Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, announced on February 1, 2010 that 15 healthcare providers and networks have received $17.4 million in contract awards to provide electronic medical records to the Social Security Administration (SSA). These electronic medical records, which will be sent through the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN), will hopefully shorten the time it takes Social Security to make a disability decision and will improve the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of the disability program.

“Using health information technology will improve our disability programs and provide better service to the public,” Commissioner Astrue said. “We’ve seen a significant increase in disability applications. To process them, the agency sends more than 15 million requests annually for medical records to healthcare providers. This largely paper-bound workload is generally the most time-consuming part of the disability decision process. The use of health IT will dramatically improve the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of this process, reducing the cost of making a disability decision for both the medical community and the American taxpayer.”

The contract awards are funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Stimulus). They will require awardees, with a patient’s authorization, to send Social Security electronic medical records through the NHIN. The NHIN, a safe and secure method for receiving access to electronic medical records over the Internet, is an initiative of the Department of Health and Human Services supported by multiple government agencies and private sector entities.

For the last year, Social Security has been successfully testing health IT to obtain electronic medical records. Disability applications processed with electronic medical records from the test sites have significantly reduced processing times. Some decisions are now made in days, instead of weeks or months. Social Security expects to receive more than 3.3 million applications in fiscal year (FY) 2010, a 27 percent increase over FY 2008.

(Time Magazine) Social Security officials say they expect an even larger spike in new disability claims than before, as aging, injured baby boomers tumble out of the work force and need income.Officials estimate they’ll receive 3.3 million new disability claims over the next year, up from their previous estimate of 3 million projected just five months ago.

The wave of new applications comes just as officials were making progress in curbing a massive backlog of disability appeals cases, which has plagued the agency for years. Also adding to the problem are recent moves in at least 10 states to furlough hundreds of employees that process initial benefit claims.

Agency officials say the extraordinary increase is driven by the recession and an aging baby boomer work force reaching their most injury-prone years. Long waits for the agency to process claims and resolve appeals can leave some claimants struggling to make ends meet.

Since October, the number of people waiting to have a claim processed has jumped a stunning 30 percent, from about 556,000 eight months ago to more than 736,000 in July. “We’re going to be moving backwards this year, the question is how much,” Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue said in an interview. “The trend line isn’t good.”

Social Security disability benefits are available to people who can no longer work due to injury or illness. The disability program has been the fastest rising part of Social Security, with spending on disability benefits growing at almost twice the rate of spending on retirement benefits.

Astrue said he is frustrated that some states coping with budget shortfalls have decided to furlough state employees that include workers who process claims. Although the workers are employed by the state, their salaries are paid by the federal government, so Astrue said the states save no money by requiring them to take unpaid furloughs. “At a time when the case load is surging like that, it just makes the task that much more difficult,” Astrue said.

The economic stimulus package gave the agency $500 million to help cut the appeals backlog. The agency is hiring hundreds more judges and staff to reduce the case load. The number of cases awaiting a hearing has gone down six months in a row.

Astrue had predicted earlier this year that the agency would cut the appeals backlog to normal levels by 2013 and says he remains confident of meeting that deadline. But the sharp rise in new claims may knock that schedule off track, especially if congressional funding doesn’t keep pace with the increase. “The tsunami hasn’t hit … yet, but it will unfortunately,” said Alan Cohen, senior budget adviser for the Senate Finance Committee, in remarks at a recent meeting of Social Security judges.

Social Security Announces Nationwide Launch of Compassionate Allowances

Process Will Fast Track Applications For People with Cancers and Rare Diseases

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, on October 27, 2008 announced the national rollout of the agency’s Compassionate Allowances initiative, a way to expedite the processing of disability claims for applicants whose medical conditions are so severe that their conditions obviously meet Social Security’s standards.

Getting benefits quickly to people with the most severe medical conditions is both the right and the compassionate thing to do, Commissioner Astrue said.  This initiative will allow us to make decisions on these cases in a matter of days, rather than months or years.

Social Security is launching this expedited decision process with a total of 50 conditions. Over time, more diseases and conditions will be added. A list of the first 50 impairments — 25 rare diseases and 25 cancers — can be found at www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.

Before announcing this initiative, Social Security held public hearings to receive information from experts on rare diseases and cancers. The agency also enlisted the assistance of the National Institutes of Health.

Compassionate Allowances is the second piece of the agency’s two-track, fast-track system for certain disability claims. When combined with the agency’s Quick Disability Determination process, and once fully implemented, this two-track system could result in six to nine percent of disability claims, the cases for as much as a quarter million people, being decided in an average of six to eight days.

“This is an outstanding achievement for the Social Security Administration,” said Peter Saltonstall, President of the National Organization for Rare Disorders. “It has taken Social Security less than a year to develop this much-needed program that will benefit those whose claims merit expedited consideration based on the nature of their disease. Disability backlogs cause a hardship for patients and their families. Commissioner Astrue and his staff deserve our thanks for a job well done.

Unfortunately, many hardworking people with cancer may not only face intensive treatment to save their lives, but they may also find themselves truly unable to perform their daily work-related activities and as result, may face serious financial concerns, such as the loss of income and the cost of treatment, said Daniel E. Smith, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.  The Social Security Administration’s Compassionate Allowances program will help streamline the disability benefits application process so that benefits are quickly provided to those who need them most.

This is America, and it simply is not acceptable for people to wait years for a final decision on a disability claim, Commissioner Astrue said.  I am committed to a process that is as fair and speedy as possible. The launch of Compassionate Allowances is another step to ensuring Americans with disabilities, especially those with certain cancers and rare diseases, get the benefits they need quickly.