May 13, 2015

OIG Studies DDS Processing Times

     From a report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG):
We analyzed DI [Disability Insurance] and SSI [Supplemental Security Income] average claims processing times at 51 DDSs [Disability Determination Services] for FY [Fiscal Year] 2013 (we excluded the Puerto Rico DDS from our analysis since it only processed DI claims). In FY 2013, DDS average processing times ranged from 45 to 140 days for DI claims and 49 to 157 days for SSI claims. We mapped the processing times for all 51 DDSs to identify processing times outside the typical range. In doing so, for the DI and SSI programs, we found 44 (86 percent) of 51 DDSs had processing times between 60 and 120 days.
We identified seven DDSs that fell outside of 60- to 120-day ranges for DI and SSI processing times. Specifically, the Florida and Idaho DDSs had DI and SSI processing times shorter than 60 days while the California, Virginia, Nevada, Colorado, and Hawaii DDSs had DI and SSI processing times longer than 120 days. Despite differences in processing times, the seven DDSs had allowance rates comparable to the national average and accuracy rates at or above SSA ’s goal.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are just too many folks struggling to get the job done more timely.
Sometimes it poor employee performance, and sometimes it's poor decision making by management. Other times, it's poor SSA demands on the DDSs.

Anonymous said...

...and sometimes it's people playing the "disability lottery" slowing down the process for those truly in need.

Anonymous said...

Note that they only start counting the days when the claim hits the State Agency and it would appear that they stop counting when it leaves the SA.

How many days, on average, does it take the DO to transfer the claim and how many days, on average, does it take to process the action, allowance or denial?