Disability Cases Pending, Pending . . .

By Stephen Barr
Friday, February 29, 2008; Page D04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...022803625.h
tml
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/arti
cle/2008/02/28/AR2008022803625.html>

Over the next decade, the Social Security
Administration's workload will increase
substantially. Retirement claims will jump by more
than 40 percent and disability claims by nearly 10
percent.

The first wave of 80 million baby boomers has
applied for Social Security, and boomers are
likely to seek disability benefits in greater
numbers than did previous generations.

At a House hearing yesterday, Social Security
Commissioner Michael J. Astrue said the agency may
have to reinvent itself -- making greater use of
technology and streamlined procedures -- to keep
up with the boomers as well as whittle down a
disability case backlog.

"Productivity alone cannot fully offset the
increase in our workloads," he testified.

Productivity, at least among the agency's
administrative law judges, emerged as an issue at
the hearing, held by Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.),
chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and
its labor, health and human services, education
and related agencies subcommittee.

The testimony raised questions about whether
Social Security's 140 offices that handle
disability claims are appropriately staffed and
whether administrative law judges who rule in
disability cases could be more productive.

The hearing process is one of the keys to helping
Social Security strike a balance between assisting
Americans who cannot work because of illness and
need financial help, and protecting taxpayers from
fraudulent claims.

But there are enormous challenges. The number of
disability cases waiting for a decision has
swelled to more than 750,000, causing applicants
to wait, on average, 499 days. Despite efforts to
control the backlog, delays have increased rather
than decreased.

Most Americans seeking disability benefits have
been turned down once or twice in their states and
file federal appeals with Social Security. The
agency's administrative law judges, or ALJs, award
benefits in 62 percent of the cases that they
hear.

The approval rate reflects the nature of the
federal hearing process. ALJs usually work from a
more complete medical record and hear directly
from the claimants, who are often accompanied by
lawyers. Although the ALJs work for Social
Security, Congress has awarded them a large degree
of independence in how they reach decisions.

Astrue said most ALJs do a good job, but he made
it clear he has no power to discipline bad apples
in their ranks. He said he is frustrated by his
inability to deal with "gross misconduct" by
judges, especially those accused of fraud,
domestic violence and soliciting prostitution.

Disciplinary actions brought against ALJs end up
before the Merit Systems Protection Board, which
hears federal employee appeals, resulting in
months of litigation and, in Astrue's view, a
"paid vacation" for the accused. "I'm offended by
that," he said.

Astrue also said that one ALJ has not completed a
disability benefit case in seven years, and
another completed only 40 cases last year -- far
below the 400 to 500 cases that the agency expects
judges to finish each year.

Patrick P. O'Carroll Jr., inspector general at
Social Security, said it is that kind of
performance that is having "a negative effect" on
bringing down the disability backlog. In fiscal
2006, he said, the cases handled by ALJs ranged
from a low of 40 to a high of 1,805. About 30
percent of the judges processed fewer than 400
cases per year, he said.

But Ronald G. Bernoski, president of the
Association of Administrative Law Judges, said the
hearing process does not begin and end with ALJs
-- it also involves the 6,500 employees in the
agency's office of disability adjudication and
review. He said no judge, no matter how talented,
can write 40 to 50 decisions per month without
proper staff support, and he questioned whether
Social Security will hire more aides for the
judges.

After the hearing, Bernoski called Astrue's
remarks about ALJ misconduct "premature," noting
that they involved allegations. He also said the
inspector general's data could be viewed like a
bell curve, with the large majority of ALJs in the
middle ranges and highly productive.

Astrue is hiring more ALJs, largely because
Congress increased the Social Security budget last
year by $148 million more than the White House
recommended. Asked by Rep. Betty McCollum
(D-Minn.) if he has enough ALJs, Astrue said, "We
don't." His goal is to staff up to 1,175 ALJs, but
Astrue said the minimum needed is 1,250, which he
hopes to reach in fiscal 2009.

Talk Shows

Greg Heineman, president of the National Council
of Social Security Management Associations, and
Rachel Emmons, the group's Washington
representative, will be the guests on "FedTalk" at
11 a.m. today on http://federalnewsradio.com
<http://federalnewsradio.com/>  and WFED radio
(1050 AM).

Robert M. Kolodner, national coordinator for
health information technology at the Health and
Human Services Department, will be the guest on
the IBM "Business of Government Hour" at 9 a.m.
tomorrow on WJFK radio (106.7 FM). Disability
Cases Pending, Pending . . .

By Stephen Barr
Friday, February 29, 2008; Page D04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...022803625.h
tml
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/arti
cle/2008/02/28/AR2008022803625.html>

Over the next decade, the Social Security
Administration's workload will increase
substantially. Retirement claims will jump by more
than 40 percent and disability claims by nearly 10
percent.

The first wave of 80 million baby boomers has
applied for Social Security, and boomers are
likely to seek disability benefits in greater
numbers than did previous generations.

At a House hearing yesterday, Social Security
Commissioner Michael J. Astrue said the agency may
have to reinvent itself -- making greater use of
technology and streamlined procedures -- to keep
up with the boomers as well as whittle down a
disability case backlog.

"Productivity alone cannot fully offset the
increase in our workloads," he testified.

Productivity, at least among the agency's
administrative law judges, emerged as an issue at
the hearing, held by Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.),
chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and
its labor, health and human services, education
and related agencies subcommittee.

The testimony raised questions about whether
Social Security's 140 offices that handle
disability claims are appropriately staffed and
whether administrative law judges who rule in
disability cases could be more productive.

The hearing process is one of the keys to helping
Social Security strike a balance between assisting
Americans who cannot work because of illness and
need financial help, and protecting taxpayers from
fraudulent claims.

But there are enormous challenges. The number of
disability cases waiting for a decision has
swelled to more than 750,000, causing applicants
to wait, on average, 499 days. Despite efforts to
control the backlog, delays have increased rather
than decreased.

Most Americans seeking disability benefits have
been turned down once or twice in their states and
file federal appeals with Social Security. The
agency's administrative law judges, or ALJs, award
benefits in 62 percent of the cases that they
hear.

The approval rate reflects the nature of the
federal hearing process. ALJs usually work from a
more complete medical record and hear directly
from the claimants, who are often accompanied by
lawyers. Although the ALJs work for Social
Security, Congress has awarded them a large degree
of independence in how they reach decisions.

Astrue said most ALJs do a good job, but he made
it clear he has no power to discipline bad apples
in their ranks. He said he is frustrated by his
inability to deal with "gross misconduct" by
judges, especially those accused of fraud,
domestic violence and soliciting prostitution.

Disciplinary actions brought against ALJs end up
before the Merit Systems Protection Board, which
hears federal employee appeals, resulting in
months of litigation and, in Astrue's view, a
"paid vacation" for the accused. "I'm offended by
that," he said.

Astrue also said that one ALJ has not completed a
disability benefit case in seven years, and
another completed only 40 cases last year -- far
below the 400 to 500 cases that the agency expects
judges to finish each year.

Patrick P. O'Carroll Jr., inspector general at
Social Security, said it is that kind of
performance that is having "a negative effect" on
bringing down the disability backlog. In fiscal
2006, he said, the cases handled by ALJs ranged
from a low of 40 to a high of 1,805. About 30
percent of the judges processed fewer than 400
cases per year, he said.

But Ronald G. Bernoski, president of the
Association of Administrative Law Judges, said the
hearing process does not begin and end with ALJs
-- it also involves the 6,500 employees in the
agency's office of disability adjudication and
review. He said no judge, no matter how talented,
can write 40 to 50 decisions per month without
proper staff support, and he questioned whether
Social Security will hire more aides for the
judges.

After the hearing, Bernoski called Astrue's
remarks about ALJ misconduct "premature," noting
that they involved allegations. He also said the
inspector general's data could be viewed like a
bell curve, with the large majority of ALJs in the
middle ranges and highly productive.

Astrue is hiring more ALJs, largely because
Congress increased the Social Security budget last
year by $148 million more than the White House
recommended. Asked by Rep. Betty McCollum
(D-Minn.) if he has enough ALJs, Astrue said, "We
don't." His goal is to staff up to 1,175 ALJs, but
Astrue said the minimum needed is 1,250, which he
hopes to reach in fiscal 2009.

Talk Shows

Greg Heineman, president of the National Council
of Social Security Management Associations, and
Rachel Emmons, the group's Washington
representative, will be the guests on "FedTalk" at
11 a.m. today on http://federalnewsradio.com
<http://federalnewsradio.com/>  and WFED radio
(1050 AM).

Robert M. Kolodner, national coordinator for
health information technology at the Health and
Human Services Department, will be the guest on
the IBM "Business of Government Hour" at 9 a.m.
tomorrow on WJFK radio (106.7 FM).


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