Social Security disability claims progress threatened by state furloughs

For the Social Security Administration, significant progress in fixing one long-standing problem is being threatened by recession-based, state government funding crises.

The House Ways and Means Committee's subcommittee on Social Security on Thursday held an oversight hearing entitled, "Clearing the Disability Claims Backlogs: The SSA's Progress, and New Challenges Arising from the Recession."

Rep. John Tanner (D.-Tenn.), chairman of the subcommittee, noted in his opening statement that the "hearing backlog has begun to decline from 768,000 to 718,000" in processing claims for disability benefits.

Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue testifed to the panel that increased productivity by claims reviewers is also resulting in shorter waiting times for initial claims review hearings, even, he says, as SSA worked to resolve "some of the oldest, most complex, and time consuming cases."

Chairman Tanner, however, says that the long-overdue progress in reducing the disability claims backlog is now under serious threat by other factors.

The most significant comes from the fact that as many as nine states, including cash-strapped California, are instituting furloughs of state employees, including claims reviewers for state-run Disability Determination Services (DDS). In some cases, all DDS workers are being furloughed, while in others, only a limited number of such review specialists are furloughed.

It should be noted that while these workers are state employees, most, if not all of their salaries are funded by the federal government, since the initial determination reports they provide become the basis for dispensing Social Security benefits.

Rep. Bob Filner (D.-Calif.) testified that the situation is becoming especially acute in his state since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R.) ordered DDS staffers to be furloughed three days a month. This, he says, is in spite of the fact that in California, DDS claims reviewers salaries are paid entirely by the Federal government.

Filner cited a report from SSA Inspector General Patrick O'Carroll suggesting that the furloughs were creating delays for as many as 69,000 disability claims, and a 14% decrease in claims processing capacity.

During his testimony, O'Carroll noted that SSA Commissioner Astrue personally "contacted all of the state Governors, and many State legislators. Vice President Biden wrote to the National Governor's Association, and there was even litigation in Californis that sought to preclude furloughs" of DDS reviewers. He says that intervention has been successful in convincing some states to exempt DDS claims reviewers from furlough programs.

Filner says he is drafting legislation to end the furloughs of DDS claims reviewers, a move which would essentially "federalize" the DDS workers.

The California Democrat says his bill would specify that state furloughs constitute a "substantial failure" to live up to the state's responsibilities to process claims, and trigger a provision in existing Federal law allowing the Social Security Administration to "federalize" DDS staff.

If and when Filner introduces his measure, the Social Security subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee would likely be the first stop for congressional hearings on the bill.

For more from Commissioner Astrue and for an update on the back up data center being built, click here.

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