In my FO, literally nothing runs smoothly. Lots of people quit during the pandemic and the new hires hang on for a bit until they see how the job is and then they quit.
I’m of the mind that it starts at the top. Get some competent people in Baltimore who have actually done the work in the recent past, and you may get actual solutions and efficiency at every level below.
DDS, without any doubt. It’s become a black hole where claims go to die. And the work product those offices produce is deservedly regarded as a joke, even by most ALJs (though that doesn’t stop many from thoughtlessly adopting DDS’s “analysis,” particularly if the medical record looks too long for their liking).
As a claimant, the phone system is absolutely maddening. 1.5 hours waiting, then it hangs up on a person. Enough to make one want to scream and claw their face. d:-/
I work in an FO and am embarrassed at some of our backlog. 3 months or more to remove public disability offset. The same for worker's compensation and most of those end up going to PC to sit for months before processing. It's criminal to make people wait so long to be paid the correct amount. There are concurrent claims where SSI is being paid and the disabled adult child claim hasn't been touched for 6 months or more.
8 months for an adjudicator to be assigned in Florida….who then takes 4 months to adjudicate the claim. Although the hearing backlog has been mostly eliminated, it still takes 2+ years to resolve most cases
Although it was by far from perfect, switching DDS to DCPS has contributed to the major delays in case processing. The Agency spent over a quarter billion without much success and then pushed it into practice before it was ready (sound familiar with anyone?) The executive put in charge to fix that mess was Terri Gruber, who then became OHO DC. In OHO, executives pushed for a HACPS to replace legacy systems. Four years later, offices have to do dual inputs. I know some people say productivity is down because of telework. I think it's down because so many people have to do duplicative work. But we should be assured that the legacy systems still go away soon. Kind of like how sending CDs to claimants was supposed to be temporary and lasted for nearly 2 decades.
I have found that the payment centers are creating the majority of problems for our office. While the field office and DDS are slower than pre-pandemic, the payment centers are making mistakes in what feels like 30% of our cases. I spend a good portion of everyday calling about and following up on issues like failure to withhold attorney fees, failure to properly calculate amount of past due benefits, failure to release past due benefits for months after everything is in the record. It has been the bane of my existence over the past two years.
I’d guess the disabled adult child portion is being held up by the inability to obtain the necessary medical records. Lots of people file those claims in their 30s and 40s, and it’s all but impossible to even dig up one page of medical records from before their 22nd birthday.
@139 I am sorry I wasn't clear. I meant approved DAC claims just sitting around waiting to be processed. Most need a new payee application but for those with SSI we already have someone who ideally is a decent payee. In the old days allowed disability claims were very high priority. Not sure why the supervisor hasn't cracked down on the few Cars that don't care to process DAC claims that are allowed.
Wow. I thank you all for your dedication to your jobs at SSA and SSA lawyers! "Years" of working in annoyance with, and even the leadership positions is impressive, and dedicated. I don't understand a lot of it, but hearing (or reading rather) your thoughts on this matter as SSA employees and lawyers is eye opening to the dysfunction. I don't know how ya'll do it, but Koodo's to all of you for your dedication to those who need you. You are appreciated.
An all hands meeting last month said DDS has a backlog of over 900,000 cases. Yikes With the end of the fiscal year I expect DDS to push out a lot of claims but please remember Voc rule 202.06 applies at age 55 . If a claimant was age 52 at AOD please propose onset as of age 55. As a DQB employee it is frustrating to see such ridiculous errors
9:45, DDS has a backlog of over 900,000 INITIAL claims. It's over 1.1 million when you add in the recons...and of course there are CDRs there too. The state agency workload data goes back to 2000 and it's never had as many initial + recon cases pending as there are now.
There should have been a couple of more options in the poll such as "None of the above, SSA is working pretty efficiently all things considered".
As for calling the payment center about failure to withhold, most of those errors occurred at the FO level when they processed the auxiliary award.
Finally I would like to stay that attorneys repeatedly calling the payment centers about the same issue does not help the backlogs. For an example an attorneys office called 5 different times about failure to withhold for aux.
The attorneys office kept calling even after being told and sent a notice explaining, that no fee is due when aux are not listed on NH application, and aux file later after we processed the NH award.
Speaking of CDRs... Covid hit soon after I was approved. Then, had to wait for Medicare... Plus, Medicare doesn't pay enough to cover some of the medications, etc. that I was taking (Medicaid paid EVERYTHING). What kind of care does SSA expect for CDRs? For the last 2 years?
Not the original poster, but my guess after working for SSA for nearly 2 decades, is that they don’t care what your access to medical care is. They will use whatever is available or not available to make the decision. SSA does do insurance. It’s only responsibility is to the monetary benefits. Access to care is not on the agenda.
The telephone system as a whole is a disaster. That impacts contacting the District Offices but also the complete inability to contact any of the payment centers directly. Only the Baltimore PSC has a representative contact line and that is most overwhelmed and can't get to al the calls.
There are also internal problems with the SSA even speaking to itself. When I do get to a DO and they are aware the problem is in the payment center, they can't contact the payment center directly either and can only send the fabled "manager to manager" contact which may make them feel like they are doing something but really doesn't do very much.
The organizational failures of the SS for the past several years, pre and post Covid, are beyond ridiculous. Why Deputy Commissioner for Operations Grace Kim has a job still is beyond me.
21 comments:
In my small midwestern practice, it is DDS. We wait for months for cases to get assigned to a DDS worker and moving.
@10:59
I agree completely. We are also a small midwestern firm and the DDB/DDS is by far the most cumbersome part of the process
In my FO, literally nothing runs smoothly. Lots of people quit during the pandemic and the new hires hang on for a bit until they see how the job is and then they quit.
I’m of the mind that it starts at the top. Get some competent people in Baltimore who have actually done the work in the recent past, and you may get actual solutions and efficiency at every level below.
DDS, without any doubt. It’s become a black hole where claims go to die. And the work product those offices produce is deservedly regarded as a joke, even by most ALJs (though that doesn’t stop many from thoughtlessly adopting DDS’s “analysis,” particularly if the medical record looks too long for their liking).
As a claimant, the phone system is absolutely maddening. 1.5 hours waiting, then it hangs up on a person. Enough to make one want to scream and claw their face. d:-/
I work in an FO and am embarrassed at some of our backlog. 3 months or more to remove public disability offset. The same for worker's compensation and most of those end up going to PC to sit for months before processing. It's criminal to make people wait so long to be paid the correct amount. There are concurrent claims where SSI is being paid and the disabled adult child claim hasn't been touched for 6 months or more.
8 months for an adjudicator to be assigned in Florida….who then takes 4 months to adjudicate the claim. Although the hearing backlog has been mostly eliminated, it still takes 2+ years to resolve most cases
Although it was by far from perfect, switching DDS to DCPS has contributed to the major delays in case processing. The Agency spent over a quarter billion without much success and then pushed it into practice before it was ready (sound familiar with anyone?) The executive put in charge to fix that mess was Terri Gruber, who then became OHO DC. In OHO, executives pushed for a HACPS to replace legacy systems. Four years later, offices have to do dual inputs. I know some people say productivity is down because of telework. I think it's down because so many people have to do duplicative work. But we should be assured that the legacy systems still go away soon. Kind of like how sending CDs to claimants was supposed to be temporary and lasted for nearly 2 decades.
I have found that the payment centers are creating the majority of problems for our office. While the field office and DDS are slower than pre-pandemic, the payment centers are making mistakes in what feels like 30% of our cases. I spend a good portion of everyday calling about and following up on issues like failure to withhold attorney fees, failure to properly calculate amount of past due benefits, failure to release past due benefits for months after everything is in the record. It has been the bane of my existence over the past two years.
I’d guess the disabled adult child portion is being held up by the inability to obtain the necessary medical records. Lots of people file those claims in their 30s and 40s, and it’s all but impossible to even dig up one page of medical records from before their 22nd birthday.
@139 I am sorry I wasn't clear. I meant approved DAC claims just sitting around waiting to be processed. Most need a new payee application but for those with SSI we already have someone who ideally is a decent payee.
In the old days allowed disability claims were very high priority. Not sure why the supervisor hasn't cracked down on the few Cars that don't care to process DAC claims that are allowed.
Wow. I thank you all for your dedication to your jobs at SSA and SSA lawyers! "Years" of working in annoyance with, and even the leadership positions is impressive, and dedicated. I don't understand a lot of it, but hearing (or reading rather) your thoughts on this matter as SSA employees and lawyers is eye opening to the dysfunction. I don't know how ya'll do it, but Koodo's to all of you for your dedication to those who need you. You are appreciated.
An all hands meeting last month said DDS has a backlog of over 900,000 cases. Yikes With the end of the fiscal year I expect DDS to push out a lot of claims but please remember Voc rule 202.06 applies at age 55 . If a claimant was age 52 at AOD please propose onset as of age 55. As a DQB employee it is frustrating to see such ridiculous errors
9:45, DDS has a backlog of over 900,000 INITIAL claims. It's over 1.1 million when you add in the recons...and of course there are CDRs there too. The state agency workload data goes back to 2000 and it's never had as many initial + recon cases pending as there are now.
There should have been a couple of more options in the poll such as
"None of the above, SSA is working pretty efficiently all things considered".
As for calling the payment center about failure to withhold, most of those errors occurred at the FO level when they processed the auxiliary award.
Finally I would like to stay that attorneys repeatedly calling the payment centers about the same issue does not help the backlogs. For an example an attorneys office called 5 different times about failure to withhold for aux.
The attorneys office kept calling even after being told and sent a notice explaining, that no fee is due when aux are not listed on NH application, and aux file later after we processed the NH award.
Speaking of CDRs... Covid hit soon after I was approved. Then, had to wait for Medicare... Plus, Medicare doesn't pay enough to cover some of the medications, etc. that I was taking (Medicaid paid EVERYTHING). What kind of care does SSA expect for CDRs? For the last 2 years?
Not the original poster, but my guess after working for SSA for nearly 2 decades, is that they don’t care what your access to medical care is. They will use whatever is available or not available to make the decision. SSA does do insurance. It’s only responsibility is to the monetary benefits. Access to care is not on the agenda.
You do realize no one cares at all what the actual right answer is, they just want what they want done.
Can I only vote for one.
The telephone system as a whole is a disaster. That impacts contacting the District Offices but also the complete inability to contact any of the payment centers directly. Only the Baltimore PSC has a representative contact line and that is most overwhelmed and can't get to al the calls.
There are also internal problems with the SSA even speaking to itself. When I do get to a DO and they are aware the problem is in the payment center, they can't contact the payment center directly either and can only send the fabled "manager to manager" contact which may make them feel like they are doing something but really doesn't do very much.
The organizational failures of the SS for the past several years, pre and post Covid, are beyond ridiculous. Why Deputy Commissioner for Operations Grace Kim has a job still is beyond me.
Where is the most of the above option?
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