapping and false imprisonment.

According to the Associated Press, there are rules regarding representative payees, but some are not enforced.

There are approximately 5.6 million people serving as representative payees involving about $61 billion per year for about 7.6 million beneficiaries this year. Lawmakers believe the system unintentionally provides for loopholes.

In the letter to the Government Accountability Office, they called the SSA's oversight of representative payees a "clear challenge," the Associated Press reports.

Source: Google, "Lawmakers seek Social Security check protections," Andrew Miga, Nov. 21, 2011