Organizations operate as the gateway to public benefits. They are formally authorized to
adjudicate claims, in the process interpreting and applying eligibility rules. Beyond their
designated role, they also operate as informal gatekeepers, developing modes of operation
that affect the ease or difficulty of claiming. Operational practices—both formally prescribed
and informally created—can add hidden costs to claiming to the extent that they are
complicated, confusing, or cumbersome. Individuals implicitly recognize these costs when
they complain of being ‘‘tied up in red tape’’ or given the ‘‘bureaucratic run around.’’ This
inquiry examines whether these types of hidden organizational costs can have systematic
effects, resulting in administrative exclusion—that is, nonparticipation attributable to
organizational factors rather than claimant preferences or eligibility status.