Some thoughts on Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue's press release about the allegations that state Disability Determination Service (DDS) agencies in California and Hawaii were sending Social Security disability claimants a long tedious form to complete and then denying them if they did not return the form promptly, leading to many illiterate, mentally ill claimants being denied on technical grounds:
- For those reading this blog who may not have dealt directly with Social Security disability claimants, let me make it clear that I think that everyone who has dealt directly with this population would agree that what is alleged is wrong, wrong, wrong. Social Security disability claimants are terribly vulnerable, especially when they are unrepresented, which would be the case here. Deliberately setting traps for confused, poorly educated, mentally ill people would be despicable.
- I have trouble believing that one state DDS would do this without notifying Social Security's regional office in advance. Social Security cannot control personnel matters at a DDS, which means that Social Security cannot prevent a hiring freeze or furlough at a DDS, but Social Security controls just about everything else at a DDS. Just as an example, j.doe@ssa.gov could be the e-mail address of a DDS employee. I would be astonished if two DDS's in one region did this without the advance approval of the regional office. The heads of these state DDS's may be quickly pointing the finger of blame back at Social Security.
- Astrue's press release came out just after 5:00 Eastern time on a Friday afternoon. Social Security does not operate on a 24 hour news cycle like the White House. I think that someone really wanted to get this out before the weekend. My guess is that the reason is that Social Security is getting questions about this from the news media. There may be major news stories on this subject about this coming out this weekend.
- Everyone at Social Security has been under enormous pressure to do something about the backlogs. I have seen many signs that the pressure is out of hand. If what is alleged here happened, in my mind it is a sign that the pressure on Social Security and DDS employees is too much. It is time for Social Security to dial this pressure back before there are multiple scandals.
4 comments:
Charles
I'm not sure if this is what you are referring to but In New Jersey, for years, the DDS has been sending an ADL questionnaire to a claimant and for a third part to complete, usually with a work history report, with a statement that the form is to be completed in 10 days. If not returned within that time, the claim is frequently denied, with a statement that the reason is a failure to cooperate as a basis for the denial of disability.
Some adjudicators clearly make an effort to contact both claimants and representatives to get the forms completed and just as clearly, some to not.
This is not a new process. It has been done for years and I have not noticed any change even though New Jersey is also one of the ridiculous furlough States
I'm shocked, shocked, yawn. Really, I have worked for SSA for over 30 years, and I can tell you that this is routine. Manipulation of workloads and fudging statistics is part of the SSA culture. It is fostered, encouraged and even mandated by management, and has been for years, going back over many, many commissioners and administrations.
For Astrue to demand an investigation implies, to me, that he really is disconnected from the way that SSA has been operating and continues to operate. This has been documented ad nauseum by the union, which of course no one pays any attention to. For anyone to be incensed about it at this late date is just laughable. SSI claimants, in particular, or abused in creatively nasty ways, much of it having to do with the notorious "failure to cooperate" slogan. After all, they can always file an appeal. The justifications and rationalizations never end.
correction, above, should be "are abused"
You are absoulutely correct about the pressure being out of hand. While there has always been a culture of dishonesty at SSA, at least about its numbers, there is now tremendous pressure on everyone to dispose of cases. Of course, SSA denies that there is any pressure at all, a continuation of their dishonesty.
At the DDS level, apparently, there are efforts to deny as quickly as possible. Docs review case files, skip some of the MDI and assign a medium RFC to little old ladies with really bad orthopaedic problems. Then they often write "doesn't meet a listing" and go no further.
When the case gets to ODAR, there is then pressure to pay the backlog down. If you look at the judge's statistics in another posting on this blog, you will see many who pay over 1000 cases per year. Impossible to do if the regs are followed. Actually, in many offices, it is impossible for judges to meet the 500 case quota SSA imposes because of completely inadequate support.
It really is time for SSA to hire enough people to do the job properly and to insist that they do so.
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