From the newsletter of the Association of Administrative Law Judges (AALJ):
This Sunday evening, October 6, the television news show “60 minutes” will air a story regarding the SSA disability adjudication system. AALJ Vice-President, Marilyn Zahm and I were interviewed for over 2 ½ hours by Steve Kroft of “60 minutes”. The interview covered many of the problems judges have experienced with the disability adjudication system at SSA. Some of the subjects discussed include the need for government representation, procedural rules, closing the record and quotas. Senator Tom Coburn was also interviewed for the program.
We believe the segment will run for approximately 15 minutes but could be longer. Hopefully, this type of exposure will benefit our continuous efforts to improve our system of justice
Note that the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Operations will hold a hearing Monday on
Social
Security Disability Benefits: Did a Group of Judges, Doctors, and
Lawyers Abuse Programs for the Country's Most Vulnerable?
I hope there is more balance to this report than there was in the 60 Minutes story on substance abuse and disability benefits years ago and more than what has appeared in most press reports of late which have been anecdotes and propaganda. What ALJs want is to enhance their perceived stature, to be more like "real Judges. Senator Coburn? He is a man with an agenda. Look at the biased report his committee put together. Nothing objective about that. I anticipate some video of a disability claimant leaping over a tall building. Did they interview some real claimants who do not have access to real medical care and lose everything they had, sometimes including their lives, while waiting for SSA to reach a correct decision?
ReplyDeleteI'm kinda sick of hearing about govt representation. With government reps comes settlement authority. With settlements and more frequent dismissals comes less cases to actually hear. Which means less judges. Be careful what you wish for you just might get it.
ReplyDeleteSo Randy Frye is going to be interviewed by Steve Kroft? I'm sure that will turn out well for the union.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't having a govt rep at the hearing slow the process and contribute to the backlog? The added costs notwithstanding,the fact of further slowing of the process alone be argument enough against this idea.
ReplyDelete@ 10:38...not sure that you quite understand what most people are hoping for when they think of govt. representation. It's not the govt. bringing a claim against the claimant. Think more along the lines of a taxpayer advocate. Someone in the hearing room that is pointing out the inconsistencies (if there are any) in the claimant's claim. They would not have the power to settle any claims, but they would help call BS when claimant's open their mouths (something ALJ's are told not to do).
ReplyDeleteBuckle your seat belts and get ready to hear a good story about an ALJ that paid hundreds of cases in cahoots with a rep. Whether there are hard facts to prove that anything criminal happened in the story is a different story; hence the wishy washy title of the hearing. Senator Coburn will throw the baby out with the bath water, so AALJ be careful who you sidle up to.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it that a government representative can do to improve decision making that an ALJ cannot do right now? Is there any institutional memory of what happened when SSA tried the government rep program years ago? (Answer: slower, fewer and more expensive decisions).
ReplyDeleteWithout government reps, ALJs can now approve or deny ANY case (at worst, the case might be reversed or remanded or the ALJ's name might appear in a published Federal Court decision), order exams, request records, ask any question they choose at a hearing, display temper tantrums and argue with mentally ill and intellectually challenged claimants who cannot answer questions to the ALJs expectations (hearings are all done in private)and not even have to write a decision, know much about the case before the hearing or spend much time making a decision.
How about this? Create a new agency that hires, trains and evaluates ALJs performance and productivity but the agency would be outside the Social Security Administration (the old Independent Corps idea). ODAR could rent ALJs as needed from this independent agency, and ALJs could serve varying agencies which might help maintain their legal skills. This agency could be within DoA or DoJ. ALJs could be supervized on matters as basic as time and attendance without intruding on the ALJ's independent decisionmaking because the supervisors would be outside SSA and presumably free of any interest in the outcomes.