What happens when the mail arrives....
The GAO and multiple advocacy groups have criticized SSA's notices. We know there are staffing problems, but a great deal of underpayment as well as overpayment of the agency's funds could be corrected with a willingness to examine and transform communication.
Recently the indepentmail.com news from Anderson, South Carolina, published a fascinating article that tracks what may occur when and applicants and beneficiaries open their SSA notices.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Ways and Means Committee - Subcommittee Assignments
Democratic Members of the Ways and Means Committee met to establish recommendations for subcommittee leadership and assignments for the 111th Congress last week. For Texas, we suggest the assignments look good. Congressman Lloyd Doggett – a long time advocate for SSA applicants and recipients is slated for service on the SSA Subcommittee. Congressman Doggett in addition to the Social Security Subcommittee, was recommended for positions on Health and the Budget Committee. As the only democrat from Texas to be recommended for these positions, we congratulate Mr. Doggett and believe this portends for a high standard of knowledgeable advocacy and oversight in the SSA disability process and matters concerning health and budget issues.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Social Security Commissioner Releases New Agency Strategic Plan
Today, the Social Security Administration officially released a glossy five-year plan, identifying challenges and offering agency goals. Timing is interesting as the recent hearings on Capitol Hill requested long term planning. The goals are ambitious and the devil in the details. We will look closer in the days to come. However, getting a disability decision in 20 days at the initial level appears the greatest challenge. The Hearings backlog is mentioned with the usual techno and staffing solutions which also merits more discussion. The Appeals council backlog will be monitored and the details seem sparse. Regardless, for a preview, follow the link below, to the agency's site where the plan resides in full.
New Agency Strategic Plan
New Agency Strategic Plan
Monday, September 15, 2008
September 16, 2008 - Another SSA Congressional Hearing
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
“Unconscionable backlog & untold suffering” - Congress takes a look at SSA's hearing offices.
In a press release today, entitled Clearing the Disability Backlog, the Subcommittee on Social Security's Chairman McNulty announced a Hearing on the Performance of Social Security Administration Appeals Hearing Offices. We provide some of the salient points of the release below, including the focus of the hearing which will be on the performance of SSA’s hearing offices, factors that affect productivity, initiatives SSA is taking to increase efficiency and productivity, and other approaches to improving productivity without compromising the quality and impartiality of decision-making or the due process rights of claimants.The hearing will take place on Tuesday, September 16, 2008, in room B-318 Rayburn House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman McNulty said, “Earlier hearings have demonstrated that prolonged underfunding has resulted in the loss of staff needed to process disability cases at the Social Security Administration. This has led to an unprecedented backlog of unprocessed claims and untold suffering. The agency must have the resources it needs to eliminate this unconscionable backlog., [ emphasis added.] At the same time, we must ensure that SSA uses these resources as effectively as possible. This hearing will examine SSA’s management of its hearing offices, and explore measures that can be taken to improve productivity without compromising the right of claimants to a fair and impartial decision on their case.Over the past several years, SSA’s disability claims backlogs have grown to unprecedented levels, with more than 1.3 million Americans currently awaiting a decision regarding their claim. Backlogs are particularly severe for the more than 765,000 Americans who have had their cases denied at an earlier stage of the process and have requested a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). These individuals now wait an average of 532 days for a decision on their appeal. This hearing will focus on the performance of SSA’s hearing offices and SSA’s overall management of these offices.
SSA’s hearing process is an important one for claimants..[a]pproximately two-thirds of those who appeal to the ALJ level are awarded benefits. However, the process is very labor intensive for SSA, typically requiring clerical staff to prepare the case file, obtain evidence and schedule the hearing with all necessary experts and other participants; ALJs to review the case, conduct the hearing, and make a decision; and attorneys or paralegals to draft the decision and accompanying legal rationale for it, based on the judge’s instructions.
According to a recent report from SSA’s Inspector General (IG), the productivity of SSA’s hearing process has improved in recent years. In 2005, SSA produced 421 dispositions per ALJ. By 2007, productivity had increased by 13 percent, to 474 dispositions per ALJ. However, hearing office performance varies significantly between offices. The IG found that productivity was often hindered by a lack of hearing office support staff, a conclusion the IG had also reached in a March 2005 report. Interviews with ALJs and hearing office staff also identified other factors that could affect productivity, including the use of a number of techniques to promote speedier processing (such as spending less time reviewing the case and conducting the hearing). Finally, the IG found that a small number of ALJs – approximately 1 percent – processed fewer than 200 cases per year even though they were employed as full-time adjudicators. At the same time, the IG reported that some judges – about 2 percent – issued more than 1,000 decisions in a year. This could raise concerns about the quality of these decisions.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman McNulty said, “Earlier hearings have demonstrated that prolonged underfunding has resulted in the loss of staff needed to process disability cases at the Social Security Administration. This has led to an unprecedented backlog of unprocessed claims and untold suffering. The agency must have the resources it needs to eliminate this unconscionable backlog., [ emphasis added.] At the same time, we must ensure that SSA uses these resources as effectively as possible. This hearing will examine SSA’s management of its hearing offices, and explore measures that can be taken to improve productivity without compromising the right of claimants to a fair and impartial decision on their case.Over the past several years, SSA’s disability claims backlogs have grown to unprecedented levels, with more than 1.3 million Americans currently awaiting a decision regarding their claim. Backlogs are particularly severe for the more than 765,000 Americans who have had their cases denied at an earlier stage of the process and have requested a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). These individuals now wait an average of 532 days for a decision on their appeal. This hearing will focus on the performance of SSA’s hearing offices and SSA’s overall management of these offices.
SSA’s hearing process is an important one for claimants..[a]pproximately two-thirds of those who appeal to the ALJ level are awarded benefits. However, the process is very labor intensive for SSA, typically requiring clerical staff to prepare the case file, obtain evidence and schedule the hearing with all necessary experts and other participants; ALJs to review the case, conduct the hearing, and make a decision; and attorneys or paralegals to draft the decision and accompanying legal rationale for it, based on the judge’s instructions.
According to a recent report from SSA’s Inspector General (IG), the productivity of SSA’s hearing process has improved in recent years. In 2005, SSA produced 421 dispositions per ALJ. By 2007, productivity had increased by 13 percent, to 474 dispositions per ALJ. However, hearing office performance varies significantly between offices. The IG found that productivity was often hindered by a lack of hearing office support staff, a conclusion the IG had also reached in a March 2005 report. Interviews with ALJs and hearing office staff also identified other factors that could affect productivity, including the use of a number of techniques to promote speedier processing (such as spending less time reviewing the case and conducting the hearing). Finally, the IG found that a small number of ALJs – approximately 1 percent – processed fewer than 200 cases per year even though they were employed as full-time adjudicators. At the same time, the IG reported that some judges – about 2 percent – issued more than 1,000 decisions in a year. This could raise concerns about the quality of these decisions.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Social Security Disability Backlogs, Safety Nets and the Commissioner Speaks
Commissioner of Social Security, Michael J. Astrue, recently spoke to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution staff writer Ann Hardie about the backlog of 761,000 disability claims pending nationwide and in particular the Atlanta region. The complete article was published on 08/03/08. The interview reveals Mr. Astrue’s continued focus and how the ordeal affects his blood pressure.
Q: When you became commissioner, you must have known there was a backlog?
A: Oh sure. When you get a call about a job like this and you size it up, you say, "What is the challenge?" The top priority was trying to fix the backlog issue.
Q: I've been struck by just how devastating the backlog has been to people's lives.
A: It is what makes it so important to try to fix. We are trying to make it better for as many people as fast as we can.
Q: People know about Social Security, but I'm not sure how many think about the disability program.
A: In terms of the public perception, they associate us primarily with retirement. And that is unfortunate, because we are an important part of the safety net generally, and the disability programs are a key part of that.
Q: Folks say the difference between today and 10 years ago is that it is not unusual for someone to die waiting for a hearing.
A: I think that is actually not true. We are actually trying to look at those numbers. There are a significant number of people who die. I don't deny that it happens. But when you are talking about a sick group of people, and most of the people are sick, you are going to have that happen statistically a certain percentage of the time.
Q: How stressful is your job?
A: If you are doing this job right, you can't help internalizing some of this stuff. I am taking more hypertension medication than I was a year ago.
Q: A lot of folks say the backlog problem was caused by a lack of resources.
A: It is extremely complicated. Congress has come in under the president's budget 15 straight years until this year. Maybe it is partly our fault. I think we had a reputation on the Hill for being a "can do" agency. It was easy for Congress to keep throwing things at us. I think a lot of people miss the sheer size of this system. Right now, we have about 2.6 million people every year applying for disability benefits, and just under 600,000 show up at the hearing and appeals process. These are enormously complicated files and getting more so every year.
Q: I know you have heard this —- that the system is set up to discourage people.
A: I understand how it feels that way. I don't believe that Congress ever had that intent at all.
Q: You said the bar to meet disability is real high.
A: Essentially, you are supposed to be unable to work at all, or to any substantial degree, for a period of 12 months or more. That is tougher than most private-sector policies. That is tougher than the [Veterans Affairs] standard. That is something that Congress decides, and it is a tough balance because this all comes out of trust fund money.
Q: There have been reports that even with all your efforts the backlog continues to grow?
A: We are nine months into this fiscal year, and we are at an increase of about 18,000 cases for the year. I am not happy about that. But the rate keeps going down. If you look historically, it went up at about 75,000 cases a year for many years in this decade.
When I started here, we had about 65,000 cases that had waited 1,000 days or more. Some of those cases had been waiting 1,400 days. We set a goal to get rid of them by the end of the year, and we hit that goal. This fiscal year we set the goal at 900 days. We slightly are ahead of schedule.
Q: Let's talk about Atlanta. Why are we so bad? Why are we so slow?
A: The system as a whole was under-resourced. But the money we had was not distributed equally around the country. I don't know why the Atlanta and Chicago regions received less support given the level of filings. These regions have been the biggest beneficiaries of the reallocation of resources, and there is more coming.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Hearings in 75 days and Decisions in 15 ?
The interesting part of this July 16, 2008 article, complete version found at the St Petersburg Times website, involves Rep. Kathy Castor's proposed legislation this week to break the backlog.
Vacant judgeship adds to wait for aid
By Waveney Ann Moore, Times Staff Writer
The tens of thousands of people stuck in the national backlog for Social Security disability benefits might disagree, but the agency's top official argues progress is being made in ending the crisis.
The progress is hard to see in the Tampa Bay area, however, where the caseload is among the highest in the nation and an office sits empty awaiting the hiring of a much-needed judge.
The most recent figures indicate that 761,042 people are waiting across the country for hearings to address their claims. In the Tampa hearing office, the number is 14,524, the highest in the state.
The situation prompted Rep. Kathy Castor, a Tampa democrat, to propose legislation this week to break the backlog. Castor's bill would require that a hearing be held between 60 and 75 days from the date it is requested, and that a final verdict be given no more than 15 days after the hearing.
Social Security officials in Baltimore could not answer questions Tuesday, but in April, Commissioner Michael J. Astrue told Congress the agency has made "slow and frustrating progress in fixing our service delivery problems."
One step taken was the hiring of additional administrative law judges and support staff members to handle the hearings. In the Tampa office, though, that has yet to pay dividends.
Funds were appropriated in December to allow the office to increase its number of judges from 16 to 17, but the new judge's office remains empty.
"They started the hiring process in late April or early May. I don't know why it (has taken) so long," Castor said. "A judge was hired … the office is ready. For some reason, the person that was hired refused the posting. So now they're not going to start the next round of hiring until the beginning of October.
During his testimony, Astrue told Congress that the agency has begun using a fast-track system to decide allowances in an average of six to eight days. But thus far, only a small number of new claims were being processed this way, he said.
Video conferencing is being introduced to help break apart the worst logjams, he said, and the agency is going to begin a pilot program called "compassionate allowances."
Linda Fullerton, co-founder of a national grass roots organization called the Social Security Disability Coalition, is not impressed.
Fullerton, who lives in Rochester, N.Y., said she waited for a year and a half to get her benefits. When the wait devastated her finances, she got angry enough to start a cyberspace group that now numbers 3,000 members, she said.
Vacant judgeship adds to wait for aid
By Waveney Ann Moore, Times Staff Writer
The tens of thousands of people stuck in the national backlog for Social Security disability benefits might disagree, but the agency's top official argues progress is being made in ending the crisis.
The progress is hard to see in the Tampa Bay area, however, where the caseload is among the highest in the nation and an office sits empty awaiting the hiring of a much-needed judge.
The most recent figures indicate that 761,042 people are waiting across the country for hearings to address their claims. In the Tampa hearing office, the number is 14,524, the highest in the state.
The situation prompted Rep. Kathy Castor, a Tampa democrat, to propose legislation this week to break the backlog. Castor's bill would require that a hearing be held between 60 and 75 days from the date it is requested, and that a final verdict be given no more than 15 days after the hearing.
Social Security officials in Baltimore could not answer questions Tuesday, but in April, Commissioner Michael J. Astrue told Congress the agency has made "slow and frustrating progress in fixing our service delivery problems."
One step taken was the hiring of additional administrative law judges and support staff members to handle the hearings. In the Tampa office, though, that has yet to pay dividends.
Funds were appropriated in December to allow the office to increase its number of judges from 16 to 17, but the new judge's office remains empty.
"They started the hiring process in late April or early May. I don't know why it (has taken) so long," Castor said. "A judge was hired … the office is ready. For some reason, the person that was hired refused the posting. So now they're not going to start the next round of hiring until the beginning of October.
During his testimony, Astrue told Congress that the agency has begun using a fast-track system to decide allowances in an average of six to eight days. But thus far, only a small number of new claims were being processed this way, he said.
Video conferencing is being introduced to help break apart the worst logjams, he said, and the agency is going to begin a pilot program called "compassionate allowances."
Linda Fullerton, co-founder of a national grass roots organization called the Social Security Disability Coalition, is not impressed.
Fullerton, who lives in Rochester, N.Y., said she waited for a year and a half to get her benefits. When the wait devastated her finances, she got angry enough to start a cyberspace group that now numbers 3,000 members, she said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)