Section 5105 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA), Pub. L. No.
101-508, included a provision permitting qualified organizations to collect a fee.
This fee is collected from the beneficiary and is used for expenses (including overhead)
incurred by the organization in providing services performed as the beneficiary's
representative payee. This provision was effective from July 1, 1991 until July 1,
1994.
Section 201 of the Social Security Independence and Program Improvements Act of 1994
(SSIPIA), Pub. L. No. 103-296, extended the authority for qualified organizations
to collect fees for representative payee services beyond July 1, 1994. It also changed
the definition of “qualified organization” and increased the allowable fee amount
in certain circumstances, effective December 1, 1994.
Effective September 1, 2004, section 104 of the Social Security Protection Act of
2004 (SSPA), Pub. L. No. 108-203, requires fee-for-service (FFS) representative payees
to forfeit its fees for any month during which they are found to have misused all
or part of a beneficiary's benefits. In addition, effective April 1, 2005, section
102 of the SSPA requires non-governmental fee for service representative payees to
be bonded and to be licensed in each state in which they serve as representative payees, provided
that licensing is available in the state.