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 retirement benefits compared to disability benefits is declining, raising the incentive for insured people to apply for disability benefits. 
• We find that an average four month increase in the FRA slightly increases the two-year DI application rate by 0.04-0.30 percentage points. 
• The effect is greater among those with a work limiting health problem (0.22-0.89 percentage points).

So, it appear that increasing the full retirement age increases Disability Insurance applications by .04 to .30 percent. 

Read the entire article here.

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 reflect a broader national crisis, according to Social Security Administration records … Only about half the agency’s administrative law judges meet its minimum goal of clearing 500 cases a year.

….

In October 2007, Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue met with a delegation of judges from around the country and … complained that many were not productive enough, according to the union that represents the judges. Astrue also accused them of not wanting to be subjected to any professional standards.

The commissioner has testified before Congress that the bulk of administrative law judges are hardworking. But he has griped about underachievers, and the agency set performance goals that ask judges to clear 500 to 700 cases a year..

Grab the pitch forks!  Light the torches!  It’s the judges’ fault!

Of course, things are not that simple.

The November 2008 Social Security Forum (published by the National Organization of Social Security Claimant’s Representatives — NOSSCR) also covered this topic:

Staff levels and a myriad other variables are important factors in ALJ [administrative law judge] productivity… Many ALJs ask for more hearings but support staff is overwhelmed and unable to prepare additional cases for hearing. 

Support staff in many government agencies are being cut, overtime is refused, and work days are reduced to 4 days a week.

Judges are not solely responsible for how many cases they can process. From my experience with the Colorado Springs ODAR (Office of Disability Adjudication and Review), everyone is working feverishly to try to get as many cases done as possible. 

What’s wrong with requiring Social Security ALJs to process 500 case a year?

Ultimately, it comes down to this: do you want Social Security hearings to be handled like a sausage factory?

Social Security hearings are the final step in the Social Security disability process where someone will:

• Personally review all the records (many cases have over a thousand pages of medical records); 
• Meet with you; and
• Hear your side before making a decision.  

Hearings are your day in court.  Hearings are a check against the bureaucracy of the Social Security system. Do you really want to make hearings more bureaucratic?

It reminds me of a sign at my mechanics:

We can do the work a) right, b) fast, c) cheap.

Pick two.

Slow pace of Social Security cases laid to judges, staffing – The Oregonian – Special Coverage from The Oregonian – OregonLive.com .

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 very conservative, and quite moderate projections of economic growth push the exhaustion date into the indefinite future.

Read more of the article here.

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 in the spring of 2008. SSA Press Release. 

All I can say is that it cannot come soon enough.

photo credit: ronnie44052

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 predictive model analyzes specific elements of data within the electronic claims file to identify claims where there is a high potential that the claimant is disabled and where evidence of the person’s allegations can be quickly and easily obtained. …  Arizona, New Jersey and North Dakota have started using QDD as part of a staged national roll-out that will be completed early next year.

This is an interesting idea and hopefully, this will reduce wait times.  However, I have some concerns.

I am not sure if this is going to help individuals with uncommon disabilities, combinations of disabilities, or limited medical treatment.

In cases of clear-cut disabilities, the QDD process may speed up the processing of cases and the pay-out of benefits.  Certainly that is no small improvement.

However, those cases stand a good chance of being approved at the initial review anyway.

If you have ever gone through one (or more) applications, you may have dealt with a Social Security claims rep who did not understand what you are going through and why you are disabled.  And that was a flesh and blood person.  Do you think a predictive algorithm is going to be more understanding?

I am not knocking the QDD program.  Anything that speeds up processing time is a welcome addition. However, on those trickier cases which require digging up old records, or obtaining narrative reports, or that just require individualized professional attention to make it clear to Social Security that an individual is disabled, I am not sure this program is going to be of much help.