Disability System 'in crisis'

Yard Dart · Apr 20, 2013

Social Security's disability program is overwhelmed by so many claims that judges sometimes award benefits they might otherwise deny just to keep up with the flow of cases, according to a lawsuit filed by the judges themselves.
The Social Security Administration says the agency's administrative law judges should decide 500 to 700 disability cases a year. The agency calls the standard a productivity goal, but the lawsuit claims it is an illegal quota that requires judges to decide an average of more than two cases per workday.
"When the goals are too high, the easy way out is to pay the case," said Randall Frye, president of the Association of Administrative Law Judges and a judge in Charlotte, N.C. "Paying the case is a decision that might be three pages long. When you deny benefits, it's usually a 15- or 20-page denial that takes a lot more time and effort."
The lawsuit raises serious questions about the integrity of the disability hearing process by the very people in charge of running it. It comes as the disability program faces serious financial problems.
The disability program's trust fund will run out of money in 2016, according to projections by Social Security's trustees. At that point, the system will collect only enough money in payroll taxes to pay 79 percent of benefits. That would trigger an automatic 21 percent cut in benefits.
Congress could redirect money from Social Security's much bigger retirement program to shore up the disability program, as it did in 1994. But that would worsen the finances of the retirement program, which is facing its own long-term financial problems.
The lawsuit was filed by the judges' union and three judges on Thursday in federal court in Chicago. It names the agency and Acting Social Security Commissioner Carolyn Colvin as defendants. Colvin took over in February after Commissioner Michael Astrue's six-year term expired.
The union announced the lawsuit at a press conference Friday in Washington. A Social Security spokesman declined to comment. In an interview, Astrue disputed the union's claims.
"What's really happening here is that the judges' union doesn't want accountability of its members and it's been trying to sell this story to the media and to the Congress and to the agency for a very long time," Astrue said. "And no one's buying it because it's not true, and no federal judge is going to buy this story, either."
"There are a very small number of malcontents who want to litigate or put political pressure on the agency rather than do their work," Astrue said.
The union represents 1,400 administrative law judges. The judges are hired by the agency but are supposed to act independently when they decide cases. More than 30 federal agencies employ administrative law judges, mainly to settle disputes between the agencies and people who are affected by agency decisions.
The Social Security Administration employs the most judges, about 1,500. The lawsuit filed by their union describes the disability program as "a system in crisis."
About 3.2 million people applied for disability benefits last year, a 25 percent increase from a decade before. Claims have increased in part because of aging baby boomers. As people get older, they become more prone to disabilities.
Disability claims also typically increase when the economy sours. Some people who manage to work despite their disabilities get laid off and apply for benefits, while others apply out of economic desperation.
When people apply for Social Security disability benefits, their cases are initially reviewed by state offices, which reject most claims. If your claim is rejected, you can appeal to an administrative law judge. But the hearing process takes an average of 373 days — a little more than a year — according to agency statistics.
Astrue said the average processing time for a hearing peaked at 542 days shortly after he took over the agency. He said public outcry over the backlog led him to adopt productivity standards in 2007, which helped reduce the wait time.
The hearing process, which is closed to the public, is different from a civil lawsuit or a criminal trial. There is no lawyer for the government. Instead, judges are expected to be impartial decision-makers while protecting the interest of taxpayers and ensuring that applicants get fair hearings. Most applicants have legal representation by the time their claim results in a hearing, the lawsuit says.
Frye said he has never awarded benefits just to clear a case faster, and he couldn't name any judges who have.
"It's hard for anyone to say a judge is willingly deciding cases incorrectly just to meet the quota," Frye said. "What they have told us is they are not reviewing all of the evidence, they are not developing the case as they should, and from that I think you can clearly see that the case may not be or could not be correctly decided."
The lawsuit says case quotes violate judges' independence and deny due process rights to applicants.
"Some ALJs respond by tending to grant more claims," the lawsuit says. "For other ALJs, the quota impedes their ability to render carefully reasoned, impartial decisions based on a fully developed factual record."
The lawsuit says judges are expected to meet their quotas, regardless of how complicated their cases are, even though many case files exceed 500 pages. Judges have been disciplined for missing the quota, including receiving formal reprimands and facing removal proceedings, according to the lawsuit.
Nearly 11 million disabled workers, spouses and children get Social Security disability benefits. That's up from 7.6 million a decade ago. The average monthly benefit for a disabled worker is $1,130.
In 2011, Social Security disability paid about $129 billion in benefits
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Judges' lawsuit: Disability system 'in crisis' - Yahoo! News

Integrity of the hearing process says it all- it does not exist!!

Mindgrinder · Apr 20, 2013

Yard Dart said: ↑

Judges' lawsuit: Disability system 'in crisis' - Yahoo! News

Integrity of the hearing process says it all- it does not exist!!
Click to expand...

Hmmm....not sure what to think of this....
Further study and deep thought needed.

Timba · Apr 20, 2013

Agreed. Also a thought is that majority of all coming out of Military are coming out with VA approved disabilities that even 10 years ago would have been unthought of. No matter what ones thought of the this is OK or not... SSDI and VA Disabilities payments are unsustainable and puts many many people in jeopardy as they become dependent on them.

Gunny Highway · Apr 20, 2013

All of the entitlement systems are doomed to collapse - which is truly sad in the case of actual disabilities and those that deserve the payments as well as those who have paid into Social Security for years and wont collect a penny from the Ponzi scheme

NWPilgrim · Apr 20, 2013

Spot on, Gunny! All part of the Alinsky tactic to crash the system by overwhelming it with demand. Anyone receiving or planning to receive benefits from govt programs or private pensions is running on literally borrowed time. Tick, tock.

VisuTrac · Apr 20, 2013

Ah, but TPTB love a dependant society. Much easier to control them and to get them to do things that they never thought they would.

Only those that will bow down and lick the soles of their masters shoes will be given a moldy crust of bread and some stone soup. The others will die abandoned.

Timba · Apr 21, 2013

Thoughts on the posibilities that govt will use all the VA PTSD people and take their rights to own firearms away?

Yard Dart · Apr 21, 2013

Technically they consider it a mental issue therefore they most likely will deem folks unfit if diagnosed with PTSD. If it gets to that point of weapons seizures from vet's- hell will break loose in many corners of this land I suspect.

Gunny Highway · Apr 24, 2013

Yard Dart said: ↑

Technically they consider it a mental issue therefore they most likely will deem folks unfit if diagnosed with PTSD. If it gets to that point of weapons seizures from vet's- hell will break loose in many corners of this land I suspect.
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I suspect this will become the straw that break's the camels back when the time comes...many will be roused from their stupor when the powers that be begin to confiscate firearms from those that have fought, sweated and bled to preserve freedom under the false pretense that they aren't fit to have them

Gunny Highway · Apr 24, 2013

Timba said: ↑

Thoughts on the posibilities that govt will use all the VA PTSD people and take their rights to own firearms away?
Click to expand...

In a heartbeat when it suits them and the time comes. In California they can goto someone's place whose wife was nuts ( and i believe no longer living there ) and took HIS guns....

9th Circus will probably uphold it as legal and prudent

Timba · Apr 25, 2013

Gunny... yep I'm was raised down there but Ca is far from being the only state like that now. Hard to figure where you could go to get away from all that anymore.

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Disability System 'in crisis'

Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

Mindgrinder Karma Pirate Ninja|RIP 12-25-2017

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Gunny Highway Hard Work and Sacrifice blessed by God's Grace

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Gunny Highway Hard Work and Sacrifice blessed by God's Grace

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Disability System 'in crisis'

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