Tomorrow there will be another hearing on the unconscionable back log of SSA disability claims. Claimants will be described as “mired in a Nixon-era process” The same refrains will fill the air; Congress hasn't adequately funded Social Security for years; 80 million baby boomers have overwhelmed the system, and there are not enough employees. Not enough support staff, not enough judges, not enough disability examiners and too few SSA field office workers. We will be reminded the backlog is not because people are cheating the system and not because they don't qualify for benefits. Rather, we will be reminded that what is needed is more money from Congress and the White House, who together are polling between 9% and 20% approval with American tax payers. They are an easy target and they will be reminded that taxpayers can no longer “put off a major reform of the disability claims process any longer.” Commissioner Astrue will be criticized for more of the same incentives and streamlining that the SSA routinely proffers, even though he has been the first Commissioner in 15 years to get funding adequately increased, more ALJs hired and finally held at least somewhat accountable. There will be a hue and cry for Americans who need disability benefits. Certainly we will be told that Social Security needs to be fixed, and fixed quickly.
But what we are unlikely to hear is the word quality. Zen and the art of disability claim adjudication. We will not hear about the wide variance of allowance rates and program inconsistencies across the nation. We will not likely hear that the initial claims filed by those alleging disability are more often than not denied, leading to appeals which are less likely but still far too often dismissed by judges when they should be allowed. We will not likely hear about an Appeals Council that reviews these ALJ denials, only to reverse very few and doing so without offering claimants specific reasons. Listen for the word training. But don’t expect a discussion regarding the concept of adequate training for SSA employees who need to get it right the first time the claimant walks in the field office, the first disability decision an examiner makes and the first hearing a judge presides over.
We can not buy or blame our way out of this unconscionable back log by pointing to lawmakers and demographics and demanding a quick fix. We need to provide adequate funding, but more importantly hold the agency accountable for making the right decision at the right time. Quality decisions, adequately trained staff, accountable judges and appeals level decision makers who render consistent and open decisions are basic tenets that should not be smoldering in the background. Adequate funding must be accompanied by quality performance – simply making the right decisions more than the wrong ones is a concept the agency needs to own and the critics need to grasp.
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