Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today joined Congressman Brian Higgins in calling on the Social Security Administration (SSA) to answer questions regarding excessive delays in appeal hearings that have been caused by a lack of Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) who are charged with hearing those cases. In a letter sent today to SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue, Senator Clinton expressed her concerns regarding the excessive delays that have been reported in the Buffalo Hearing Office, which affects Social Security recipients in Erie, Chautauqua, Niagara, Genesee, Ontario, Monroe, and Cattaraugus counties. She also called for an explanation of how the agency determines the allocation of ALJs throughout their offices. Congressman Higgins brought this matter to the forefront on Monday when he singled out the delays affecting the Western New York region, and called for additional ALJs to be assigned to the Buffalo Hearing Office.
“It is unacceptable that people in Western New York are forced to wait almost two years before they can expect the SSA to hear their appeals,” said Senator Clinton. “People can’t be expected to put their lives on hold indefinitely. If the SSA is aware that certain offices have a track record of experiencing excessive delays, the agency should take a thorough look at how they are allocating the judges charged with hearing those cases.”
“This is a matter of basic human dignity,” Higgins said. “No one should have their life put on hold for years to find out whether they will receive social security disability benefits, but this has become the frustrating reality for thousands of Western New Yorkers. I thank Senator Clinton for partnering with me to advocate for getting these people the service they deserve.”
Apr 17, 2008
Senator Clinton On Backlogs
A press release from Senator Clinton's office:
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I think Senators (and Representative) have a lot of nerve to demand answers from SSA about backlogs when it is Congress and the White House that have underfunded the agency for decades. I realize that things were worse under the current administration but Democrats as well as Republicans are ultimately responsible for the underfunding. The job that SSA has done with indadequate resources is actually quite remarkable. Congress needs to pump money into the administrative burden to replace outdated computer hardware and software and hire at least two people for every one who retires nationwide to make up for the losses in staffing in past years.
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