The President’s budget request of $12.522 billion for Social Security’s administrative expenses will allow us to maintain staffing in our front-line components, fund ongoing activities, and cover our inflationary increases. It will allow us to reduce our hearings and initial disability claims backlogs, and to continue to reverse the decline in our program integrity work. Program integrity work not only pays for itself, but also produces considerable savings to the taxpayers.

Full funding by Congress of the President’s budget request is critical. This budget request is the minimum the agency needs to continue to reduce key backlogs and to increase deficit-reducing program integrity work. It will allow us to build on the considerable progress we have achieved, progress that is vital to the millions of people who depend on our services and to the American taxpayer.

For more information about the President’s 2012 budget request for Social Security, visit www.socialsecurity.gov/budget.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

“Compassionate Allowances and the Quick Disability Determination process are making a real difference for disabled Americans by ensuring those with devastating disabilities receive their benefit decisions quickly and accurately,” Commissioner Astrue said. “This fiscal year, about 150,000 people will benefit from these fast-track disability processes. With this hearing, we continue to look at broader categories of conditions to determine if a subset or certain diagnosis might clearly meet our disability standards and qualify as a Compassionate Allowance.”

Social Security implemented Compassionate Allowances in October 2008 to expedite the processing of disability claims for applicants with medical conditions so severe that their conditions by definition meet Social Security’s standards. There currently are 88 specific diseases and conditions that qualify as a Compassionate Allowance. To learn more and to view a web cast of the November 9th hearing, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, just announced that the agency has published final rules that will further reduce the time it takes to decide applications for disability benefits from those persons with the most severe disabilities—a process that currently takes less than two weeks on average. The new rules allow disability examiners to make fully favorable determinations for adult cases under the agency’s Quick Disability Determination (QDD) and Compassionate Allowance (CAL) processes without medical or psychological consultant approval. It also will help the agency process cases more efficiently as it will give medical and psychological consultants more time to work on complex cases where their expertise is most needed.

“The new rules . . . will help us get disability benefits to the most severely disabled Americans even faster,” Commissioner Astrue said. “This year, more than 100,000 people benefited from our fast-track disability processes and received decisions in a matter of days rather than the months and years it can sometimes take. I am pleased that our fast-track processes will now be even faster and help speed much needed benefits to our most vulnerable citizens.”

Under Social Security’s QDD process, a predictive computer model analyzes specific data within the electronic disability file to identify cases where there is a high likelihood that the claimant is disabled and can quickly obtain medical evidence. The CAL process currently identifies 88 specific diseases and conditions that clearly qualify for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income disability benefits and can be fast-tracked.

The final rules, 20 CFR Parts 404 and 416, can be accessed through the Federal Register online at www.regulations.gov. They will be effective on November 12, 2010.

Additional information about Social Security’s Compassionate Allowances process is available at www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

“It is long past time that states end these unconscionable furloughs and hiring freezes that needlessly harm citizens with disabilities,” Commissioner Astrue said. “States realize no fiscal savings whatsoever from these actions and this legislation would prevent needless delays in the disability determination process. I am grateful for the President’s support and urge Congress to move quickly to help us make this provision the law of the land.”

More than a dozen states have implemented furloughs and hiring freezes that affect the federally paid state workers who make disability determinations for Social Security. The state agencies that employ these workers in their disability determination service (DDS) components receive 100 percent of their funding from the Federal government. Accordingly, states do not save any money by imposing furloughs and hiring freezes on federally funded employees. Rather, they slow benefits to some of the most vulnerable citizens – for example, furloughs in California in fiscal year 2010 delayed payment of over $11 million in benefits to more than 40,000 citizens with disabilities. State-imposed furloughs and hiring freezes also reduce state income tax revenue and increase unemployment in the state.

“The members of Local 1000 have always believed that furloughing federally funded positions doesn’t make economic sense and that has been proven in California during these past 18 months that Governor Schwarzenegger has imposed furloughs on state employees,” Yvonne Walker, President of Service Employees International Union Local 1000 said. “I applaud Social Security for initiating legislation that would prevent further bad economic policy from going forward. This provision will not only help DDS workers, but the claimants who rely on the services our members provide.”

“We commend the Commissioner for his forceful and dedicated leadership in taking this bold action,” said Susan X. Smith, President of the National Association of Disability Examiners (NADE). “Our members are witness to the impact the current economic recession has had for disabled citizens and we are working hard to meet the dramatic increase in claims for benefits. These furloughs further compound the problems faced by disabled citizens by creating unnecessary delays in the processing of their claims. NADE urges quick action with regards to this legislative proposal.”

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, announced that the number of disability hearings pending stands at 697,437 cases — the lowest level since June 2005 and down more than 71,000 cases since December 2008, when the trend of month-by-month reductions began. In addition, the average processing time for hearing decisions has decreased to 442 days, down from a high of 514 days at the end of 2008.

“We have decreased the number of hearings pending by almost 10 percent over the last 14 months and cut the time it takes to make a decision by nearly two and a half months. This remarkable progress shows our backlog reduction plan is working,” Commissioner Astrue said. “With ongoing support from the President and Congress as well as the efforts of our hardworking employees, I am confident the hearings backlog will continue to diminish.”

Social Security has actively addressed the hearings backlog and increased the capacity to hold more hearings. The agency hired 147 Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) and over 1,000 support staff in 2009, and has plans to hire an additional 226 ALJs this year. The agency now has four National Hearing Centers to help process hearings by video conference for the most hard-hit areas of the country. The agency also has aggressive plans to open 14 new hearing offices and three satellite offices by the end of the year. The first of these offices was opened in Anchorage, Alaska on February 19, 2010.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Good News: If you are – or know someone — applying for Social Security disability benefits, the waiting time for a decision is likely to be shorter rather than longer.

Since 1999, the number of people waiting for a decision on disability benefits swelled — and the waiting times became longer and longer. The results were often tragic – people lost their homes, families broke apart, people did not get badly needed medical care. Sad to say, nearly every year some people died while waiting for a decision.

Now – for the first time in a decade – the Social Security Administration has reduced both the number of people waiting for decisions on their disability applications and the waiting time to get a decision. SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue made the announcement in a recent press release.

We’ve been fighting for this for many years. The problem is that for many years, the Social Security Administration’s work load went up but its budget went down. The strains on the Social Security Administration became worse as the Baby Boomers began to retire. Finally, there was a small budget increase in 2008 and a more substantial increase in 2009.

Bad News: The recession threatens to overwhelm the recent improvements – and may make the waiting times pop right back up. The number of people applying for both disability and retirement benefits is rising dramatically. In a recession, people with disabilities and seniors who lose their jobs and cannot find another apply for Social Security retirement and disability benefits.

Stephen C. Goss, a top Social Security official, recently said that normally about 2.5 million people apply for disability benefits each year. By contrast, as of September 30, 2009, the annual applications were expected to be 3 million – with even higher numbers yet to come. “When there’s a bad recession and we lose 6 million jobs, people of all types are going to be part of that,” Goss said.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Productivity and Processing Times Also Improve

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced that for the first time since 1999, the agency has ended the year with fewer disability hearings pending than in the prior year. Social Security ended fiscal year (FY) 2009 with 722,822 hearings pending compared to 760,813 hearings pending at the start of the year, a reduction of more than 37,000 cases. Over the same period, the average processing time for these cases improved from 514 days in FY 2008 to 491 in FY 2009.

“Our backlog reduction plan is working, and progress is accelerating,” Commissioner Astrue said. “Even in the face of a significant increase in our workloads as a result of the worst recession since the Great Depression, we have reduced the hearings backlog for nine consecutive months. Thanks to the efforts of thousands of hardworking Social Security employees and the additional funding we received from President Obama and the Congress, we have exceeded our backlog reduction goal for this year.”

To achieve its backlog reduction goals, the agency has embarked on the largest expansion in decades of its capacity to hear disability appeals. This year, the agency hired 147 new Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) and 850 support staff and plans to hire 226 additional ALJs plus support staff in FY 2010. To provide flexibility to assist the most backlogged hearing offices, the agency opened three new National Hearing Centers (NHCs) in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Baltimore, Maryland; and Chicago, Illinois. The agency also has aggressive plans to open 14 new hearing offices and 4 satellite offices by the end of next year with the first of those new offices opening in Anchorage, Alaska in the next few months.

In addition to reducing the number of cases awaiting a hearing decision, the agency again targeted the oldest and most difficult cases for processing. Beginning in FY 2007 with 65,000 cases that were 1,000 days old or older, the agency has continually attacked its “aged” cases. This year, the agency targeted 166,838 cases that were 850 days or older and virtually eliminated this entire universe of cases. The goal in FY 2010 has been reset again to eliminate cases over 825 days old.

Social Security’s ALJs also continue to increase their productivity. The agency averaged 570 dispositions (2.28 per day) per available ALJ in FY 2009, an upward trend that has continued for the last three years.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.