McPaper Covers ALJ Disparities

From USA Today:

The growing number of people seeking Social Security disability benefits are finding vast disparities in how their claims are decided.

The gap is most obvious among the Social Security Administration's 1,400 administrative law judges (ALJs), who hear appeals from people who believe their initial application was unfairly denied. Some judges approve most claims they hear, while others approve almost none, federal data show. ...

Congress and the agency's inspector general have begun looking at the disparity. Yet both Social Security officials and advocates for the disabled say they are reluctant to interfere with the judges' independence.

"Congress has been pretty enthusiastic about the idea of ALJ independence," said Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue, adding that only "a handful" of judges have approval ratings above or below average.