[Excerpt] The General Accounting Office (GAO) has made recommendations for improving the disability programs by citing practices that have been successful in Germany, Sweden, and the private sector. This issue is important in the United States because the number of disability beneficiaries is growing rapidly, program costs are increasing proportionately, and few disability recipients are leaving the disability rolls to resume work activity. GAO points out that the estimated lifetime savings for removing an additional 1 percent of the disabled beneficiaries from the rolls of the Disability Insurance (DI) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs each year will ultimately reach $3.0 billion.