Posts Tagged ‘SSA News’

 
Here’s an interesting tidbit I came across on Notes on Social Security Reform citing the University of Michigan Retirement Research Center winter newsletter:
Does the Rise in the Full Retirement Age Encourage Disability Benefits Applications?
Evidence from the HRS by Xiaoyan Li and Nicole Maestas WP 2008-198

As the Social Security full retirement age (FRA) rises, the relative generosity of Social Security [...]

The long wait times in Social Security cases are prompting a backlash against Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) in Social Security cases.  
Across the country, it takes an average of 480 days to get a judge’s ruling on a Social Security disability claim — but 650 days if your case is in Portland.
The problems in Portland [...]

Paul Krugman tackles this topic in his March 28, 2008 column:
The date at which the trust fund will run out, according to Social Security Administration projections, has receded steadily into the future: 10 years ago it was 2029, now it’s 2042. As Kevin Drum, Brad DeLong, and others have pointed out, the SSA estimates are [...]

Social Security Administration is establishing a National Hearing Center (NHC) so that a centralized cadre of Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) can use video hearing technology to hear cases in the most backlogged parts of the country. … The agency also plans to hire about 150 ALJs and some additional hearing office support staff [...]

We all know that the wait to have your disability case decided is too long.  Fortunately, Social Security is introducing programs to try to speed up the process, and reduce the backlog of cases awaiting decisions.
Social Security issued a final rule on September 5, 2007 extending nationwide its Quick Disability Determination (QDD) process.  Under QDD, a [...]