Kalman Rupp

Overview

Senior economist in the Office of Research, Evaluation and Statistics at the Social Security Administration (SSA). Works on SSA disability program mechanics, program interactions, benefit take-up, and work incentives among beneficiaries. A leading inside-SSA researcher on DI and SSI program design.

Key Contributions / Features

• DI lock empirics (Coe and Rupp 2013): Co-author of the first systematic empirical test of the DI lock hypothesis; contributed program expertise on DI-SSI interaction mechanics (SGA cliff dampening, concurrent benefit formulas, DI-to-SSI transitions). See Employment Lock.
• DI-SSI program interactions: Extensive research on the interaction between DI and SSI benefit formulas, including the conditions under which DI beneficiaries qualify for SSI top-ups and the resulting dampening of the SGA cliff work disincentive.
• Rupp and Riley (2012) — Social Security Bulletin 72(3): 19–35; first individual-level linkage of all four U.S. disability safety-net programs (DI, SSI, Medicare, Medicaid); co-authored with Gerald F. Riley (CMS); N=68,798 first-ever 2000 entrants, 84-month panel; documented that SSI serves as the primary Medicaid bridge during the 29-month combined DI/Medicare waiting period and that coverage becomes virtually complete for DI-involved beneficiaries once Medicare kicks in. See DI Medicare Waiting Period.
• Disability beneficiary longitudinal transitions: Work documenting exit rates from DI (1% per year) and SSI (4% per year) and the insurance patterns of disability program entrants.
• Life-cycle framework for SSI children (Davies, Rupp, and Wittenburg 2009): Co-authored institutional and longitudinal analysis of childhood SSI awardees; documented that 1974–1982 childhood awardees had a mean SSI duration of ~27 years; linked NSCF family profile data to SSA administrative earnings records.
• SSA data infrastructure primer (Rupp and Davies ~2000): Co-authored reference document describing SSA's five core administrative databases (MBR, SSR, NDDS, MEF, NUMIDENT) and the rationale for SIPP-SSA exact matching; illustrated via Project NetWork evaluation (146,861 cases) and SSI eligibility simulation.
• Rupp and Scott (1998) duration analysis: Estimated determinants of SSI spell duration and showed excess income as the primary reason for first exits among childhood awardees (~half of all exits).

Related

• Norma B. Coe
• Paul S. Davies
• David Wittenburg
• Gerald F. Riley
• Disability Insurance Program
• Supplemental Security Income
• SSI Children's Program
• SSA Administrative Data Systems
• Employment Lock
• DI Medicare Waiting Period

Sources

• Rupp and Davies ~2000 — Disability Research Using Survey Data Matched to SSA Administrative Record Data
• Coe and Rupp 2013 — Does Access to Health Insurance Influence Work Effort Among Disability Cash Benefit Recipients
• Davies Rupp and Wittenburg 2009 — A Life-Cycle Perspective on the Transition to Adulthood among Children Receiving SSI
• Rupp and Riley 2012 — Longitudinal Patterns of Medicaid and Medicare Coverage Among Disability Cash Benefit Awardees