Social Security Quick Disability Determination Extends Nationwide

SSA Moves Forward With Initiative

We applaud any decrease in waiting times and any cost effective move the new Commissioner undertakes. This press release confirms what many knew was coming. It appears SSA Commissioner Astrue is looking at the initiatives that work and implementing them.

From SSA Press Release
September 5, 2007

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, announced
that Social Security has issued a final regulation to extend the quick
disability determination (QDD) process to all state disability
determination services. Under QDD, a predictive model analyzes specific
elements of data within the electronic claims file to identify claims where there is a high potential that the claimant is disabled and where evidence of the
person’s allegations can be quickly and easily obtained.

“The quick disability determination has been very successful and
efficient so far in New England and I am happy to say it will help
people filing for disability benefits anywhere in the United States.
This is a very important step we are taking at Social Security to
improve our disability programs,” Astrue says. Astrue lauded a reduction in pending disability cases that reach 1,000 days while waiting for an appeal hearing. The commissioner reported there are currently fewer than 600 pending cases, down from more than 63,000 cases in October 2006.

In a news release Social Security reported it currently receives more
than 2.5 million new Social Security disability cases and more than 2.3
million Supplemental Security Income cases each year. The release stated
that in New England, where QDD began on a test basis, cases constituted
slightly less than 3 percent of all new cases. Of those, 97% of the
cases identified have been decided within 21 days and the average
decision time is 11 days. Since the model does not yet incorporate as
many diseases as it can, Astrue has committed to expanding the number of
cases that can be identified while maintaining the same level of
accuracy, the release noted. “The length of time many people wait for a
disability decision is unacceptable,” Astrue said. “I am committed to a
process that is asfair and speedy as possible. While there is no single
magic bullet, with better systems, better business processes and better
ways of fast-tracking targeted cases, we can greatly improve the service
we provide this vulnerable population.”

The final regulation, according to Social Security, is effective as of
September 5, 2007, and will be gradually implemented over the next
several months.